Praise the barbecue gods because Black Dog’s original Urbana location is back open. The new chapter for Black Dog in Urbana comes with a new menu. The Champaign location will continue to serve the Black Dog barbecue we know, but the Urbana location will be a spot for new barbecue, new sides, and new sauces from the same smoker and kitchen that started it all.
This weekend, the restaurant is serving dinner by reservation only, but next week, the Broadway Avenue restaurant will be open for walk-ins. This weekend’s dinner is a preview of the new menu in five courses. Last night, I was lucky to be invited for the first dinner service since the restaurant’s closure five years ago. Walking up, I could smell the delicious barbecue aroma wafting through Downtown Urbana from blocks away, and I was excited to see what new things they were cooking up in the old space.
A sampler of Black Dog’s new menu items, the preview started with a first course of smoked shrimp served with a chipotle-lime cocktail sauce. This was very good and probably the smokiest shrimp I’ve ever had. The slow smoking made the shrimp so tender and fabulously flavorful. I kind of only want shrimp cocktail if it tastes like this. The cocktail sauce was zingy and slightly spicy and tasted divine with the smoked shrimp. Black Dog Urbana’s new menu will have this smoked shrimp in a few ways including on some tacos.
Next was a vegetable course of fried cauliflower and sweet potato with a pumpkin seed salsa macha and cilantro. This sauce coated the vegetables instead of being served on the side like the other courses, so every bite had a light layer of that brand-new smoky barbecue sauce. I wished there was more sauce, and no sooner had I thought it, the owner had already started handing out little cups of the sauce to the tables. The sweet potatoes tasted good, but the cauliflower stole the show, tasting insanely delicious with wonderfully crispy florets.
Then came the platter I was most excited about: the pork course. This third plate featured the new menu’s smoked tenderloin and smoked porchetta with two new sides and a new sauce named after the owner’s dog called Auggie’s apple barbecue sauce. On track for Black Dog’s penchant for interesting and tasty barbecue sides, these both were awesome. I loved the collard greens; the leaves had a tender wilt saturated with flavor, and the slow-cooked beans were done right, cooked soft but not mushy, with slices of red pepper throughout. The smoked pork tenderloin was fantastic especially with the sour pickled onions, but I need to give space for the porchetta.
This was probably my favorite bite of the night. This smoked pork was outstanding with rendered fat that had an unctuous, melt like butter texture and amazing peppery, smoky flavor. The smoked meat needed no sauce, but a little dip here and there did elevate the flavors already going on with the pork. I love that Black Dog is serving up so many new tastes that border on familiar but still spark novelty on the palate.
The next course was a show of Black Dog’s new barbecue beef: smoked beef short rib and Santa Maria smoked tri tip with two new sides and a new barbecue sauce. The smoked tri tip was so tender and tasty, but these sides were a little less exciting than the previous ones. Carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower in rustic chops were doused in a very sour vinegar dressing, and the potato wedges were good though definitely needed to be dipped in something. Thankfully this new barbecue housemade sauce was just the cure. I absolutely loved the vinegar tang in this Austin sauce and would say that it’s my new favorite Black Dog sauce.
Since there are no burnt ends at the Urbana location (don’t worry, the Champaign location still offers burnt ends), these smoked beef short ribs are what the owner is hoping will be an acceptable replacement. Having tried them, it was not the same, but they were burnt ends adjacent. The new smoked short ribs tasted deliciously smoky almost like a campfire. They delivered both the yummy rendered fat and the distinctive smokiness like Black Dog’s burnt ends, though I will say a few parts were too chewy for me. Perhaps not every bite of this new barbecue was better than the OG burnt ends, but it still tasted really good and speaking blasphemously, I could see smoked short ribs becoming the new favorite at Black Dog.
Lastly, we ended with a dessert of smoked strawberries with ricotta and mint. What a bold choice for a new dessert. Most barbecue joints do puddings, pies, or something like that, and I thought smoked strawberries sounded so cool. They smoked the berries and then cooked them down and put them over ricotta garnished with fresh mint. This was such a fun, funky finish to the dinner, and of all the new menu items, this one is an absolute must-try. And for those who can’t have dairy, I bet they’d serve just the smoked strawberries alone, which would be worth it because wow. This was something special and totally new yet still very on brand for Black Dog Smoke.
Black Dog Urbana has a curated selection of beer, wine, non-alcoholic beverages, and cocktails. The cocktail list included a margarita and two drinks named after the owners dogs Lola’s pink lemonade and Oscar’s old-fashioned, plus two new ones. I ordered one of the new cocktails called misguided mojito ($10), and it was bright and refreshing.
My friend had the classic margarita ($10), which was great.
Truly, it is a beautiful thing to see Black Dog Urbana open in their original spot smoking meat in their original smoker. It was surreal to be back inside the barbecue joint. The place was like a time capsule, as if no time passed. So much was exactly the same: the smell, the layout, and that cozy, cool charm. The updates that they made to the space (new booths to the front and a sleek new edge to the bar)honored the original location’s style and ambiance.
Sure, Black Dog Urbana could have reopened with the old, original menu, but I kind of dig that they threw away the old (or at least put it over in Champaign) and went with a new Urbana menu for the Urbana location’s new chapter. Seriously, why not? They’ve got the barbecue skills and some great staff, so let them play. I love that we can taste something new at a restaurant we already know and love — and have been missing for a long time.
A few seats remain for Saturday’s reservation-only preview dinner. Snag the last seats here.
Black Dog Urbana
201 N Broadway Ave
Urbana
Tu-Sa 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (starting Thursday April 3rd)
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