ribs & bbq in Chicagoland

I always thought that Chicago was a big bbq city, but I don't see any threads reflecting that, so I guess I'll start one!

I didn't get bbq as often as I'd have liked, being a northsider and spending most of my last few years in the city (when I had money to go out to eat) around vegetarians, sigh. But a couple of places stand out:

Hecky's, a little stand on the corner of Green Bay and Emerson in Evanston, had awesome hot links, very good (rather spicy) ribs and chicken...served with white bread and commercial crinkle-cut fries, but cheap and great for take-out.

Robinsons, a primarily south-side chain, much the same as Hecky's, less spicy and more sweet, smaller menu but they had a location downtown where I worked. Mmmm. BBQ for lunch.

Carsons, large semi-upscale chain in the city and North-NW side, decent but unspectacular. Good cheesy scalloped potatos.

Merle's, my favorite, a large Texan-themed joint in Evanston that played country music or Elvis, had huge platters ("barnyard" platters) of bbq chicken/ribs/shrimp with lots of choices of sides, a nice bar, bit on the expensive side but as nice a place as you'd find North of downtown. Good specials & deserts, at least 2 choices of sauces available for all the bbq items.

Anybody else with more Chicagoland bbq choices? And anyone else remember the late, lamented, Randalls?

The Texan BBQ in Algonquin is a true Roadfood find. They smoke all of their own meats and they serve everything from brisket and ribs to chicken and sausage.

Gale Street Inn (in Chicago not Mundelien) are reported to have good ribs.

Jimmy's Char House (various locations) and Andrews (Park Ridge) have great ribs and chicken.

One place that you wouldn't (at least me) expect to find good ribs is Barnellis. They are part of the Portillos chain and can often be found in a Portillos establishment.

In my time in Chicago, the only place I went to was the Gale Street Inn, at the suggestion of a co-worker. They were supposedly famous for ribs and crab legs, so thats what I ordered. I never had real BBQ ribs before, but I new this wasn't it. They were disappointing at the time and since then I've real BBQ experience to back up that opinion.

Around the same time, Leon's BBQ opened a northside shop. We used to smell the smoke when we went to the nearby Hagen-Daz shop. Never got the ribs, as the Gale Street experience left me with the impression that ribs were just chewy, greasy and messy...too bad I hear Leon's is great.

Cosmos....

Chicago doesn't have any good rib joints...sorry!

Leon's I have been to a couple times and was not impressed with them either.

But, then again, I tend to be a BBQ snob!

Stogie

I'll second the Texan in Algonquin.

I am a native Chicagoan. In my opinion, the BBQ availability is disappointing. That is why I always seek out BBQ first when I am traveling. My favorite is Hillery's in North Chicago. Take out only. Great ribs and tips. Hecky's and Merles, both in Evanston are quite good.

It's pretty hard to find smoked BBQ in Chicago though I will vouch for Merle's smoking their own meat. They also do some nice dishes that are a little more Tex-Mex style and a great dish called "double shot pork chops" that are grilled with a honey and whiskey glaze.

While much "chicago-style" BBQ may not appeal to purists. I believe there is something to be said for well cooked ribs that have never been within miles of smoking wood. Gale Street Inn and Biassetti's are both great.

Badwaiter has a good point. We had some ribs in our local area that appeared to be baked in the oven buried in a tomato/chile type sauce.
They were a greasy mess, falling off the bone, and delicious. They had nothing in common with BBQ ribs- they were their own thing and they did not pretend to be BBQ. Alas, neither of us can now remember the place but we agree it was not far from home...

Russells BBQ on Thatcher & North in Melrose Park, IL has a great BBQ beef sandwich. The best baby backers were at the Cork Restaurant in Skokie, which closed years ago. The Cork still bottles and sells their fantastic creamy garlic salad dressing called Corkquette in some of the Chicago specialty food stores. Look for it in the refrigerated section. It has a very short shelf life. Houston's Restaurant on Rush Street in Chicago has great baby back ribs which are definitely worth the wait.

In the western suburbs, Uncle Bub's on Cass Avenue in Westmont is a good one. They definately smoke their own and make a pretty good bbq sauce.

If you want excellent BBQ head out to Belvidere.There is a place downtown called All American BBQ and it is great.There is a Southern Yankee pit out front chugging along and is run by a family from Texas.The ribs are ok with sauce on the side but the brisket and pulled pork are excellant.As far as side dishes skip the beans as they are just Bushes.It is pretty much a carryout and have a couple of picnic tables outside.I have been going to the Texan in Algonquin for about 20 years but when they added the bar and remodeled the quality seemed to go downhill.It seemed to turn into a yuppie place with all the local growth.

Now that I think about it, I know there is (or was) good smoked ribs in Chicago, just not commercially available. I recall taking the 'L' from the northside to school (UIC...in 1985), and somewhere near Clybourn Ave. I'd always see some guys stoking up a smoker in their back yard. I recall it smelled a heck of a lot better than the smoke from the hot dog factory.

Never stopped in to see if it was for sale though.

These are places I've heard are good
The Fireplace Inn
Lem's
Leon's
Twin Anchors
Robinson's

Hello All,

I am a native Chicago guy, with an intense passion for Barbeque, and have found this discussion interesting but feel that some key points have been left out.

Just about all of the places mentioned so far have either been in the downtown area or the Northern suburbs. Neither location is conducive to finding good barbeque which the best in Chicago is found either on the South Side in dicey neighborhoods, or in the SW suburbs which are a huge hotbed in places like Hickory Hills.

In the NW suburbs, I do also like the Great Texas Barbeque in Algonquin as several people have mentioned, but their Ribs and sandwiches are rather unremarkable. Their best item are the smokehouse chicken wings which are spicy, meaty, and have a nice smoked flavor.

In Hickory Hills, the two best places are Baby Joe's BBQ Co. which has won several awards and is very good. And my personal favorite is "The Pit" which is outstanding wood pit BBQ. The Ribs have a sweet spicy sauce and are nice and tender. The pulled pork is addictive. They also have a very nice wood grilled Greek Chicken.

I have tried most of the chains in the area (Carsons, Robinsons, Houstons) and agree with the assessment that they are uninspired. As a sidenote for those traveling the length of the state of Illinois, that at the Southern end in places like Murphysboro and the like, there is a tremendous volume of quality BBQ. Several teams that have won Memphis in May are from that area, and have long since retired from competative events but have opened up their own restaurants.

Glenn

Alas, Leon's closed its North Side store more than 15 years ago. We used to go there for lunch in high school (which was just down Clark Street from Leon's), and have chicken wings for lunch and Mrs. Field's cookies for dessert. Those were the days.

Nowadays, I still enjoy Leon's fried chicken wings (I don't eat pork) at the chain's South Side locations, and Hecky's is the place for BBQ on the North Shore. Hecky's sauce is smoky and sweet. Great fries, too.

Skip the Twin Anchors....highly overrated.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmos

Now that I think about it, I know there is (or was) good smoked ribs in Chicago, just not commercially available. I recall taking the 'L' from the northside to school (UIC...in 1985), and somewhere near Clybourn Ave. I'd always see some guys stoking up a smoker in their back yard. I recall it smelled a heck of a lot better than the smoke from the hot dog factory.

Never stopped in to see if it was for sale though.

The place you mentioned on Clybourn is the Chicago rib shack of my dreams, called Edith's Barbecue. An old friend took me there in the late 1970s. He'd park in the bus stop so Mama Edith could keep an eye on his car. The other white people grabbed their ribs and ran, but we knew that was no way to treat a lady, and Mama Edith was just that. The ribs were always tender, with the right smoky taste. She brushed her sauce on just before serving. Carson's always wanted to buy her sauce recipe after Chicago Magazine said it was the very best. Heaven... The fries were produced by some weird machine in which Mama Edith put this dried pellets, but they were delicious, and she'd bring us a fresh, hot refill of fries and more sauce. Once I told her "Mama Edith, white people have no business making ribs," to which she replied, "you got that right!" Mama Edith has gone on to her reward and the Barbecue is only a memory. My brother, who still lives in Rogers Park, takes me to Gale Street Inn (avoid the au gratin potatoes, they're raw) after he said Biasetti's went downhill. Carson's is not my favorite. I lived in Evanston 4 years and never had ribs from Hecky's that were fully cooked. Alas, Tony Roma's are the best (?!) ribs I have found in SF.

I had no idea it was a commercial operation, I thought it was just a residence. At one time I worked on the corner of Clybourn and Racine for a shady architect. I used to ride my motorcycle down Clybourn all the time, but never noticed a BBQ joint.

For lunch, we'd either walk a block to Sammy's (radiation shack...our name for it)for a deli sandwich or a radiated tamale, or we'd splurge at the Persian Terrace (they changed the name after the hostage crisis).

I used to live in Chicago when I was little. My mom still remembers a lot of restraunts that are really good. And she's insisting that I find a "Leon's Ribs" on Clark in Chicago, not "Leon's BBQ" So is it the same thing? Because all she can tell me about barbeque in Chicago is that "Leon's Ribs" is the best and makes the local restraunts' ribs look like balogna.

quote:

Originally posted by OaTmEaLfAiRy

I used to live in Chicago when I was little. My mom still remembers a lot of restraunts that are really good. And she's insisting that I find a "Leon's Ribs" on Clark in Chicago, not "Leon's BBQ" So is it the same thing? Because all she can tell me about barbeque in Chicago is that "Leon's Ribs" is the best and makes the local restraunts' ribs look like balogna.

Your mom is misinformed. As I said earlier on this link, the Leon's on Clark (just north of Fullerton) closed about 15 years ago. The only Leon's locations now are on the South Side.

Actually Danimal,

Leon's just opened up a location on Ashland just north of Fullerton not long ago. Keep in mind though, the reviews I have read on it have been very bad. Leon's has slipped a bit overall and is not what it once was.

Lem's is the place in the city that has the best reputation right now.

Glenn

Thanks, Glennpan, for the correction. I didn't know about the one on Ashland. Too bad the reviews aren't good. I'm really no authority at all on Leon's because I don't eat pork. What I always have there is the chicken wings. They're wonderful.

Dan

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Freddy's Rib House on Sheffield near North Ave. Again, as I don't eat pork, I can't comment on the pork ribs. But Pat Bruno of the Chicago Sun-Times likes them. There are also beef ribs, which I mean to try sometime. I love the barbecued chicken here. Great flavor, crispy skin. And the "moejoe" potatoes, which I can't really describe except to say they're unique and wonderful.

Has anyone else tried this place?

Here's Bruno's review (now three years old):



Time Out!
In the city; bruno's bites

Freddy's 'arrival' heralds one of the best rib joints in town

Pat Bruno
1,135 words
25 May 2001
Chicago Daily Herald
Cook/DuPage/Fox Valley/Lake
16
English
(Copyright 2001)

Ribs have been on my mind for the past couple of weeks. For a while I couldn't figure out why that was. But then it hit me like a bag of bones. I was experiencing a food flashback. It had to do with my visit to Bone Daddy, a nifty rib joint on Ogden Avenue, back in February. I was definitely in need of a barbecue fix. I mulled over some of the more interesting possibilities: Leon's, Robinson's, Carson's, Twin Anchors. Any of those would have satisfied my sudden lust for good barbecue.

Then I got hit again. For the past few weeks, I was making regular trips to Home Depot on North Avenue for a home project I was working on, and my route took me right past Freddy's Rib House on Sheffield. I figured that each time I drove past Freddy's, some kind of subliminal message was being trans-channeled into my brain: "Eat ribs, eat ribs, eat ribs."

I had eaten at Freddy's a year or so ago. I liked the barbecue, but I didn't get hit with the thunderbolt. This time the thunderbolt hit me. Freddy's has evolved. Freddy's has arrived. I would definitely place Freddy's in my top five places to go for good barbecue and all the fixings.

Those "fixings" happen early in the game. A basket of incredibly good mini corn muffins arrives. Watch out, these are addictive. Even before I ordered, I downed three (or was it four?) of those gems.

The question of what to order looms large here. Under the "Ribs" section of the menu, the choices are expansive. Freddy's is one of the few barbecue joints around that offers not just baby back ribs but St. Louis-style pork ribs and beef ribs as well. The menu also includes barbecued chicken, steak, prime rib and whitefish. Of course there are sandwiches and a host of side dishes to ponder while you're at it.

One issue that needs to be addressed right now, though, is that potato. On the menu it is listed as "That loaded side, Freddy's Monster." No hyperbole there. That baked potato was practically a mutant; a giant one-pound Idaho potato that was almost as big as a toaster. The potato was split, and filled with loads of butter (sour cream, bacon bits and chives also were available). And none of that would have meant a hill of beans were the potato not baked right. Not the case. This spud was great-tasting, meaty, chunky, luscious and most pleasing.

I might as well cover some of the other sides sampled while I am at it. I polished off with relish the ravishing and deeply flavored baked beans. I thought the addition of peanuts to the crunchy, not overdressed, coleslaw was an inspired move. The "moJoes," cubes of fried potatoes, were tasty but dried out. The only time I eat corn- on-the-cob is in August and early September, so I did not go there.

Now to the main barbecue dishes. Baby back ribs were very good. These were flavorful ribs, the tender, tasty meat not quite falling off the bone. I like a zippier flavor, so I doctored up the ribs with some of the spicy barbecue sauce on the table, and that got my rib- tasting buds to where they should be. A full slab goes for $16.95.

In fact if I could have only one choice of ribs here, I would probably opt for the St. Louis-style ribs. Smoky-tasting and terrific, the pork meat fell away from the bone at the touch of my fingers. A full slab is priced at $15.95. So good were they that another time I ordered the St. Louis ribs and barbecued chicken combo (go for the 50-cent upcharge for all-white meat). Now things were really cooking. The ribs and the chicken rode atop a rubble of those moJoe potatoes, but the star of this platter was the fine ribs and that meaty, tasty chicken.

If you like your meat in slabs, you should seriously consider the jumbo beef ribs. Smoked to tender, juicy perfection, those ribs, the net of which ran up there around 2 pounds, gave new meaning to the famous words, "Where's the beef?" The answer: right in front of me, big time, and oh so good.

Ribs and chicken dishes come with french fries or moJoe potatoes and coleslaw.

There are appetizers to consider, but you might be biting off more than you can chew. However, the spinach dip (a flavorful melange of creamy spinach laced with Monterey Jack cheese and a cutting of artichoke hearts) that came with chips would be a consideration for, say, a party of four to munch on while having a beer.

On the salad side, the Caesar is just OK. A better choice would be the spinach salad, a fully flavored and pumped-up combination of leaf spinach, tomato, hard-boiled egg and bacon. A flavorful and warm bacon-enhanced dressing added the final touch.

Lunch might call for a sandwich or two. The chopped barbecued beef (according to the menu this is smoked and seasoned chuck roast laced with barbecue sauce) came on a toasted bun and was big, bold and very tasty. Good, but even better was the pulled pork sandwich, which I strongly recommend you get with the tangy coleslaw piled on top.

At a barbecue joint, desserts are an afterthought to my way of thinking. However, I did try the Heath Bar cheesecake. I think it was sitting in the kitchen for a while before the waiter picked it up. Not so great.

After a few visits to Freddy's Rib House, my need for a rib fix has been fixed. Now, for some reason, I am getting a taste for neighborhood Italian. Stay tuned.

GRAPHIC: An impressive range of barbecue with plenty of flavor to go 'round.

Freddy's Rib House

1555 N. Sheffield Ave.,

I tried Lem's recently. Really enjoyed the rib tips. Here's a link:

extramsg.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=29

And a pic:

extramsg.com/albums/album120/lems5.sized.jpg[/img]

The town of Geneva has a really good rib place called
The Rib House. They don't have a huge menu, but do have
steaks and chicken but they are known for the Ribs and
that is basically all they do. They smoke their own and
they are good. I am from Memphis so I am always looking
for good BBQ.

I have been to the Rib House in Geneva a few times and it is pretty good. On Rte. 38 (State St.) east of the Fox River. I have seen ads for a place in St. Charles yet to open, called Smokehouse I believe.

Back in the 80's in my tradeshow travelling days when in Chicago we would go to Miller's for ribs. I haven't seen that mentioned. Is that because they are no longer there or that it isn't very good anymore. From what I remember the ribs were very good back then...Sue

In order of preference:
1.) Lem's
2.) Barbara Ann's
3.) Leon's

Okay, here we go. There's not much I know, but I do know barbecue, and I concur that good barbecue in Chicago is a rare thing indeed. However, it does exist if you're willing to look and take a few chances. I didn't know how absent good 'que was in Chicago until I met my Kansas City bride to be. Once I knew what real barbecue was supposed to taste like, I realized I had wasted the first twenty years of my life.

My favorites in Chicago are Country Smoke House on Irving Park between Ashland and Southport, LT's Grill at Grand and Wood, and Texan BBQ and Chili House in Algonquin (corner of Rt. 31 and Rt. 62).

Years ago we used to go to a northside Leon's location on Chicago Avenue near Cabrini-Green. It was great stuff but sadly, didn't last very long in that location. I've never been to Lem's, but have heard good things. Likewise Uncle Bub's and Baby Joe's. I've never been impressed with Merle's or Hecky's in Evanston or any of Robinson's locations. And please, don't get me started on the tourist barbecue at Carson's, Twin Anchors, and The Gale Street Inn. The only way any of those ribs would ever see any smoke would be if the kitchen caught fire. Carson's does use charcoal but not raw wood. Also, the fact that Russel's is a local favorite just speaks to the lack of contact Chicagoans have with real BBQ. next time you go to Russel's stand outside for a few minutes. if you don't smell any smoke, get in the car and leave. I can already tell you you're going to be looking for another place to eat.

Oh yeah, Edith's was a great experience that went away far too soon. I think the fry machine actually spit out mashed potatoes in a shoe-string fry shape. It was weird but oddly enough it made a tasty french fry.

Yes, heaven is a tastier place due to Mama Edith's presence. May she rest in peace.