Ravenswood Q

The ribs and bbq chicken are incredible. My wife got the beef rib sandwich which was equally as awesome. This place is one true hidden gem — one of the best bbq joints in Chicago

Good food, great service and full bar.
I ordered the brisket egg rolls (they sound weird, but I promise they are good) and the rib sandwich. The sandwich was excellent! So tasty and such a large portion. And the side of fries were seasoned and salted well.
My husband ordered the Chicago combo. A ¼ or ½ chicken and a half rack of ribs. He was so happy. Finished he whole plate. And his side of Mac and cheese was great.
My favorite BBQ place here in the city is Lilly’s Q and this place is a very close 2^nd!

This is the worst food I’ve ever tasted. I went in and ordered takeout for my co-​worker and I. After getting back to the office and attempting to digest it for 10 minutes we gave up. It was HORRIBLE! We both threw away the majority of our meals b/​c we couldn’t stomach it. We went hungry the rest of the day — which was a better option than eating the food we got from Ravenswood Q. He had the BBQ chicken platter with a side salad and I had the brisket chili with cornbread. They couldn’t even get a simple thing like cornbread right. Do not eat here.

Great location next to the brown line so I grabbed lunch. Pulled Pork sandwich was really good. A little heavy on the sauce but now I know. The guy working promised it’d be the best bbq I’ve had in Chicago… Not quite but still good. I’ll be back for lunch but dinner prices were a little high.

Oh my! This was really good, thoroughly enjoyed the pulled chicken sandwich and flatbread. The chicken is full of flavor and tender. Very nice amount of meat on the sandwich. I’ll be back. YUM!

The first thing I noticed about this place is that it is located indoors. There are walls, a floor, and a ceiling. It was somewhat empty, but we were given our table and the waitress was very hospitable. The BBQ was bomb, but the real highlight was the fact they served Steel Reserve (and three flavors; can you believe it!!!). I got the spiked punch. My friends got High Gravity and blkbry and all for the convenient and low price of $ 2.50. Come one, come all to Q. The steel reserve is cold and the chicks are hot!

Ordered from this place on Grubhub. I ordered the brisket sandwich with mashed potatoes, and he got the rib sandwich with hush puppies. Everything tasted alright, nothing stellar, and I’ve had much better barbecue. The worst part of this is that both my boyfriend and I got the runs! Won’t be ordering again.

When this place first opened I would have given it a 1 star review. I remember the sides and BBQ weren’t good at all. So it’s definitely much better than a year ago.
I’m giving it 4 stars only because I do have BBQ places I like more. But in terms of the neighborhood, it’s up there as #1 for BBQ — I think maybe Mash has better burnt ends + brisket. But really, this place is solid especially for the price. My #1 place all around is probably Smoque if that gives you an idea of taste comparison.
Here’s stuff that’s great
— The three taco special (massive amount of food for like $ 8.75)
— The brisket sandwich
— The burnt ends sandwich
— Jambalaya
— The lemonade (seriously it’s good + fresh)
— The greens (very good)

Ordered the wings, Mac and cheese, and brisket with a side of hush puppies. Not impressed by the Mac and cheese but everything else was amazing. I had to force myself to stop eating. These were the best hush puppies I ever had… Until I realized there was a cup of honey butter in the box! Next level achieved.

This place is great! I’m not sure if it was just bad timing but there was hardly anyone in the restaurant on a Sunday night. But their bbq and apps are seriously yummy. I had the brisket sandwich and tried the buffalo chicken eggrolls and the loaded fries (cheese, pulled pork and bbq on top). SO DELICIOUS. All of it. And our server was so friendly and accommodating. This should be your next bbq stop!

OK, this place is simply spectacular!
We live a few blocks away and just loved Café 28. When we saw the new BBQ joint move in, we were disappointed and went last year and thought it was «just OK». BUT, we tried it again two weeks ago and we all thought it was the best BBQ we have had in Chicago. I am a huge babyback ribs fan and theirs is tastiest i have encountered. Better than Carsons, Twin Anchors, Smoque, Lily Q… we went back again the following week and my wife things their pulled pork is all-​time great! Fantastic corn bread, mac n cheese and all the trimmings… at reasonable prices! This is our go-​to place for BBQ in Chicago!

I have been to this place a few times now and have ordered the Brisket, cornbread, macaroni & cheese as well as their Turkey Burger. I have to say that the Turkey Burger is delicious!!! The cornbread could be a little sweeter, but than again not everyone makes cornbread the same. I enjoyed their brisket but didn’t like the fact that they were whole slices. The Mac & Cheese was very good. They also have great drink specials.
Enjoy.

Grubhub messed up our order and never placed it.
We called Ravenswood Q and they completely took care of us and delivered quickly. The wings and mac n cheese was delish!

The bbq sauce was good but our ribs were way overdone. The beef ribs were like eating jerky. Had the Mac n cheese which was pretty good and the cornbread was ok.
I would say find a different place that knows not to overcook their ribs

Had a craving for barbeque and this happened to be the closest spot.
Being a native Kansas Citian, I am admittedly a barbeque snob and this is the sort of place that passes for barbeque outside of well known barbeque regions such as KC, Texas, Memphis and the Carolinas. Just not that great, Famous Dave’s is better than this place. I had the pulled pork which was already mixed with sauce, which in my mind immediately raises questions about the quality of the meat… barbeque sauce can be amazing, but the meat should always be able to stand on its own merits right out of the smoker. Plus they offer two sauces on the table, so which am I supposed to choose when they’d already doused it before it reached the table.
The cole slaw was bland and devoid of any flavor.
Service was nice, no complaint there. Atmosphere was good too, with a great blues soundtrack going on overhead.
Regardless, any bbq is better than no bbq, but I’ll be looking elsewhere the next time my craving hits.

The food was better than expected (for the most part), but there are some areas for improvement. We walked in on a Friday night and there were only three other seated tables in the whole restaurant. Pretty empty. The feel of the place was kind of dark and disjointed (blues posters on one side; The Starry Night print on the other — what?).
I tried the pulled chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries — the fries were great, and the chx sandwich was pretty good but I got a couple of bad bites (one with small bones, which is the. worst.). I was grossed out after that. I know it can happen, especially when pulling a large /​restaurant-​size container of chicken, but still…
The man’s «dinosaur bone» (huge beef bone with meat) and mashed potatoes were thoroughly enjoyed.

Bar area only. I was a giant fan of Café 28, and on first glance, this place seems to not have as much character. My review is only for a visit to have one glass of wine — they close too early!
The BBQ smelled GREAT, and I could see myself sampling that on a future visit. Friendly staff, good pour on the wine.

Been by here a few times but never went in — a Groupon tipped the scale.
Kind of a mixed bag at lunch. I was there on a Tuesday from 11:30 — 12:15… I was the only person other than employees and delivery people at that time. Sat at a two top on the restaurant side — I noticed that although it looked ok, the table was kind of sticky in spots. I went to order and asked my server about what sides were good — she sort of headed in the «everything is good» direction. So I ended up with the mac and cheese, just to try something I don’t ordinarily order. It was pretty good, though there’s a $ 1 upcharge on it.
I also ordered some brisket chili; one of the two «soup» offerings for the day. The downside was that a cup of soup is the size of a cup that one might see in a set of children’s dishes. It was small, albeit filled to the top, which didn’t leave a lot of room for the oyster crackers. Now, for the main dish — I went with the BBQ Brisket sandwich. That was pretty darn good on a lightly toasted bun with a decent portion of meat — and hardly any fat.
Other than the side order recommendations, my server was really pretty good — friendly and prompt as well… brought a second soda out in anticipation — always a plus in my book. As for the restaurant, while the BBQ was good, with competition like Smoque and Fat Willy’s not all that far away, RavenswoodQ isn’t super high on my list for a return. Glad I tried it though.

Solid 2.5 stars. I cannot see myself coming back. We came because of a Groupon offer that was expiring. I really have to check reviews before buying Groupons or any other offer for that matter. The barbecue and other items we ordered were disappointing. I’m not sure what’s going on here. Is it old food or poor preparation? None of it tasted fresh.
Let’s run through our dining menu. P. s., when using an offer or Groupon, I always spend a percentage more. For instance, on a $ 20 dollar offer, I may choose to spend $ 20 — $ 30 more as a kind of «thank you» for offering a meal deal. (I’ve often heard that Grouponers can be «cheap ass customers»)
I digress. Back to my menu. The smoked wings were decent. The brisket egg rolls were terrible, the stuffing tasted off and I couldn’t tell whether it was made that day or some other time. The pulled pork sandwich was all sauce, I hate it when meat is grossly, doused in sauce. Any appreciation for the meat flies out of the window. Got a combination platter consisting of the ribs and brisket. … … … Not a fan.
Their bbq sauce is tasty as was their cornbread. Our waiter that night was a rockstar but she was the only person waiting tables. So, drink orders and food, dragged.
Also, other reviewers mention a «sewer smell.» That shit is repugnant to put it lightly. It is an off-​putting odor that exists mainly around the dining area. Our waiter insisted that it’s not related to their restaurant but something affecting the whole area. (I walked down the street and into other businesses and didn’t smell that funky odor. They have to have some sewer problem they aren’t treating properly. Heck, run ventilation fans all the time. Customers should not be enveloped in a stinky odor while trying to eat food.)
Something off-​putting that we noticed; full slabs of ribs swimming in their sink. A quick method to defrosting slabs of ribs; is to do so by water bath. But, any good website or cookbook will tell you to cover the meats in a zip tight bag throughout the water bath process. We wondered whether the sink gets cleaned before and after each water bath since the meat is wafting in water. Also, are they changing out the water every 30 minutes like the directions call for?

I ordered delivery from here on one cold night I didn’t want to leave the haus via Grubhub.
The delivery time stated was 60 – 70 minutes however I received my food in less than 45.
I got the pulled pork sandwich and french fries as well as the buffalo chicken egg roll appetizers.
The pulled pork sandwich was adequate, a little too much sauce but that’s an easy modification. The fries were just right.
The egg rolls were not up my alley but they were just fine.
Overall I may try again not soon tho.