We’ve been coming to Une Année | Hubbard’s Cave in Niles for years and somehow never got around to writing about it. That changes now. The weather cooperated on a Friday night, so we rounded up some friends, grabbed our usual picnic table in the back, and settled in for a few hours of drinks, BBQ, and the kind of easy backyard hang this place does better than almost anywhere else around here.
Une Année | Hubbard’s Cave at a Glance
- Where: 6343 W Gross Point Rd, Niles, IL
- Price: $$ (mac and cheese side $7, goat cheese spread $12)
- Vibe: Brewery and BBQ kitchen, taproom up front, big backyard patio with picnic tables, a stage, and string lights
- Order: Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese, Pretzel and Queso, Seasoned Fries
- Skip: Honey Herb Goat Cheese Spread
- Good for: A backyard hang with friends, families early in the night, live music
The Patio and Getting a Table
If you haven’t been, Une Année Hubbard’s Cave is a brewery and BBQ kitchen with a taproom up front and a big backyard patio in back, complete with picnic tables, a stage for live music, yard games, and string lights. Early in the night it’s genuinely great for families. Kids can run around, there’s plenty of room, and nobody’s rushing anyone out.
We always sit at the picnic tables in back, and those require a reservation. Thankfully they run everything through OpenTable, so booking one takes about thirty seconds. If you’re just a two-top, the smaller tables around the edges of the patio are first come, first served and don’t need a reservation, but for the picnic tables, book ahead. Just make the reservation now and thank me later.
Ordering happens entirely from your phone via a QR code at the table, which sounds gimmicky until you realize it means never flagging down a server for another round. Open your tab, add whatever you want, and it shows up. For a picnic table patio setup like this one, it’s exactly the right call.
Drinks
None of us in our group are big beer drinkers, so I’ll leave the actual beer commentary to people more qualified than me. There’s a rotating lineup of 24 house-made beers on tap, and given the crowd we saw ordering, most people are very happy with the selection. We’re just not the target audience there.
What I can vouch for is the hard seltzer. I get the Blackberry Agave from Untitled Art’s Florida Seltzer line pretty much every time, and it’s genuinely delicious, more real fruit flavor than boozy seltzer aftertaste. My wife sticks with the Blood Orange Pomegranate from the same lineup and likes it just as much. If hard seltzer is your speed, they’ve got you covered.
I was also curious about the THC drinks on the menu, but the only ones in stock that night were the iced tea versions. They were out of the strawberry lemonade, which is the one I actually wanted, so that’ll have to wait for next time.
Pretzel and Queso
This is the appetizer we can’t stop ordering. One giant, warm, twisty pretzel comes with a cheddar cheese dipping sauce and their house “cave monster” sauce, a mash-up of mustard, honey, BBQ, and sour cream. We ordered it once, then twice, then somehow ended up with three pretzels by the end of the night. The queso side is the move here. It’s rich, warm, and good enough that we started dipping other things in it too. Easy recommend, and probably order two if there’s more than three of you at the table.
Seasoned Fries
The Seasoned App Fries ($9) are simple and they work. Crispy fries dusted in Une Année’s sweet and spicy house rub, built to be dunked straight into that queso from the pretzel order. The seasoning adds a layer the fries wouldn’t have on their own, and fries plus queso is one of those pairings that sounds obvious once you’ve had it. Order this.
Honey Herb Goat Cheese Spread
We branched out this time and tried the Honey Herb Goat Cheese Spread with focaccia crisps ($12), a creamy blend of goat cheese, wildflower honey, green onions, dill, and garlic. It’s not bad. It’s just not essential. Nothing about it is wrong, it just doesn’t compete with the pretzel and queso for our attention. If you’ve already ordered those two, I’d skip this one and save the room.
Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese
Here’s the dish we actually come here for. Une Année’s mac and cheese starts as an 8oz side ($7) of cavatappi noodles in a five-cheese sauce, but topped with a heap of their sweet and spicy pulled pork shoulder, it becomes the best thing on the menu, full stop. My wife and I order this every single time and have never once been tempted to branch out, at least not for our entrees. It’s cheesy, the pork is well seasoned, and it hits the way it’s supposed to, every time. I’d reorder this without thinking twice, and honestly, we already know we will, probably within a few weeks.
The kids went with a hot dog and their own mac and cheese off the kids menu and cleaned both plates, which is really the only review that matters when you’re feeding children.
Steak and Fries
Our friends ordered what looked like a steak and fries dish, essentially a bed of seasoned fries topped with sliced steak (skirt steak, we think) and covered in a notably peppery gravy. We couldn’t track down this exact combination on the current online menu, so it may be a rotating or dine-in-only special, but it’s in the same family as the Chimichurri Skirt Steak Sandwich on their regular menu. It wasn’t bad, but the gravy leans hard into black pepper and peppercorn. If you’re sensitive to pepper, this is the one to skip.
The Pizza
Since it’s been on the menu for about a year now, we finally tried the pizza, and I’ll save you the trip: skip it. Une Année’s 12-inch pizzas are described on the menu as “cracker thin crust,” which is a stretch. It’s thin, sure, but not cracker thin. The sauce is unremarkable, and the cheese has this strange, watery, thin quality that reminded me of the provel-style cheese Imo’s uses in St. Louis, except this wasn’t provel, more like a mozzarella that just wasn’t working. It’s edible, I had a few pieces, but with this much good BBQ on the menu, ordering the pizza here doesn’t make much sense. If you’re craving proper thin crust in the area, D’Agostino’s, also in Niles, does it a lot better.
The Verdict
None of this changes how we feel about Une Année Hubbard’s Cave overall. We love this place, and we’ll keep coming back for the patio, the pretzel and queso, and that pulled pork mac and cheese. We won’t be ordering the pizza again, but that’s fine, there’s no shortage of good pizza nearby. If backyard beer garden energy is your thing, this is basically the platonic ideal of it around here, similar in spirit to what we found at Smylie Brothers Brewing Co. in Evanston, just with a much better mac and cheese. If you are already in Niles for the night, our Kouklas review covers a Greek spot worth pairing with it. Make the reservation, grab a picnic table, and start with the pretzel.
AntiFoodie Rating: 8.5/10
Une Année | Hubbard’s Cave FAQ
What should I order at Une Année Hubbard’s Cave?
The Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese. It is a side of cavatappi in five cheese sauce topped with their sweet and spicy pulled pork shoulder, and it is the best thing on the menu, full stop.
Does Une Année Hubbard’s Cave have outdoor seating?
Yes, a big backyard patio with picnic tables, a stage for live music, yard games, and string lights.
Is Une Année Hubbard’s Cave kid friendly?
Early in the night, genuinely yes. The patio and the yard games make it easy with kids before the evening crowd picks up.
What kind of food does Une Année Hubbard’s Cave serve?
It is a brewery with a BBQ kitchen. Smoked meat and barbecue, plus shareables like the pretzel and queso, seasoned fries, and pizza.
Is the Honey Herb Goat Cheese Spread worth ordering?
It is fine, but not essential. If you have already ordered the pretzel and queso, skip it and save the room.
