Name: Green Street Smoked Meats Date: 4/5/26 Address: 112 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607 Order: Pulled pork, sliced brisket, hot link, broccoli salad (link) Pricing: $$$
Monk: On a Sunday night in Chicago during our spring break trip to the Windy City, after a weekend of Hamilton, museums, and riverboat tours I convinced the family to take an Uber to the West Loop neighborhood to Green Street Smoked Meats. GSSM is a joint I actually went with Mrs. Monk way back in 2016 where we had a decent meal on a cold, rainy day in late April.
This time around with the Monkettes in tow, we ordered just a little more food than we did back in 2016 but stuck to brisket, sausage, and pulled pork. Similar to last time, the brisket and hot link outshone the pulled pork, however just slightly this time around. If I ever make it back I’m going to try and remember to order the pastrami.
The broccoli salad was once again ordered and a hit with the missus and I loved the slightly sweet cornbread.
In 2024, Green Street Smoked Meats was included on Texas Monthly BBQ Editor Daniel Vaughn’s list of best Texas barbecue outside of Texas. It may have been doing well before but on this Sunday night the place was hopping (particularly the bar), perhaps in small part due to that recognition. It remains a solid destination in the Windy City for those looking for Texas barbecue.
Name: King BBQ Date: 1/25/26 Address: 2029 Carver Ave, North Charleston, SC 29405 Order: Pork combo with BBQ red rice with yum yum sauce and slaw (link to menu) Pricing: $$
Monk: King BBQ is the collaboration of husband and wife team Shuai and Corrie Wang and pitmaster Brandon Olson, who worked for them at their other restaurant Jackrabbit Filly not far from the location of King in North Charleston. Even if you haven’t been there, you may still recognize Shuai from his finale run on the most recent season of Top Chef Destination Canada.
King BBQ takes inspiration from Shuai’s upbringing in Queens, NY, Corrie’s upbringing in Buffalo, and Olson’s NC Piedmont roots (he grew up outside of Charlotte). There’s not a lot of beef to be found in those places, and thus there is not at King BBQ. However, in addition to the pork, there is duck, chicken wings, and occasionally fried fish taking cues from Queens and Buffalo.
On this day, I stuck with pork – chopped pork topped with fried pork skins and pork spare ribs. The barbecue items are smoked in Lang offset smokers but while I did not detect a ton of smoke from the chopped pork, the texture and taste were nice, particular when paired with some crunch from the pork skin or the creamy chopped slaw I selected as one of my sides.
The spare ribs were slathered with a char siu barbecue sauce, which added a slight sweetness to the rib that wasn’t overpowering. The flavor was great but to a certain extent the sauce masked any smoke on the ribs. They were cooked nicely with each of my bites coming clean.
The BBQ red rice was a highlight as well, and came recommended by the server as I was ordering at the register. Paired with a homemade yum yum sauce, I would consider even going a double side of them next time.
There’s so much more to King BBQ than what I tried on that day: duck, sausage, noodle bowls, shrimp toast, a play on crab rangoon, and more. I hope to find myself back in Charleston again soon to check them out with a bigger crowd.
Name: The Smoke Pit Date: 1/3/26 Address: 8136 Providence Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277 Order: Tres Amigos platter with pork, ribs, and brisket plus hush puppies, jalapeno creamed corn, and collards (link to menu) Pricing: $$
Monk: I have been a fan of The Smoke Pit since first visiting their original Concord location in 2015. We’ve since visited and reviewed their Salisbury and Gastonia locations as well, most recently in 2021. However, The Smoke Pit empire keeps expanding, with an established location in Monroe, a newly opened location at the Arboretum shopping center in South Charlotte, and a forthcoming store in Mooresville that will bring the total count to 6 in the Charlotte area.
The Arboretum location opened in September 2025, taking over a former longtime Chili’s location. Extensive renovations were made to both the interior and exterior of the building, including the build out of a pit room where the outdoor patio used to be. Inside it, a mini army of M&M BBQ Company wood smokers made in Tool, TX pump out their smoked items.
The menu at The Smoke Pit takes an “international house of barbecue” approach with pork, brisket, ribs, turkey, chicken, burnt ends, sausage, and smoked wings on the menu. Mrs. Monk and I split the “Tres Amigos” platter that comes with pork, brisket, and ribs along with two sides and hush puppies, corn bread, or Texas Toast. There is also a “7 Meat Fest” that comes a large sampling of their meats and sides for a hungrier group than the Monk family was on that day. Something to think about in the future, though.
All of the meats I tried that day were of above average quality. The chopped pork and brisket both had a nice bark while the ribs had a good tug to them. Of the three, I’d probably give a slight nod to the brisket but I would recommend each of them.
I found my sides to be really good as well. The jalapeno creamed corn had a nice kick to counteract the creaminess while the collards met Mrs. Monk’s high standards. I should note that I had previously ordered bulk sides of their mac and cheese, baked beans, and coleslaw for last fall’s pig roast and received a ton of compliments on them. So based on my experience you can’t really go wrong with the sides at The Smoke Pit.
A nice touch was the offer of free dessert for each person in the party. We tried both the peach and strawberry cobblers, with peach being the winner for me. I don’t know how long the offer of free dessert will continue but it was a welcome end to our meal.
In terms of wood-smoked barbecue in South Charlotte, its just The Smoke Pit and Midwood Smokehouse. The Smoke Pit’s 5th location is a welcome addition to both the Arboretum shopping center and South Charlotte, and the bar looks to be worth exploring in the future. Check them out if you haven’t tried their other locations before.
Name: Shotgun Willie’s Date: 1/25/25 Address: 1500 Gallatin Pike S Suite 104, Madison, TN 37115 Order: “Tennessee style” pulled pork plate with dill pickled potato salad and honey poppy seed slaw plus a half pound of brisket and a beef sausage link (link to menu) Pricing: $$$
Monk: Shotgun Willie’s opened up during the early days of the pandemic in 2020 and Speedy tried it in October of that year when the indoor seating was still restricted. He liked it enough, particularly the pulled pork and ribs over the brisket. In his Nashville rankings of 2020, he ranked it his fifth favorite barbecue joint in Nashville.
The Monkette’s gymnastics meet was taking place not too far away at the Gaylord Opryland, so we made an 8 minute drive on a Saturday morning and arrived shortly after their 11 o’clock opening. This location is actually not the same on that Speedy visited but its just a short 1.3 miles east across I-31E in the nearby town of Madison. It sits at the end of what looks to be a newer building sitting at the front of an older shopping center housing a former K-Mart-turned-bowling alley which is also a concert venue (I actually went to see The Get Up Kids that night with Speedy, in fact). According to the website, “[t]he new SGWBBQ is about 4x larger than its original location, with more smokers, more parking, plenty more chairs and the one thing he’s been wishing for since 2020… a mechanical bull!” I will note that the bull wasn’t operational at the time of this visit.
After I commiserated over the current form of Manchester United with the meat slicer who I believe to be the owner Bill, I went to work ordering food for my in-laws, my kids, my wife, and me. Bill kindly guided me towards the pulled pork plate when I started to order the pork and brisket by the pound, added a link, and then added sides after the fact, which saved me a little money. The kindness of Bill and his staff seemed to be a constant from the sounds of Speedy’s visit a little over 4 years ago.
Starting with the brisket as Speedy did, I was offered a choice of fatty or lean (going with fatty). Personally, I would have preferred a slightly thinner slice and one without a big vein of fat through it (though of course the latter could not be helped). It did have a nice peppery crust and on the whole wasn’t overly salty. The plate came with pickled onions and pickles and a slice of white bread so I did not hesitate in making a fold over for a few bites.
The pulled pork wasn’t dusted as aggressively as it was in Speedy’s photos and I found it to have good flavor. I shared my portion with both Monkettes (who got the queso mac and cheese as their entrees), and it was a hit with my girls.
Bill recommended the beef link (he prefers beef over pork in links), and boy he did not steer me wrong. The link (which is premade from Kiolbassa in San Antonio) had a nice snap and great beefy flavor.
Staying true to form, the sides of potato salad and cole slaw were above average. I tried a few bites of Mrs. Monk’s Brunswick stew, which she loved and I just couldn’t disagree. You can even get a Lone Star for your beer. So far, no real misses from Shotgun Willie’s.
It seems as if I’m not the only one who thinks highly of Shotgun Willie’s, as last year they were named one of the top 50 Texas barbecue joints outside the state by Texas Monthly Magazine. I’ll have to convince Speedy to check it out again and see if he’s in agreement but for me it’s among the very best barbecue joint that I’ve tasted in Nashville.
Speedy: After Monk told me about his solid experience, I decided I needed to give Shotgun Willie’s another try a few weeks later to see if it would move up the Nashville rankings (current #1: Bringles Smoking Oasis). I had a similar order to Monk, with the pulled pork sammie, brisket, and beef sausage. Like Monk, I enjoyed all, but did not find any one meat life-changing (though the cornbread muffin approached that distinction).
I enjoyed the pulled pork sandwich most, due to the heaping portion of pork that had just been pulled off the shoulder, and the good, hearty bread. The brisket and beef sausage both had really good flavor, but I agree with Monk that the brisket would be better sliced thinner, and I thought the sausage was a tad on the greasy side. Rereading my original review, I wish I had ordered a half rack of ribs, which I’ll have to save for next time.
Monk: Thanks for checking in, Speedy. This sounds like a good occasion for a refreshed Nashville Top 5. What say ye?
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