A second helping

As predicted, I celebrated St. Patrick's Day in style. And of course by "style" I mean "with barbecue."

I've tried to explore as many of Chicago's barbecue options as I can, but sadly, most of them are closed on Monday night. But my appetite was open. So was Risque Cafe.

Thus it came to pass that I indulged in huge amounts of barbecue and discussions of symbols and themes in movies vis a vis zeitgeist. And other foreign words.

Here's the takeaway: Risque was worth a second visit. The sauce remains a bit thin and lackluster for my tastes. The ribs were a little dry and not as tender as--do I need to say it?--Arthur Bryant's. But I got a tremendous amount of enjoyment from gulping down a big bowl of macaroni and cheese covered with pulled pork. Somewhere down the road, my heart surgeon will too.

Other notable dishes were the brisket, which was much more tender this time around, and the creamed spinach, which had a nice parmesany finish. Also, American youth collectively crave punishment for the sins of their elders, and that's why we have the "Saw" franchise. True story.

Anyway, bottom line, Risque Cafe is worth more than one visit. Get the macaroni and cheese with shredded meat. And let me know how the pinball machine is... I was too full to give it a shot.