The Lillie's Q Chicago French Market location will reopen at 11am today with extremely limited menu
Lillie’s Q chef/owner Charlie McKenna will re-open his Chicago French Market location in the West Loop (131 N Clinton St) at 11am today with an extremely limited menu – just a week after its Bucktown location suffered significant fire damage.
Pulled pork sandwiches on brioche buns ($7), pulled pork by the half pound ($9), pulled pork by the pound ($17), and sides of Southern-style coleslaw ($3) will be the only food available for sale today at the Lillie’s Q French Market location. Today, the French Market location will remain open until all the food – prepped at Ovie Bar & Grill in the Metra Transportation Center that adjoins the Chicago French Market – is sold.
The Lillie’s Q French Market location will resume its regular schedule of opening at 10am on Saturdays starting tomorrow. The regular French Market weekday schedule of opening at 10am resumes this Monday. The Lillie’s Q French Market location will serve a limited menu for some time, and will close each day when all its food is sold.
Shortly after all employees at the Lillie’s Q Bucktown location (1856 W North Ave) left work for the evening on Thursday, March 14, a fire broke out in the basement of the restaurant. Chicago Fire Department officials said the fire started after the water heater in the basement caught on fire. One fire fighter sustained minor injuries battling the blaze, but nobody else was injured.
The fire caused significant damage to the basement of Lillie’s Q, the main floor of Lillie’s Q, and to the apartments upstairs from Lillie’s Q. Because of the fire, The Lillie’s Q Bucktown location is currently closed but hopes to re-open.
About Lillie’s Q: Chef Charlie McKenna (formerly the sous chef at Tru and Avenues) opened Lillie’s Q restaurant in July 2010 specializing in award-winning competition BBQ, Southern favorites and sides in Bucktown as a homage to his family’s deep cooking roots. McKenna has competed on the competition BBQ circuit with his father and friends the last 10 years, and the team won the prestigious Memphis In May BBQ competition in 2007 in the whole pork shoulder category and placed in Top Ten every year from 2006 through 2010 and finished 12th in 2011. McKenna opened an outpost of Lillie’s Q in Destin, FL, with his parents in 2008. At Lillie’s Q in Chicago, McKenna is smoking pork shoulder for pulled pork, tri-tip, baby back ribs, and chicken in two custom built smokers over peach wood and lump charcoal. McKenna began cooking Southern favorites and sides with grandma Lillie and his mother at an early age and those standouts make their way onto the Lillie’s Q menu via shrimp & grits, pimiento cheese, fried pickles, boiled peanuts, Brunswick stew, baked beans, macaroni & cheese and banana pudding. Lillie’s Q features moonshine-based specialty cocktails (like the “Morning Lillie” that’s a play on a Bloody Mary with a housemade meat stick), 10 All-American craft drafts and a rotating selection of about 30 All-American craft bottled beers. Located at 1856 W North Ave (773.772.5500), Lillie’s Q serves lunch and dinner daily from 11am-10pm Sunday thru Wednesday, and 11am-11pm Thursday thru Saturday. Visit the restaurant’s website at http://www.lilliesq.com
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