Brothers Ribs

My kind of place! I found it by accident, and I’m glad I did. The food was great, the atmosphere the kind I like. It won’t be for everyone, because it’s a classic hole in the wall establishment. And for those people saying it’s pricey, please tell me where you’re getting good BBQ cheaper. Their prices are very reasonable. I had the smothered fries, and it was a meal! In fact, it will be two meals, as I have a lot of leftovers in my fridge. I will definitely be back.

What can I say? Everyone has an opinion on what makes the best sauce, meat, etc. Prices were fair and the atmosphere felt like a typical BBQ joint. I had the full rack of ribs dinner and definitely enjoyed myself. I think what is most telling is whether I would return or recommend. This one is easy — I’ll be back.

Overall we weren’t that impressed with the bbq here. We had ribs, chicken, and rib tips. Nothing had much of a smoked flavor (not sure if anything was smoked or not). Basically just decent BBQ that you could make at home. It was good but not great. The same goes for the sides. Garlic toast, fries and cole slaw were nothing special. The baked beans were pretty much swimming in bbq sauce. If your trying to decide between the average burger place and Brothers Ribs, go for Brothers all the way. But I’ll be continuing my search for great bbq in the suburbs.

Went here today with my wife and kid. We were the second customers to walk in the door when they opened at 1pm on a Sunday. The place was very dirty. The checkered tile floors were not washed, walls were scummy and dirty, tables were sticky and still had crumbs on it from the previous night. The bathrooms were really in bad shape, dirty and it looked like something was growing around the faucet in the men’s restroom. The doors had scum and scuff marks over a foot off the ground, it was bad. The food was alright. I ordered the tips with a hot link side, the daughter had a burger and the wife a steak sand. The medium cooked steak sand came out beyond rare the first time, but was corrected after notifying the one employee running everything (he even had to turn down customers because he was too far behind on orders. He told people it would be at least a half hour to get their food) I felt bad for him. I wanted to jump in the kitchen and help. The kids burger was paper thin and nothing worthy to write about. The pop tasted really weird and moldy like, probably because the spouts have never been taken off and soaked as they should every night. The tips had a good flavor and were really not meaty at all. The hot link tasted like a microwaved Italian sausage. The fries were pretty good and tasted like the fryer oil was fresh. The award winning bbq sauce was ok to say the best. It had hints of clove and was more on the vinegar side and runny. I’m sure it would taste good caramelized on some meat. I can’t say I will be back, but at least I tried it. This place has a lot of potential but it looks like someone has given up on the place and it’s just treading water.

I had been here years before but I really could not remember much of this place. Met up with some friends here for lunch. Nothing fancy as far as the atmosphere here. However, everything I touched seemed a bit sticky.
Ordered Pulled Pork + Brisket sandwiches. I had the pulled pork one. It was pretty good, not the best I ever had but still good. Prices seemed a bit high for what you get since you had a choice of one side with their lunch combo, no drink. I went with coleslaw, which was alright.
I would not make a special trip to come out here by myself. However, if you’re in the area, not a bad place to stop.
Cheers

A little overpriced. Second visit our rib tips were overgrilled and dried out.
You get buttered garlic Texas toast (I didn’t see any grill marks).
Tucked in the corner of a struggling corner strip mall on Euclid and Quentin road that used to have a Dominick and a Blockbuster. LOTS of parking. Leaning diveish for Palatine, avoid the bathrooms.
I like their sauce and smoke in general, not overly sweet, some citrus notes, so you into burnt sugar will be disappointed. Was more like a diced up baby back rib though, pieces too large and more bone vs cartilage than I want, although I enjoy trying to gnaw the marrow out. Marrows in but… Bone to meat ratio no bueno.
Won’t order the Rib Tips again, need to try the brisket.
A-​OK but I want better.

This was my first time coming here and I came in here around 2 in the afternoon today when it was pretty dead. I got the beef brisket sandwich with fries and let me tell you, it was damn good. I didn’t have time to take any photos of my food though because I gobbled it all up. I’m extremely satisfied with the quality of the meat as well as the friendliness of the guy working behind the counter. I’ll most definitely be back when I have a hankering for some brisket again.

If you’re a true BBQ fan then you may be disappointed with brothers. It’s more like grilled meat and not that authentic slow smoked BBQ.
My work ordered from here for a party and we got a little bit of everything from there. Nothing tasted that great. In fact it tasted a little like left overs. The «award winning» sauce was not too my liking, but maybe it’s just my taste buds. I wish these guys would smoke their stuff. I think they would really revive themselves by changing their cooking methods.
Maybe one day I’ll try it again, but I won’t be recommending it to people looking for true BBQ.
It’s a damn shame too because there aren’t many BBQ places around this area.

I was so stoked to try their brisket. Which turned out to be such a let down. At first it looked like shredded roast beef. Tasted like it was previously frozen. The BBQ sauce was pretty good and I really liked the potato wedges. Baked potato looked good. Maybe we will try the ribs next time.

Hubby and I shared a ½ rib plate with beans and cole slaw. It was excellent. The sauce was not too sweet, not too tangy, just perfect. They were very meaty and came off the bone with a fork and knife easily. Beans were really good — but cole slaw was just ok.
We are kind of far from us, but our hair salon is near, so it is going to become a new thing for us to get our hair cut and eat dinner.
Definitely try this place, you can’t go wrong. We are excited to try other items.

This place is amazing! I had the pulled pork sandwich and smothered fries on my first visit. The sauce is perfect! Can’t believe I grew up in the area and just now found this place. GO EAT HERE IF YOU LOVE BBQ!

Best Ribs in the Area for sure.

I walked and smelled the smoke flavor I usually look for at a BBQ restaurant, however when I ate the ribs I didn’t taste it. Over all the ribs were tender, the sauce amazing but I didn’t get the flavor of the smoke in the meat :(the baked beans had too much BBQ sauce in them and the Cole slaw not enough mayo. Overall I would go back again but I expected the ribs to taste like how great the restaurant smells. I’m a sucker for smokey ribs.

Probably the best ribs in this area. The Rib Tips are meaty and tender. The sauce was really good, not real sweet like some places. The fries were OK, I am going to try the wedges next time. it has been here a long time according to the guy behind the counter. I had no idea it was here but it is good to know there is a really good Rib joint in the area.

I consider myself to be a BBQ expert as I have eaten it all over the USA and have had all the different regions styles of rubs and sauce’s. This small restaurant in a suburb of Chicago is easily one of the best I’ve ever had. Ordered a full rack of ribs because they had just come out of the smoker. My lord that was the largest full rack of ribs I have ever been served. Could only eat half of it. What makes Brothers Ribs stand out from the crowd is their own BBQ Sauce. Just the right amount of everything. Not to vinegary, not to tomatoey and not spicy! They sell it by the bottle and in my opinion it’s a good investment to get one to take home. Can’t wait to go back and try their rib tips and smothered fries.

The slogan and décor looks better than the food actually is. Just two plain run of the mills people cooking your food, not chefs or anything. Most of what you get was frozen and they just grill it or deep fry it. I guess prices here is actually fair for a rib place. Red benches as tables, which is cute. Nothing memorable, kind of a late night drunk food joint.

We searched online for some great local BBQ in the Schaumburg area and we found Brothers Ribs just a few minutes north of Schaumburg in Palatine.
We order the pulled pork sandwich and the beef brisket sandwiches for lunch and the flavor and quality of meat was phenomenal. We also loved their signature BBQ. The slaw and baked beans were perfect side orders and the price was right for a family of 4, we spent under $ 30 for lunch.
Also, we had the opportunity to meet the owner, Jim as he was working the register and making plates of food. Jim was a great guy and passionate about great customer service. We will be back and we’ll be telling our friends!

I can’t believe I’ve waited this one to praise this place!
My coworkers and I order from here frequently. We usually get their smothered fries. I’m not sure if this is a side or if it’s meant to be a meal but it’s good enough to split between 2 hungry people.
The fries are served underneath a healthy serving of shredded pork, cheese and bbq sauce. The only thing I wish is that the cheese would melt a bit more. their brisket is good too

Just a quick update…
I haven’t been here in awhile and I had a craving for some rib tips so I headed to Brothers. The tips were as good as they were last time, actually better since there were no dried up burnt bits BUT the brisket was a different story.
I had to ask if the brisket was brisket and not pulled pork. Why? It was pulled brisket and looked just like pulled pork. Stringy and soggy, it lacked flavor and tasted like it had been sitting in a vat of warm water. I’m accustomed to either sliced brisket with a smoke ring or chopped brisket. This allows for the meat to be cut against the grain yielding a soft, flavorful texture. But their brisket was a stringy mess and just ended up stuck between my teeth. Even a ton of BBQ sauce didn’t help the limp brisket (ha).
So tips are good but avoid the brisket at all costs. Yeck.

This ribs at this place is A-​OK. I gave the place an extra star for its other qualities. It’s a small restaurant that’s cozy to dine in. There are signs, even one in neon lights (so you know they are serious), proclaiming world ribs champions. If you are ordering these champion ribs, I would recommend calling ahead so you don’t have to wait 20 minutes for it to come out. That’s what we did and we didn’t have to wait long for the food. The people working there are really nice and friendly. Now back to these award winning ribs, they are not the fall off the bones type, which I’m fine with. They weren’t super fatty, A plus. The sauce was good. Overall, good ribs, but nothing impressive. Maybe I was expecting more from the winner of 43 National Rib & Sauce Competitions.
I also tried the smothered fries (loaded with cheese, pork and bbq sauce) and thought they were a strange combination. I mean, it’s just potatoes and pork after all, but not really my thing.
Here’s a fun fact from their website: They noticed that pigs always rolled over on their left side to play in the mud. This made the left rack of ribs tougher then the ribs from the right side and that little known fact is still true today. That’s why Brothers Ribs only cook the ribs from the right side of the pig.
Someone should mythbuster that.
Parking is easy since it’s located in a strip mall.