Sometimes you find a place that was sort of under your nose for quite some time, but you never really knew what the place was all about. It wasn't until recently that I found out that the Twin Anchors in Chicago's Old Town section was a famous rib joint.
Located at the corner of Sedgewick and Eugenie north of North Ave., the Twin Anchors has been in business since the early 1930's. The building, which was built in the 1880's, was a tavern in the 19-teens and I was told that the Schlitz Brewing Company donated the bar in the building - the same one that is in use today. The Walters family opened the Twin Anchors just before the ban of prohibition was overturned, and it was said the place may have been a speakeasy in the 20's.
By the way, the name "Twin Anchors" came from the Walters' family affiliation with the Chicago Yacht Club.
Phil Tuzi eventually bought the Twin Anchors from the Walters and the legend of the babyback ribs began. Frank Sinatra first came into the Twin Anchors in the 50's and made the place one of his favorite stops in Chicago. There's pictures of Sinatra on the walls.
Phil Tuzi has long since died and his brother, Paul, and their two sisters run the place. In fact, I think one of the sisters was the hostess the day I was there recently.
I got there early - about 5:30 p.m. and found a place to park on Sedgewick just north of the Twin Anchors across from a school. (They also have valet parking for $7 bucks if there's no place to park on the street.) There's the main bar to your right when you come in and there are a number of round booths up front. I was seated at a smaller table along the wall in a back room to the place.
Actually, I had a pretty good sized lunch earlier in the day and I wasn't overly hungry. I was hoping that I could get a half slab of ribs, but they don't do that. The waitress said, "I can bring you half a slab, but they cost the same as a full slab."
So, I had to get a full slab (the waitress told me I could get what I didn't eat to go). I also had a choice of sides - fries, onion rings, baked beans and some other stuff. I went with the baked beans.
They have two different types of sauce - the mild and the zesty. I asked if I could try both and the waitress said that was fine. She brought out a nice sized slab of ribs. They were somewhat meaty and I thought at first they may have been parboiled before they were put on a barbecue grille. Actually, they were sort of burnt, but still edible. The meat did have a good smoky flavor to it.
I tried the mild sauce and it was pretty weak. The zesty sauce did have a kick to it and it was the typical smoky/sweet sauce that barbecue joints use when they do parboil the ribs.
The baked beans - when some of the zesty sauce was added - were pretty damned good. They had chunks of pork and onion in them. I was impressed with them.
The ambiance of the Twin Anchors was decidedly 60's in flavor. Dark wood paneling, some pictures of celebs on the wall, a big "Positively No Dancing" sign on the wall (there's some story behind that, I'm sure) and a neat old jukebox that had a lot of older songs on it.
I did only eat about half the ribs and the waitress did box 'em up and put 'em in a sack for me. The hotel I was staying at that evening did have a refrigerator and a microwave in the room, so a snack before bed was in order.
When she brought me my bill, I made the major mistake of asking the waitress if the ribs were parboiled. She recoiled in horror and said, "Oh, my God no! These are slow cooked in our cooker for 7 to 8 hours each day!"
And it was expensive, too - a slab of ribs and three beers came to $32.33 before tip. I thought I'd better give her a $6.50 tip since I had the audacity to question if the ribs were parboiled.
The Twin Anchors is as close to a tourist trap that a Chicago neighborhood bar can be. The ribs are good, not the best I've ever had, but still good. I thought they were a little overcooked. The sweet zesty sauce saved them.
I'd still go back. It was pretty neat.
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