Hillery’s Kenosha Bar-Bq

This is one of those «finger lickin» good places that’s worth the drive to eat at. When I grew up in northern Ill, we use to eat at Hillery’s from time-​to-​time. I don’t recall a bad experience here. The Beef BBQ ribs are the standard! If you’re not careful, you’ll wind up eating the sauce-​covered tin foil as well! :) It’s hard to find good BBQ beef ribs, and this place does it right. The sides compliment the main curses perfectly.
One of my fave stops in Kenosha.

Best ribs! Beef barbecue ribs (: are life there. I remember going since a little boy but at the one in Waukegan; they’re the same. Keep up the good work!

Spoke with the owner. He also owns another store in Chicago. Great service, followed by a great conversation, and great food! I did sample a rib it was delicious but I ended up ordering the pork shoulder also amazing. I would definitely recommend this if you’re in town

Hillery’s is the best. I love this place. I do not care that they don’t answer their phone… but they could unplug it from the wall. It is slightly… mind blowingly next level, jack hammer to the face, irritating to sit there and listen to that phone ring. Actually it’s two phones, ringing at once… the entire time you’re there. Aprox 15 minutes, which can seem like hours in the «phone zone». Besides that, the food is great. I have transcened from the rib tips to the slab and get my fries drizzled in sauce. Their sauce is awesome, vinegar based and unique in flavor. I go hot with the sauce (it’s not that hot though) and I could drink that sauce with a straw. I wish my girfriends lips tasted like that sauce. The ribs are tender, falling off the bone and sexy as hell. The tips and brisket are tight but I’ve dedicated my heart to those ribs now. Overall, if it wasn’t for the phone thing that I pretend to not care about. I would give this place 5 stars and get a Hillery’s tattoo.

So good. The sauce was amazing, nice and vinegary with a little spice. The pork shoulder was tender. My husband got the three meat sampler and I swear to god that beast weighed three pounds! Also, hands down THE BEST fried mushrooms on the planet. NOM.

Worst Customer Service I have experienced in the Kenosha area!
It all started with a call… I wasn’t sure of their hours so I called before heading here because it was a pretty far distance from where we were at. I told the man on the phone that I was just checking to make sure they were open. He told me they were open the next day Labor Day from 11−4pm. I stated Oh, so you are closed now?, his reply was an exasperated «Noooooo, I’m just telling you we are open tomorrow from 11−4pm!» Ooookkkkk, not sure why that was pertinent to tell me since I didn’t ask about the next day’s hours, I asked about that same day. I should have picked a different place immediately but was in the mood for ribs and Bad 2 Da Bone was closed.
We arrived around 4 pm (10 mins after we called) to be told they had NO ribs and there was a 45 min wait on rib tips… Ok, the sign does say Bar-​Bq restaurant right? The same surly man was there, older African American man with curly salt and pepper hair. He was just as rude in person as he was over the phone. He basically told us it is what it is, do you want to order or not. He said people had been coming in and getting ribs all day, which I get with it being the day before a holiday but isn’t it the restaurant’s job to anticipate that? No one in management could have thought, hmmm maybe we should really amp up our supply because hey people just might want BBQ on a traditional BBQ weekend!!! When I ordered a ½ dark meal for my husband, he acted like he didn’t know what meat I meant… I looked at the sign and looked at him and repeated a ½ dark meal chicken, then he was like oh ok… what else could I have been talking about besides chicken? Do people order ½ dark fish? ½ dark ribs? He was again just being a jerk.
Again, I should have left but against better judgement we ordered anyway and went down the street to Culver’s to wait it out. We arrived back at 5pm to pick up our order of 3-​XL rib tip dinners and a ½ dark meal. The man fortunately did not help us this time, it was a woman. She was much friendlier but still not the picture of good customer service either, she seemed annoyed when she had to wait 1 – 2 mins for my friend to find another card when she realized they didn’t take American Express.
We took our bounty home to eat it and it was still hot when we arrived. Sadly, it smelled great but was largely disappointing. 2 of the rib tip dinners were pretty tender but the 3^rd was tough and nearly inedible. Their sauce is in a word WEAK! It is not sweet enough and too vinegary, almost to the point of being sour. The chicken was very good according to my husband. Overall, the food was ok nothing to write home about but passable. However, their HORRIBLE customer service will have us looking for a new BBQ place! I don’t need to pay someone to be rude to me, I can get that for free riding the CTA!

This place is awesome. The best ribs I have ever had. The sauce is incredible. Great fried chicken and fish too. Very affordable. Love love love their food.

Having travelled throughout the South, I’ve experienced a wide range of barbecues. I would say this one ranks up there with a lot of the finer barbecue joints. Full of flavor and not overly smoked, the pulled pork was moist with just enough vinegary sauce that it didn’t overpower the meat.
The ribs, on the otherhand, left a little to be desired for me. I was there later in the evening and may have gotten the end of the batch but I found the ribs to be very dry and a bit chewy. I will try them again, giving them the benefit of the doubt that it may have been a bad batch.
The service was okay. There was no idle chit-​chat and they weren’t overly-​friendly but they took my order and got it out very quickly so I can’t complain.

I love and miss this place sooo much! The best I have ever had! Please, Please won’t somebody mail me some!

Well, I realize that this place seems to be a fave among many people, but unfortunately not for me. While the service I’ve received there was exceptionally polite and pleasant it was the taste of their mild sauce that ruined the eating experience for me. The sauce has a very definite strong vinegar flavor to it and didn’t taste like a BBQ sauce at all to me. I love BBQ food as much as the next guy and I actually had to throw out the last half of my meal because the taste of the sauce was just too vinegar-​y for my liking. Of the 3 BBQ places in town, this one is my least favorite.

Great food, Better then Famous Daves, save your money and go here, not to glamerous inside but food is to die for. Fish has bones in it so be careful

the tips are to die for… the north chicago place is better but they are the best in the area

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM… Rib tips!
It is messy meat at its finest!
And damn that catfish is good!
You must place an order to pick up, grab your 6 pack on the way to get it
Get home and eat them with an ice cold brewski. MMMMMMMM Man that is good! «Mikey likes it!»

Anyplace that has a pressure cooker big enough that I could climb into it has a place near my heart (though my cardiologist probably doesn’t want to hear that). This place serves some really good ribs, tibs, brisket, etc. I have also enjoyed the fish.

MmmMMM! I love Hilary’s and have been to all three locations. I actually prefer the stuff from Chicago. Definitely check out the sauce and dip your fries in it! Mostly just a pick-​up place.

Of the three locations (North Chicago, Waukegan, and Kenosha) this is the most consistently good. I like the brisket or the tips with some hush-​puppies. But the sauce is the thing. None finer from Hecky’s in Evanston to Milwaukee and that includes Carson’s, Ravinia BBQ and Nite-​n-​gale.
In the same parking lot there is a used paperback bookstore, some pretty good burgers and fries, and a huge electronics store with new, used, and surplus stuff (imagine radio shack meets american scientific).