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20 | October 4, 2018 | The Homer Horizon dining out
homerhorizon.com
The Dish
Bear Down Barbecue remains competitive with new additions, TV show appearance
James Sanchez
Contributing Editor
Bear Down Barbecue &
Catering Co.
20857 South La Grange
Road in Frankfort
Hours
• 11 a.m.-8 p.m. or
when all meat is sold out
Tuesday-Saturday
• Closed for dine-in/
carryout; catering
available
For more information ...
Phone: (779) 324-5256
Web: www.
beardownbarbecue.com
No one’s more excited
than Rashid Riggins when
it comes to the Chicago
Bears’ potential this season.
And his love for his hometown
team is exemplified
through food.
Riggins opened down
Bear Down Barbecue in
Frankfort in 2016. And
while the Bears made key
moves over the summer, including
the acquisitions of
All-Pro defensive lineman
Khalil Mack and an entirely
new receiving core, Riggins
made several additions to
his menu, as well.
The biggest is the restaurant’s
first dessert option:
Bomb Banana Pudding
($3.75 for 6 ounces,
$8.25 for a pint). It is a
secret recipe that is topped
with crushed vanilla wafers
for texture. Another
is the No-Huddle Nachos,
which is a plate of tortilla
chips piled with one’s
choice of smoked chicken,
pork, turkey ($10.25) or
beef ($12.25), topped with
melted cheddar cheese, jalapeño,
sour cream, green
onion, signature seasoning,
homemade Cowboy Beans
and the signature barbecue
sauce.
Similar to the nachos is
the new Left-Tackle Loaded
Fries, which has the same
foundation and price as
the nachos but without the
Cowboy Beans, sour cream
and jalapeño. Riggins also
created a macaroni and
cheese recipe that features
a blend of smoked cheeses
topped with any meat
and barbecue sauce called
the Smokehouse Mac-N-
Cheese ($10.25 for pulled
pork, chicken or turkey; or
$12.25 for beef).
“We wanted to keep diversifying
the menu, offering
fun things that would be
attractive to grown-ups and
kids,” Riggins said. “We do
look at ourselves as a kidfriendly
restaurant.
“Those were things that I
knew I would add eventually.
We just always want to
add things a little at a time.
We don’t want to just throw
new stuff on the menu. I
want to ensure we’re giving
out quality menu items.”
On top of the new dishes,
Riggins added to his cooking
staff because of the
increased customer base.
Chef Amanda Augustyniak,
a Mokena resident, joined
Bear Down over the summer
after receiving her culinary
degree.
Augustyniak said this
role is more than just helping
boost Bear Down’s efficiency;
it is expanding her
culinary horizons, too.
“Back then, my dad
would do barbecue chicken
in the backyard, but it was
just Sweet Baby Ray’s and
chicken,” Augustyniak said.
“So, I wanted to learn something
new.”
And through three
months, she said she has
already learned a lot from
Riggins’ barbecue prowess
and philosophy. Riggins has
been a pitmaster for more
than a decade.
“Low and slow is the way
to go,” she said. “Don’t
rush anything. If you rush
something, it’s not going
to turn out right. And the
highest quality ingredients
[are] your No. 1 priority.
You never want to take any
shortcuts.”
Riggins said he studied
barbecue techniques from
all over the globe, then developed
his own cooking
style, spice rub and sauce.
He cooks with cherry wood
and oak wood for a balanced,
smoke flavor. His
seasoning features 22 ingredients,
and his sauce is “a
little sweet, with a little heat
in the back end, and in the
middle there’s a little tang.”
Catering to a certain type
of barbecue style takes
away from its versatility, he
said.
“Sometimes, I feel sorry
for region-specific pitmasters,
because they have to
remain inside that box.”
Riggins said. “If you’re
in Texas, you only have to
put salt and pepper on your
brisket, and brisket can really
sing when you add other
things to it. We’re kind of
more like mavericks with
the way we do things.”
His spin on barbecue
caught the attention of one
of his favorite shows. “Chicago’s
Best” — a television
show on WGN — reached
out to do a feature on Bear
Down earlier this year. As
an added bonus, the show
sent out co-host Brittney
Payton — daughter of Hall
of Fame Chicago Bears running
back Walter Payton —
to lead the segment.
“I kind of teared up,”
he said. “I’ve been a fan
of ‘Chicago’s Best’ since
its inception — like, a decade
I’ve been watching.
We were feeding them the
whole time. Brittney was
eating the whole time. I’ve
Among Bear Down Barbecue’s signature items are the ribs. The St. Louis-cut spareribs
can be served dressed with a signature barbecue sauce, just the dry rub or both. Photos by
Thomas Czaja/22nd Century Media
The new homemade banana pudding is the restaurant’s first dessert item.
never been on TV like that.
It’s weird to be on a TV
show that you’re a fan of.”
Riggins said he hopes
the exposure allows him to
one day expand to a bigger
place around the same area,
with a liquor license and
stage for jazz and blues. But
as for now, he is focused on
his food.
“We feel like you could
lift our restaurant and sit it
in the heart of Alabama, and
we’d still be a competitive
barbecue joint,” Riggins
said. “That’s the level of
quality we put forward.”