Andrew's Open Pit & Spirits

I was heading to Park Ridge today and noticed this interesting place in a strip mall on Dempster just east of 294. Since it was lunchtime, I went in there to check it out. Turns out this place does some very good ribs. The aspect of the ribs I was most impressed with was the BBQ sauce that came with it - nice touch of sweetness to it.

As the name implies, they have a pit inside where they do rotisserie chicken and ribs rotisserie-style over hickory. The waitress told me that they do a dry rub of the ribs and then throw them on the rotisserie. She also mentioned that their BBQ sauce is made from scratch right there.

The ribs did not fall off the bone, but they were not tough. I got a 1/2-slab of baby back ribs and left there full given the fair amount of meat on the ribs. Sides include a baked potatoe and a half ear of corn, neither of which was overly impressive. But I did think the bleu cheese dressing I got with my salad was quite good.

The waitstaff was very nice, and there is definitely an "old school" crowd in there...I had to be at least 25 years younger than then next person that was there. Good crowd for a Saturday afternoon.

Aside from ribs, their trademark dish looks to be BBQ chicken. I did not see it in person so I can't verify. But I did see someone order a burger that looked very, very good and will be my order next time I'm there.

Has anyone been to this place before? What do you think? It's kinda tough to rate the ribs because I was brought up on KC BBQ and have yet to find any place in Chicago that really does that kind of BBQ justice (Honey 1 is close). But I was impressed with this place and would rank their ribs among the best I've had in the metro area.

Andrew's Open Pit & Spirits
2610 Dempster St.
Park Ridge, IL

Anyone been here lately? I'm looking for a weekday lunch spot near LGH.

Dave148 wrote:Anyone been here lately? I'm looking for a weekday lunch spot near LGH.

No idea what LGH might be, and I've posted a few times about Andrew's but the posts have gone missing.

I've been lately, like it and, if in the mood for casual old school atmosphere and tasty wood fired rotisserie chicken at hyper reasonable prices, Andrew's can't be beat. Big bar with insanely low priced lunch time bar specials, big comfy dining room that meets and exceeds every Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guideline as befits Andrew's elderly core clientele and solid if not particularly cutting edge food.

Though Andrew's demographic skews older they handled our recent party of ten with ages ranging from 8 to 80 with efficiency, good humor and ease. Spaghetti and butter for one of the kids, no problem, salad dressing on the side and no extra salt for the 80-year-old, "of course hun, and I love your outfit", moving a cart so I could take pictures of the wood fired Southern Pride rotisserie chicken and rib cooker, absolutely.





Andrew's Open Pit, Count me a Fan!

Another solid lunch option in the immediate area, Tandoori Restaurant

Andrew's Open Pit
2610 Dempster
Park Ridge, IL 60068
847-824-3800

Tandoori Restaurant
9344 West Ballard
Des Plaines IL
847-824-6550

Thanks Gary!
LGH = Lutheran General Hospital
Tandoori might be too much for part of my lunch group. I’ll keep it in the back of my brain for a future visit.