Leon's Bar-B-Q

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Leon's Bar-B-Q
Leons-Bar-B-Q-01.jpg
Former location of the Leon's Bar-B-Q on 79th St. near Stony Island Ave. in Chicago
Restaurant information
Established1940;85 years ago (1940)
Previous owner Leon Finney Sr.
Food type Barbecue
LocationChicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States

Leon's Bar-B-Q is a chain of barbecue restaurants in Chicago. As one of the earliest barbecue establishments in the city, it played a role in the development of Chicago-style barbecue.

Contents

History

The restaurant was founded by Leon Finney Sr., originally of Mississippi, in 1940. [1] It was one of the earliest barbecue establishments in Chicago. Along with other restaurants like Lem's Bar-B-Q, Leon's popularized the "Delta style" of barbecue that predominates in the South Side. This barbecue heavily features rib tips, a cheap cut of meat usually discarded by butchers, which are cooked in an "aquarium smoker". [2] Rib tips soon became popular among the city's African-American restaurants, and today the cut has become more expensive. [3] He originally sold ribs for 30¢ an order, but later closed the restaurant after price controls made it difficult to turn a profit. He eventually saved up enough money to open a new restaurant on 83rd Street several years later. [4]

The restaurant was successful, and at one point operated four locations in Chicago. [5] Leon's restaurants typically served food to customers through a bulletproof glass divider for safety reasons. [6] [7] The restaurant was scheduled to be the largest concession at the 1982 ChicagoFest but pulled out of the festival due to an ongoing boycott by African-American activists, led by Jesse Jackson, over Mayor Jane Byrne's actions. [8]

The restaurant chain closed in 2011, but was reopened by Finney's son Leon Jr. in 2017 after a video of actor Denzel Washington looking for the restaurant, where he ate as a child, went viral on social media. [9] [5]

Leon's is known for its hickory smoked [10] rib tips and hot links, which are served over fries and drizzled with barbecue sauce. [11] It also serves fried catfish. [10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "LEON FINNEY SR.: 1916 – 2008 – Chicago Tribune". Chicago Tribune. March 21, 2023. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  2. ↑ Block, Daniel R.; Rosing, Howard B. (September 3, 2015). Chicago: A Food Biography. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 72–74. ISBN   978-1-4422-2727-9.
  3. ↑ Miller, Adrian (April 5, 2021). Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue. UNC Press Books. pp. 155–156. ISBN   978-1-4696-6281-7.
  4. ↑ Moss, Robert F. (October 6, 2020). Barbecue: The History of an American Institution, Revised and Expanded Second Edition. University of Alabama Press. p. 209. ISBN   978-0-8173-2065-2.
  5. 1 2 Selvam, Ashok (October 10, 2017). "Denzel Washington Prompts A Chicago Barbecue to Announce a New Location". Eater Chicago. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  6. ↑ Weller, Sam (2002). Secret Chicago: The Unique Guidebook to Chicago's Hidden Sites, Sounds & Tastes. ECW Press. p. 28. ISBN   978-1-55022-493-1.
  7. ↑ Stern, Jane; Stern, Michael (1992). Roadfood: The All-new, Updated, and Expanded Edition. HarperPerennial. p. 124. ISBN   978-0-06-096599-0.
  8. ↑ Ltd, Earl G. Graves (October 1982). Black Enterprise. Earl G. Graves, Ltd. p. 24.
  9. ↑ "Leon's Bar-B-Q to open new restaurant next month". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  10. 1 2 "Actor Denzel Washington inspires reopening of Leon's Barbeque". March 16, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  11. ↑ Miller, Adrian (April 5, 2021). Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue. UNC Press Books. ISBN   978-1-4696-6281-7.
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