Southern: Big Jones

Gumbo ya-ya and mud pie add a modern touch to Big Jones' menu

By Jeff Ruby

Take a look at that photo. Smart-looking room, isn't it? The kind of place you would find, say, a smoked duck breast with braised parsley and marinated asparagus. Certainly not pork hocks and gumbo ya-ya or the kind of Mississippi mud pie that plucks you from an Andersonville storefront and airmails you to a plantation in Biloxi. Big Jones's modern Southern menu has plenty of crowd pleasers, but that pie—a gooey, warm slice of the classic with a touch of whipped cream and a crumbly Oreo crust—made the biggest impression on this reporter. OK, full disclosure: I dreamed about it two nights later, and I'm not embarrassed to say so. 5347 N. Clark St.; 773-275-5725.

Photography:(SHOCHU) Blackbox Studios, Inc.

This article appears in the July 2008 issue of Chicago Magazine.

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