photo: alex martinez

Take your pick of pig parts when barbecue pro Myron Mixon runs the smoker at the Windy City Smokeout in July. 

Mark your calendars with a big smudge of barbecue sauce for July 12 to 14, when the Melman kids—R.J., Jerrod, and Molly—throw the Windy City Smokeout in a parking lot at the corner of Illinois and Rush.

The Melmans, also behind Hub 51, Paris Club, and the recently reopened Bub City, have invited barbecue specialists such as Lillie’s Q, Smoque, and the telegenic competitive pit master Myron Mixon to showcase their wares. “Myron Mixon will be doing whole hog Saturday and Sunday,” says Doug Psaltis, the chef at RPM Italian and other Melmanic enterprises. “Every part you want. Whatever you like.”

Two of barbecue’s best friends, country music and beer, will also be in attendance. And if you forget to mark your calendar, by Thursday night, smell alone will remind you.