Jimmy Jo's BBQ opens at 11 a.m. today
Jimmy Jo’s BBQ is now open — or at least it will be in a few hours. The restaurant is at 665 N. Convent in Bourbonnais.
My husband and I stopped in yesterday for their soft opening (where the employees get to practice on sympathetic customers before working with the general public) and enjoyed a tasty and filling lunch. We both had pork sandwiches, mine Carolina style and Brendan’s Cowboy style. Mine came with cole slaw on top, and Brendan’s came with guacamole. (That’s an unusual topping for pork, I know, but I tried it and will definitely order it next time.)
The pork was moist and flavorful, and there were big chunks of it, not thin shreds. It didn’t come with sauce, which I prefer because then you can really taste the meat. If you prefer wet barbecue, you can ask for your meat “sauced” when you place your order, or add it yourself at the table. Jimmy Jo’s has three sauces to choose from — Chicago, Texas or Carolina. Chicago is sweet, bold and thick; Texas is thinner and spicier; Carolina is a tangy vinegar-based sauce that has the consistency of Italian dressing.
The restaurant, which formerly was a car wash and auto detailing center, now features what I would describe as traditional barbecue restaurant decor — wood paneling, tables with red-checkered tablecloths, and rolls of paper towel at your table to use as napkins.
The menu includes all the usual BBQ suspects (brisket, pork and ribs), plus smoked turkey, chicken and hot links. The sandwich and meal combos come with two sides, including a very nice potato salad made with skin-on red potatoes. Brendan particularly liked the baked beans, which had a distinct smokey flavor, just like the meat. Bottled beer and wine is available.
Jimmy Jo’s opens at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and closes at 8 p.m. on weeknights and 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. They’re closed on Sunday.
To place an order to go, call (815) 933-7500.
Here are photos of the inside of the restaurant and our food:
Jimmy Jo's BBQ
The Carolina (front) and Cowboy pork sandwiches.
Tags: barbecue, Bourbonnais, restaurant
March 11th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
A reader just sent me this via email: “My wife, daughter and I went to the new Jimmy Jo’s BBQ today. The second customers in the door. The place looked great, nice remodel. The smell inside will make your stomach growl while in line. We decided to try the Carolina style pork sandwich. It was a good choice, the flavor was excellent. My daughter tried the children’s rib meal. I tasted them, they were great, light smoke flavor. The sweet and smokey sauce was also very good. If your a BBQ fan it’s a must try.” — Steve from Bourbonnais
March 13th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I went to Jimmy Jo’s Friday the 13th (maybe I picked a bad day….). I will not be going back. The place was nice enough & the service was fast & good but that’s it for the good stuff. I originally ordered the 1/2 & 1/2 brisket & pork. I do not like fatty meat so I was hesitant to order a lot of either one. I wanted hot links but they were out of them. I saw them cutting the brisket & it looked lean, so I ordered the full brisket meal instead with the pork on the side. I got home & was so disappointed. I obviously did not get the brisket I saw them cutting. Mine was loaded with fat, over half of what I got was fat. The pork was fatty as well. The sauces were disappointing, too. I did like the Carolina style, it was good but the other two were nothing special. The beans were okay, pretty thin & the potato salad was kind of bland also. I guess Hickory River in Urbana has me spoiled for brisket & Famous Dave’s for chopped pork. In the future, I am not taking any more chances. I spent $14.10 for a bunch of scraps for my dogs. They would probably rate Jimmy Jo’s much higher than I do.
March 16th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
I went to Jimmy Jo’s Saturday the 14th about 6 pm after church. We were told to get there early as they had ran out so I did. I picked up a lot of differant things to take home for our entire family. We had the Cowboy & the Carolina Pork sandwhich. A loaded baked potatoe with brisket which was more than my mother in law could eat (it was huge)The Beef Brisket meal and Hot Link combo and a kids chicken leg meal. I brought home the 3 differant sauces so we could try the meat plain and then add sauce if we wanted. I can say for myself , wife, son & grand daughter we were all pleasently happy. We are a little spoiled as I do a lot of smoking meats with my own home made rubs and home made BBQ sauces but when the weather is bad we will be back. The brisket was lean and flavorful. The hot link had a nice bite to them. The chicken was smoky and moist and I agree with Denise the pork sandwhiches were loaded with chuncks of pork. We had baked beans which were good but the potatoe salad left a lot to be desired. I also hope they put up lighting in the parking lot as my wife has MS and it was getting dark and hard to see.
Rob from Bourbonnais
April 19th, 2009 at 11:38 am
I’m from chicago and was in Bourbannais for the day for the kids museum (4-18-09). I LOVE BBQ and I like to try new places so we stopped for lunch and had the sampler, it was good. I saw someone get the rib tips and they looked so good I had to get two orders to go, I drowned them in your chicago sauce and later that night i reheated them on my grill at home, they were AWESOME, seriously they were the best i have ever had. I will be making excuses to come back to Bourbannais to get more rib tips.