A nationally recognized Chicago pitmaster has set up shop inside a University of Chicago dining hall, bringing smoked brisket, Wagyu dogs and barbecue-style tacos to Hyde Park students. Dominique Leach's Little Betty Smokehouse is now serving inside Hutchinson Commons at 1133 E 57th Street, marking the first expansion in five years for her Chicago-style barbecue concept.
Accounts of the exact opening date vary. According to FoodService Director, the location officially opened in late September, while UChicago Dining had earlier announced an August 24 opening, and Eater Chicago reported that Leach announced on Instagram a Monday, September 28 start date. Whichever date marks the true debut, the smokehouse is now up and running on campus.
From Food Truck to University Dining Hall
Leach's path to Hutchinson Commons began years before any truck pulled onto campus. Her business started as a catering company, grew into a food truck, and eventually opened a brick-and-mortar location in Chicago's South Side Pullman neighborhood in 2019, per the FoodService Director report. She started the concept with her wife, Tanisha, the outlet notes, and Leach has since appeared on five Food Network cooking shows.
Leach's food truck had already made the rounds at University of Chicago events, and she spent five years judging Chartwells Higher Education's annual BBQ Grill Competition, held every fall at the university in Hyde Park. That judging stint put her directly in front of Thomas Gilbert, Chartwells' area director of culinary operations, who invited her to bring the concept to campus once a vendor opening became available. Gilbert told the outlet Dominique was the first person he called, adding that she has always been a great partner and flexible, and that the new concept complements the university dining program.
What's on the Menu
The Hutchinson Commons menu centers on three smoked proteins — pulled pork, pulled chicken and brisket — served on fries, nachos, mac and cheese, salads, tacos or sandwiches, or on their own with a side like coleslaw or baked beans, the report states. The barbecue-style tacos, built with smoked meat, barbecue sauce, tomatillo salsa, pickled red onions, cotija cheese, fresh cilantro and a corn tortilla, were introduced specifically at the university location and have become an instant hit with students.
Betty's Beef, an Italian beef sandwich loaded with chopped brisket, American cheese, giardiniera, au jus and barbecue-seasoned fries, also appears on the menu, alongside a salmon burger and a chopped salad. Three Wagyu dog varieties — original, barbecue and Chicago-style — round out the lineup, and those dogs are the only Little Betty Smokehouse items available through the student meal plan, according to the same report.
Running a Smokehouse Inside a Dining Hall
Operating inside a university food hall comes with some adjustments. The station uses kiosk ordering and pickup through Grubhub rather than direct counter service, and Chartwells supplied a cooler, flat top and new hot box to get the kitchen running. Leach brings smoked meats from the Pullman location every day, relying on a J&R smoker at that original site, which she plans to lean on increasingly as a commissary kitchen as the campus outpost grows.
Leach expects more than 1,000 students to pass through the dining hall daily, and the university presence has already generated additional catering opportunities both at the University of Chicago and at other local universities, per the FoodService Director account. Hutchinson Commons itself houses six operating restaurants spanning cuisines from around the world, most of them local-owned concepts, according to UChicago Dining, which also notes that students can pay with Phoenix cASH, Dining Dollars or Meal Exchanges there. Chartwells, for its part, has built its retail concepts around local partners like Leach rather than national chains.
Leach has said she has spoken to Black student bodies at universities and other venues, a reflection of the visibility her barbecue brand has built well beyond Hyde Park. That profile was already evident in 2022, when her Wagyu steak dogs were slated to roll out in 44 Mariano's stores through a partnership with the grocery chain, according to a report from WTTW. For now, her latest venture is drawing a steady line of hungry students through a Hyde Park dining hall that, by several accounts, finally has barbecue on the menu.
