Owner James Sanders worked his way from a first kitchen job at Ryan's Steakhouse through culinary school, a stint prepping food for the Chicago Bears, and years running Harold's Chicken franchises that grew to 22 locations nationwide, before founding Fuse Catering — the first Black-owned company to cater events at the Art Institute of Chicago, later landing the 2024 Democratic National Convention and the Obama Foundation Athletic Center. When he finally opened his own barbecue spot in Beverly in June 2024, he partnered with pitmaster Nick Kelutsch to fuse Texas-style smoking technique with Midwestern flavor, and the combination landed hard: the New York Times named it among the best restaurants in America in 2025, specifically calling out the oxtail gumbo as one of the most irresistible Southern dishes in the country right now. The rest of the menu backs that up — brisket, ribs, house-made sausages, fried catfish, and peach tea wings that have become their own small legend, plus sweet potato cornbread and collard greens that round out a genuinely Southern spread rather than a barbecue-only menu.
It's popular enough now that wait times can stretch toward an hour, and a second location at The Promontory in Hyde Park is already in the works. Hours run Wednesday through Sunday, 11am to 9pm, closed Monday and Tuesday — plan around that before making the trip, because this is the rare neighborhood barbecue joint with a genuinely national reputation now attached to it.
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