Leon's Bar-B-Q

Went to Leon's with Nat and Melody last night. It was a treat, and remains on my list of Chicago faves. Their sauce is just the right mix of spicy and sweet.

When we first arrived, Nat and I both spent a while trying to take a good picture of the beautiful neon piggy in the window. As much as I tried, though, I couldn't overcome the glare from the bright fluorescent light directly behind the neon light, so I didn't get a decent photo of the neon itself. Our rather excessive attention to photographing this aspect of Leon's drew the attention of one of the other customers, who rather politely asked Nat what we were doing. He responded with the honest explanation that we like neon signs and Leon's neon sign is quite nice, and she seemed to accept this as a reasonable explanation. When we went inside, the two Leon's employees' attention was being taken up by two entrepreneurs who were trying to sell them various bath and body supplies at discount prices. At first, the Leon's employees seemed rather uninterested in buying anything, but the entrepreneurs gave them the hard sell--which included saying things like "So you don't want to buy any because you don't use deodorant?"--and the employees eventually caved in and both some toothbrushes or somesuch. The employees then turned their attention to us and were overwhelmingly nice and friendly (notably unlike your average Harold's Chicken Shack experience). We ate our BBQ in the car outside, which was messy but fun. The lack of adequate hand-washing supplies made for a sticky ride home. If the entrepreneurs were selling Wet-Ones or Purell, they would make a killing.

Two additional Leon's notes:

(1) The Regal Theater directly across the street from Leon's was boarded up and had an enormous "For Sale" sign on it. I don't know if that means its days are numbered. I hope not.

(2) Michael Stern's review of Leon's at Roadfood.

Here's the rest of my Chicago faves list, as it currently stands. Let me know if you think I'm leaving anything off, or you think I'm including anything that shouldn't be included.

Chicago Faves

Al’s Deli (Evanston)
Carson Pirie Scott Department Store Building
Chess Studios
Crazy Man Records
Dusty Groove
Garfield Park Conservatory
Pita Inn (Skokie)
Poochie’s (Skokie)
Powell’s Bookstore (Hyde Park and North Side)
Ribs and Bibs
Seminary Co-op Bookstore

I need to find a bar/restaurant with a view of downtown to add to the list. Nat has offered up one suggestion, but it was closed last night when we drove by, so I haven't been able to check it out yet.