Chef Ivo’s Place

We tried going there this weekend and it has closed. They are not in business. You can still get the sauces, rubs and products in Galena but the restaurant has closed.

Came to eat after purchasing products at the retail store. Food was FABULOUS, service was excellent and bartender shared her knowledge of beer… Highly recommend and will be back for sure!

Real, southern-​style BBQ, with your choice of distinctive, homemade sauces (which you can buy in large jars at the restaurant or at Ivo’s hot sauce store down the street). The servings here are huge, which can provide you another meal – even if you’ve only ordered an appetizer.
The all-​you-​can-​eat fried catfish on Fridays is a favorite, as are the wings, which are spectacular. These are the ENTIRE wings, not the disjointed halves you get elsewhere, and there are original sauce options that are really tasty and range from mild to ghost pepper. I
I enjoy the «burnt ends» appetizer, which is a sampler of Ivo’s smoked meats and sausages in the BBQ sauce of your choice. I prefer Irving’s sauce (Irving is one of the cooks at Ivo’s), which is a mix of the «mopping sauce» and the «blasting sauce», tasty and spicy.
The service is friendly and outgoing, the confines are friendly (lots of browse-​worthy sports memorabilia), and I have to say I look forward to eating here every time I visit Galena from my home in Chicago, which occurs several times a year.
I do agree that offering some tap beers would be an improvement, but Ivo’s has a good selection of bottled beers, including a very smooth, nicely balanced lager from a nearby Wisconsin brewery, Good ol’ Potosi.

Came to Ivo’s having much higher expectations.
I had beef brisket. Flavorless and tough as rubber. The coleslaw tasted aged store bought. Disgusting.
Definitely overpriced.
So dissatisfied.

I have been here on two occasions, at the urging of others. It was not my idea. I had been told by reliable local sources that I could get better food at home. Boy, how true that is. The first time I had lunch here was for their burger special. Bottom line, it was like eating a mouth full of cotton. It was like a flavorless bread and meat desert in my mouth. I would much rather have gone to Culver’s. The second time, I was with two friends for lunch where I ordered a BBQ sandwich with tots and slaw. Beef Brisket. The absolute worst, tough, flavorless, barely licked with sauce brisket sandwich I have ever had. Had to do one of those Mr. Bean things of trying to spit out and hide what I’d tried to chew in my napkin. I don’t even believe the cut of meat was actually brisket, but some other cheap cut of tough meat. The tots were bad, and the slaw was, too. I left a lot behind uneaten, providing the excuse to my dining companions that I was just not hungry. Were it not for the friendly service and OK ambiance both times, I would definitely have given one star.

My bf and I came to galena for a weekend getaway. After waking into chef ivos storefront and sampling all the yummy dips and sauces we were excited to try the food that went with it.
Unfortunately the food did not meet our expectations.
We both ordered the same combo-​2 meats of ribs and brisket but had different sides as well as sauces. I had the hickory apple and he had the mopped sauce. I wanted to try both but they only allow you to have more than one sauce on both meats… disappointment. The mop sauce was better on the ribs. For our sides we had apples, Mac and cheese, coleslaw, and sweet potato fries. The apples were good as were the sweet potatoes. As one reviewer noted earlier, the cheese on Mac and cheese seemed processed but was okay. The ribs were just okay and the brisket was a little rough. We did not get any wet naps with the ribs, which would have been nice, however upon paying you get a coupon to use at the chefs store for 10% off. For drinks I had ice tea, which was weak (did not taste like unsweetened black tea) and bf IPA.
My advice, try somewhere else downtown, but check out the storefront for great dips and sauces to use on your own!

Stopped with friends and were seated right away. I enjoyed the food but wouldn’t put it in my favorites category for BBQ. The place was clean and the staff was adequate but considering the great debate over what makes barbecue great, all I can say is give it a try and draw your own conclusions.

One of the best restaurants in galena. Service is fantastic and chef ivo often is out from the kitchen and socializing with his customers. The BBQ is so dank and his original sauces are so good. Only place for improvement is having draft beer. They have a bar, but getting draft would be an upgrade. Love this place.

Best wings and Bloody Mary I’ve ever had. Their own special mix for the bloody smokey and spicy! The wings we got dry with the sauce on the side. Wow it was amazing! Will defiantly stop by here again next time I visit
Galena!

Besides the best BBQ I have had in Illinois, I liked that you had options on the BBQ sauces. I had the beef brisket and Kathy had turkey. Both were 5*. Also Kathy thought the potato wedges were the best she ever had period. Since I can’t eat potatoes, I had BBQ baked beans that were excellent. The beer menu look OK for craft beers.
Another great feature was their large parking lot, since parking is so difficult in Galena.
And when you are finished, there is wine tasting on the first floor.

Now coming from Chicago, I believe my palate for BBQ is well defined. This BBQ was just OK in my opinion. I think that the restaurants success has more to do with the lack of options in this small town rather than a foodies destination.
Doubt I will be back especially due to the racist «mami dolls» displayed in their restaurant display case. The opener was not available for comment. Unless they somehow delete the photo I posted, please refer to it.

We were underwhelmed.
Food was… ok. My pasta came out SO hot that it could only have been microwaved. The shrimp was rubbery and dry.
The waitress was fine with us, but when the table next to us asked about split checks at the beginning of the meal, she snapped, «No split checks. It says right on the menu». These women were clearly in town for business, and needed separate checks for expenses. They were polite and not being difficult, so the snippy response seemed way out of line. She was short and rude to them the rest of the time we were there, like they set her off by daring to ask for separate checks.
Anyway, I expected a lot more, and found the food quality to be on part with Applebee’s or similar. I think there are better options in town!

Wow, what a totally disappointing experience.
The food was ok. The service was quite good, but we were the only people there for about 20 minutes until a large family showed for dinner. (This was 5pm on a Friday night, so not a good sign there)
Some of the things wrong with this place: One of the refrigerators is placed outside of the kitchen in the dining room! The corn muffins are kept on a plastic covered tray on the serving station outside of the kitchen. The food, when done, is just placed outside for the waitstaff to pick up and not kept warm. The dinners are served on metal trays (small baking trays?) cover with foil. Finally, all the meat (I got a 3 meat combo) is just piled on top of one another. So if you asked for a different sauce for each, forget it.
As for the food itself: The brisket is good, the ribs were like they were butchered by a blind man in a tornado using a pen knife, and the pulled pork was tough. Oh, and that muffin? Small and completely inedible. At least the mac and cheese was semi-​decent.
At least the water was good. So points for that. Otherwise, you can pass this place on by. The McRib is better BBQ than this.

my friend loves this guy & all his foods so we had to eat here. we had the sampler of ribs, brisket, pulled pork, catfish & shrimp with mac n cheese & sweet potato fries. we liked everythin but the sides. the sweet potatos weren’t that sweet. the mac n cheese wasn’t that tasty. it tasted like processed cheese that u put on nachos instead of real cheese so we didn’t care for it. but all the other food was delicious. our waitress was also very nice & gave us suggestions.