Brisket-palooza at Chicago q,

In case you didn't gorge on enough meat yesterday, Chicago q is here to max out your meat quota for the month with brisket creations served in honor of National Brisket Day today. The Gold Coast barbecue spot is a great place to celebrate the Flinstonian holiday, as chef Lee Ann Whippen is an adept barbecue whisperer, with a particular knack for brisket. All the restaurant's briskets are made from Kobe, the Tiffany of beef. They're smoked in-house in the restaurant's 1,000-pound Southern Pride smokers over white oak and cherry wood and seasoned with Chicago q's housemade rubs. The result is drool-inducing brisket that is sliced and diced and incorporated throughout the menu.

On special today only is Chicago q's brisket mac & cheese. If you thought mac & cheese was decadent before, wait until you try Whippen's version, pimped out with Kobe brisket and brûléed. This is not your mom's mac & cheese, served in hefty cast-iron pans brimming over with bubbly macaroni, studded with thick chunks of smoky brisket. The special goes for $9.75. Elsewhere on the brisket-happy menu, Whippen offers a chopped brisket sandwich, sliced Kobe brisket, and Kobe brisket baked beans. Brisket (and everything else q-related) is available for lunch and dinner.

(Brisket mac & cheese. Photo: Blast Marketing & PR)