It’s BBQ season and award-winning pitmaster and Illinois Institute of Art-trained Chef Dominique Leach is serving tangy starters, platters, Wagyu dogs, sandwiches, and soulful sides on the South Side. Located in the historic Pullman neighborhood near large Amazon, US Bank, and Method Soap campuses, the Lexington Betty Smokehouse is just off of I94 at 756 E. 111th Street (parking available), so stock up for a flavorful picnic spread if heading to Lake Calumet or points beyond (the Pullman Porter Museum will re-open in 2027).
Humboldt Park native Chef Dom started out as an in-demand barbecue caterer and hosted occasional pop-ups. She has traveled around the world to inform her cooking, including visits to Thailand, Lagos, Italy, Korea, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. She started a food truck business in 2016, but that truck burned in 2017 and was replaced in March of the following year. Then a Chicago neighborhood pilot project helped her open her first brick-and-mortar location in February 2020 on the South Side, in “one of the beating hearts of African American history in the United States…in Pullman, a utopia of urban life bumping with steel, railroad and meatpacking labor.”
Chef Dom named her restaurant after her grandmother, Betty of Lexington, Mississippi, who was part of the Great Migration to Bronzeville, Chicago, where she still lives at age 90 (and has even cooked for President Obama). The restaurant is also an homage to their family meals, especially Fourth of July gatherings (plus, Dom’s birthday is July 5). She was able to deliver box lunches to nearby workers and the police station to survive through the COVID lockdowns. And she’s opening an outlet on the University of Chicago campus for students in August, and has also started working on her memoir, including recipes.
Chef Dom regularly participates in regional BBQ events, like the Windy City Smokeout and Taste of Chicago, both running July 8 through 12, and for the first time at Lollapalooza, running July 30 through August 2 (she also just participated in Ribfest from June 5 to 7). The Chicago Family Reunion Fest, which brought in Black chefs from around the country, was canceled this year due to a lack of funds.
Chef Dom’s reputation earned her a spot on the Food Network’s Chopped, which she won in 2020, as well as Bobby Flay’s BBQ Brawl, where she received “Master of ‘Cue” honors in 2023. She was a judge and contestant on Food Network Canada’s Fire Masters, too. She was also recognized for making the “Best Barbeque in Chicago” by Good Morning America, and is a Mariano’s Tastemaker. When asked about the difficulty of being a Black lesbian pitmaster in a male-dominated business, Chef Dom said, “I get a kick out of being underestimated.”
Like many female entrepreneurs, Chef Dom knows the value of representation, so she mentors, as well as employs, her young, friendly staffers. She continues to hustle to make things work on the South Side, where city services remain less reliable than in the north. After the damaging storms in mid-June, her area lost power for five days, so she had to scramble to move her perishables to other spaces (like her alma mater) to mitigate massive product losses. “I’m resilient but tired,” she said.
Lexington Betty’s family-inspired soul food offerings are delicious, including a vegan pulled jackfruit sandwich. Betty’s specials feature all types of BBQ, from pork to chicken to beef, rib tips, and brisket. In addition to a la carte offerings and meal platters, brisket, pulled pork, and beef sausage are sold by the pound. Sides include greens, candied yams, beans, mac and cheese, BBQ-seasoned fries, coleslaw, and fluffy cornbread, with banana pudding for dessert. Grab a jar of her signature piquant sauce and a box of her signature mac and cheese as well.
Cindy’s Rooftop offers outdoor and indoor seating, under a glass atrium with a fireplace, as well as a private dining room. The bar and eatery is located at the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, 12 South Michigan (and not afraid to embrace the 13th floor there), offering one of the best, all-season views of downtown (live view here) including: the Bean, the lakefront, Millennium Park, and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, which is apt since the restaurant is named after philanthropist Marian “Cindy” Pritzker.
Brunch is offered Saturdays and Sundays until 2 p.m. Lunch is available Monday through Friday, until 2 p.m., featuring sandwiches, salads, entrees, and East Coast oysters. Bar snacks are served between 2:30 and 5 p.m. and offer Pink Moon oysters. Dinner is served between 5 and 10 p.m., and features Bar Harbor mussels, duck pot pie, branzino, mushroom risotto, and rigatoni alla vodka. The late-night menu starts at 10 p.m., and many cocktail and mocktail options are offered, as well as wine and liqueurs.
The Chicago Athletic Association, which has a collegiate Hogwarts feel from many historic, dark wooden rooms, also offers ongoing, paid classes throughout the building so visitors can curate a lively downtown event and food experience. I signed up for an hour-long sound bath class, which sounded like much-needed relaxation. The instructor was supportive and engaging, using large pink sound bowls and other soothing, ocean-wave-sounding instruments. Unfortunately, the hotel was catering events that day, so most of what we heard was the sound of cooking from the nearby kitchen and chairs being moved out of storage. Upcoming events include a roller dance fitness class on July 19, a bookbinding workshop on July 22, a Pokémon Trade Day Mini-Expo and a barre class on July 25, and karaoke in the game room on the first Friday of every month from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
This coverage was made possible by a promotional invitation. Our opinions and editorial choices remain entirely our own.
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