Sweet Caroline, ba, ba, baa

Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.

You hear Neil Diamond singing the song “Sweet Caroline” and everyone in the audience chimes in with “Ba, Ba, Baa.” Are you at a Neil Diamond concert? Are you at a Denny Diamond Concert in the Drendel Ballroom? Or are you at a Boston Red Sox game in Fenway Park? The answer to all of the above is “yes,” but you also could be at Sweet Caroline’s Crab-n-Que in Hoffman Estates.

This restaurant has a southern “Down on the Bayou” feel. On weekends they offer entertainment, so if you are planning on socializing with a bunch of friends, start strengthening up your vocal chords. Sweet Caroline’s offers a variety of seating arrangements from high tops, to a communal table, to the norm.

We decided to forgo an appetizer this evening, so instead we ordered the Spicy Caesar Salad (full order $10) for us to share. This was romaine lettuce, cornbread croutons, chopped bacon, and Parmesan cheese tossed with a jalapeno Caesar dressing. In our opinion, it was just a Caesar salad. We really couldn’t taste any jalapeno peppers in the dressing.

They do things differently in the bayou. We ordered our entrees and then we received a basket of four rolls drenched in butter with a Cajun seasoning on top. These delicious buns would have been a great accompaniment with the salad.

Nancy wanted to go with the restaurant theme “Crab-n-Que” and that’s exactly what she had. She ordered the King Crab-n-Que ($31) which was a half pound of Alaskan King Crab Legs and her choice of either Pulled Pork, BBQ Beef Brisket, a quarter Chicken, four bones of ribs, or Andouille Sausage. She opted for the Pulled Pork. She also had a choice of two side dishes and she went with their signature BBQ Baked Beans and Cole Slaw (mild). Caroline was very generous with the pulled pork this evening. After Nancy devoured the crab legs, she only picked at the pulled pork. Suddenly a light bulb over her blonde head lit up. She took the two extra rolls, sliced them in half, stuffed them with the pork, and I got BBQ Pork Sliders for lunch.

Between the two of us, we wanted to try as many items as we could. No we are not pigs; we are only thinking of you, our loyal readers. With this in mind, Jim went with the Pick Three BBQ Plate ($22). He chose the Beef Brisket, four bones of Baby Back Ribs, and added the Kickin’ Creole Shrimp for a $4 up charge. For his two side dishes he chose spicy Cole Slaw and Beef Brisket Chili. The shining star of this plate was the Kickin’ Creole Shrimp. It was six sautéed jumbo shrimp with creole spices, garlic, and Cajun butter in a rich seafood beer broth. It was well worth the extra $4!

When it comes to doughnuts, Jim has no will power. He was reading the menu and spotted the Bacon Maple Glazed Doughnuts ($6) for dessert. This turned out to be a paper cone filled with what seemed to be a never-ending supply of doughnut holes with the bacon maple glaze on the side for dipping. OMG, these little morsels were really decadent!

This unusual theme for a BBQ restaurant actually worked. All the food is served sans sauce, so you can pick from the three available sauces on the table. They are Hot and Spicy, Caroline’s Favorite, and Kansas City Style. The Dining Duo’s pick is Caroline’s Favorite Sauce.

FYI: Handicap accessible and reservations are a must on weekends.

The cost for our Crabby BBQ was $87.86, y’all.

Jim’s take: My two favorites were the ribs and the shrimp. Do not pass up those doughnuts for dessert.

Nancy’s take: Jim won, the shrimp was my favorite and I’m going back for more. I was able to wrestle a couple of doughnut holes from Jim’s sticky little fingers and they were awesome.

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com.

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