Sweet Baby Ray's ..... Restaurants????

Driving down Irving Park Rd. this morning in Woodale I see that they're building a new one. I've heard about the BBQ sauce, but never actually tried it. But I've never heard of them having restaurants. I did some research and saw they have one also in Schaumburg.

So what's the scoop? Any good? Somebody must have tried it.

Wow hard to believe this was a strike out. I didn't think there was any restaurant in the area that someone here hadn't been to or at least known someone that has. Oh well after they open the Wood Dale one I'll have to give it a shot and post back.

I would bet that the bbq will be a concoction of a tart sweetness, with meat that has the texture of jello. Gooey and messy to eat just like Chicago likes them.

Sweet Baby Ray's is a very popular sauce. The company has grown significantly over the past 10-12 years. Its not a bad mass market commercial sauce. I use it when I cater for BBQ. I do doctor it some.

The key to checking out BBQ is to serve the sauce on the side. If they do that then you might have a shot at a fair meal. I also always request BBQ to be "fresh off the pit". I don't always get it, but that can make bad BBQ tolerable.

The guy who created Sweet Baby Ray's sauce sold his recipe to this company that is making the sauce and running the resturaunts.

We'll have to see if this is going to be any good, or if they're going to cut corners.

Well this place opened on Tuesday, and I finally had a chance to get there last night. The place is really designed for carryout and catering since it has a small parking lot and only seats 36 people. So be aware if you're going for a sit-down mean that it might be hit or miss if you'll get a table.

I was going for takeout anyway so it was not an issue for me. I was there about 6:30pm on a Friday night. This is probably the busiest you'll find the place. And things were very hectic. When I walked in all the tables were full. There were about 6 people waiting for their food and there were 3 people in line at the register in front of me. By the time I got my food and left there were about 10 people waiting for the register and probably 8 waiting that had already placed their orders. Suffice to say so far, business is very good.

Since it was my first time there, I had a tough time deciding what to get. So I ordered 2 sandwichs. The first was the pulled pork that the menu says is slow smoked for 12 hours. The second was the beef brisket which is smoked for 14 hours. I also ordered some cornbread. The sandwichs are served with a pickle slice, a bag of chips and a little cup of potato salad.

Unfortunately it was about a 30 minute ride home, which is not conducive to carryout. But the buns on the sandwichs actualy held up pretty good. I did have to heat everything up for about 30 seconds in the microwave before eating.

First up was the brisket. This is actually the first BBQ brisket I've ever had. But having grown up eating my grandmothers brisket often, I guess I expected something different. I expected an overly tender, kind of stringy pile of meat, almost what you expect with the pulled pork. Instead it was solid, very not-stringy, slabs of beef on a bun with a very small dollop of sauce on top. The predominant taste was smoke. The amount of sauce was just about perfect although maybe a tad light. But the real star of the sandwich was the beef. Tender and smoky, very nice. I would have liked it to be a little larger for $5.99, but I wouldn't say it was overpriced.

Next up was the pulled pork. This had much more sauce than the beef sandwich, and with the form factor of the meat made for one messy sandwich. This is not a bad thing, it's how a pulled pork sandwich should be. Just don't order it for lunch if you have to go back to work

My wife and I had different opinions on the pork. She thought it was too salty. I thought it was nirvana. OK, maybe not that good. It really was a little salty. But pork really picks up the smoke flavor so much more than beef. You almost feel the need to exhale after taking a bite. I really wish, as Bruce mentioned in his post, that they offered this without the sauce. The price was $4.99 and a pretty good value IMO.

I did not get to try the ribs. They offer baby back, St. Louis style spare ribs and tips. One of the problems with all good BBQ places that really slow smoke their meat is making sure they have enough to get through the day. They messed up and were already out of tips at 6:30 at night. But I did see a few slabs of baby backs come out for people eating in while waiting for my order. They looked pretty good. They were not served naked, but they weren't swimming in sauce. They appeared to be cooked to the right doneness, you could see the meat just starting to retreat at the ends of the bones but it didn't look like it was falling off. Of course it's hard to tell until I try them myself.

Now for the really bad stuff. I don't like potato salad, but my wife does. But this stuff. She didn't like it at all. She didn't know if it was too much onion or what, but whatever, she said it was awful. But it was gourmet cuisine compared to the cornbread. This just might be the most awful thing I've ever eaten. It tasted sour and undercooked. BLECH.

Overall, I'd say it was very good. They do sell the beef and the pork by the pound. The beef is said to come with the sauce on the side, but alas, the pork is listed as "infused" with sauce. The sauce isn't offensive, it's actually pretty good. But it's a little sweat for my tastes. Let's also keep in mind they've only been open for a few days. And I can't think of any place else even remotely close that smokes their own meat on site. It's the best smelling parking lot in the NW burbs. I will surely be back.

From his appeance as a Taste of Chicago ribs judge last night on Fox 32, Gary (and Chris Zorich and someone I didn't recognize) liked Sweet Baby Ray's ribs best out of the "Chicago" entrants (but seemed to prefer the Corky's ribs from Memphis, which they sell frozen on QVC and always look to be of the falling-off-the-bone variety.). I didn't know SBR had a retail restaurant either.
>>Brent

Midas,

Have you been able to come up with an addrewss for either or both of these places?

Actually I can do one better. I actually picked up the menu from there and when I went to look at it for the address I saw the website listed. It's got the actual address, phone number and menu.

http://www.sbrbbq.com

BTW, from looking at the website, I'm wondering about that Schaumburg location mentioned earlier. It mentions David Raymond and him being the president of Sweet Baby Ray's for 20 years and that this is his first restaurant. I saw mention also about the label now having major corporate ownership. So it's possible that if there was one in Schaumburg that it too had corporate ownership.

I do know that when I was there yesterday that there was a woman there behind the counter talking to a customer that obviously knew her and her husband. The customer mentioned that he thought her husband was retired and she replied that he was but got bored so they decided to open the restaurant. I also saw a rather large man working in back that didn't appear to fit in with the rest of the working crew that I suspect might have been Mr. Raymond himself.

It's interesting that their website claims a Southrn Pride cooker as well as a "Chicago Style BBQ Pit". Does this mean that they have an aquarium smoker like Lem's, Honey 1, etc.? I wonder what they cook in each of those things.

When talking aobut their method wrote:The unique combination of our Southern Pride smoker, Authentic Chicago Barbecue Pit, and our passion and commitment to barbecue.

The menu looks interesting and sounds as if the pitmaster might have some chops (assuming that they can successfully cook some of the items on the menu). I'm willing to give it a taste test, if nothing else but for the novelty of actually tasting the BBQ that is behind the sauce. If anyone else want's to join in, that would be great.

If I'd have noticed the mention of the 2 smokers I would have tried to pay more attention when I was there. My guess is the stuff they advertise as slow smoked would be in the southern pride and the other stuff in the Chicago smoker. But that's just a guess. All I can tell you is that the beef and pork didn't suffer from lack of smoke. And the beef had a lot of rub on it that was very good.

I swear, it's 4am and I'm making myself hungry again for some more Q.

brotine wrote:From his appeance as a Taste of Chicago ribs judge last night on Fox 32, Gary (and Chris Zorich and someone I didn't recognize) liked Sweet Baby Ray's ribs best out of the "Chicago" entrants (but seemed to prefer the Corky's ribs from Memphis

Brent,

My voting did not line up exactly with the other two judges, Chris Zorich and Jennie Howard, a very nice lady who is a teacher in Bridgeport. Of the 6 ribs tasted my favorite was Rendezvous.

Sweet Baby Ray's was the best of the Chicago ribs, Robinson's did not fair well at all, but taste of Chicago in 90° heat is not ideal rib weather.

Enjoy,
Gary

GWiv,

I must say I'm surprised by Sweet Baby Ray's performance, though I've got to believe that the judgements were based on quality of cooking rather than quality of sauce. Or maybe I'm just unjustly biased againsted bottled sauce. At any rate, what were the parameters you used to evaluate the different ribs, or was it basically "Me like/Me no like."

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:. At any rate, what were the parameters you used to evaluate the different ribs, or was it basically "Me like/Me no like."

Hammond,

If you mean did we go by KCBS judging, 1-9 for Appearance/Tenderness/Taste, no. For example Chris Zorich gave half-points for the ribs being cut and easier to eat. Jennie Howard gave equal weight to the sauce. It was pretty much me like/me no like. Though my parameters as to what constitutes good BBQ are fairly well defined.

I will say both Chris Zorich and Jennie Howard have well developed palates, know their way around a rack of ribs and took the judging seriously.

Far as Sweet Baby Ray's winning on the Chicago side, given the other two Chicago entrants, Robinsons and Fireside Inn, the old saw 'tallest midget in the world' comes to mind.

Enjoy,
Gary

David Hammond wrote:GWiv,

I must say I'm surprised by Sweet Baby Ray's performance, though I've got to believe that the judgements were based on quality of cooking rather than quality of sauce. Or maybe I'm just unjustly biased againsted bottled sauce. At any rate, what were the parameters you used to evaluate the different ribs, or was it basically "Me like/Me no like."

Hammond

Among the general public Sweet Baby Ray's is near the top of the list. I've used Sweet Baby Ray's for about 12 years when I serve crowds. Everyone loved it, even before my education and palate changed about 8 years ago. I still use it for catering, but cut it with juice and add some rub.

My question is, who actually was involved with the SBR booth at Taste? This place just opened up last week and it's their first restaurant. I can't believe that they signed up for Taste. I suspect it was the corp. that sells the sauce that setup the booth. Who knows if their ribs have any resemblence, good or bad, to what was served at Taste.

Buyer Beware!
If you're hoping for a unique barbecue, this isn't the place. I ordered the 1lb beef brisket. What I received was 6 slices of beef each a centimeter thick and a dollop of barbecue sauce in the middle; oh and 3 "rolls" (hamburger buns). As I took my first and last bite, the meat was chewy and didn't have any flavor at all and was too thick to even be enjoyable; I was totally turned off.

I brought my tray up to the counter and the owner challenged me about my taste buds and proceeded to make a spectacle of me. She refused my request for a refund and couldn't understand why I didn't like the food. The owners are cheap and don't understand that the customer is always right; no apologies for my feelings either. I suggest not to waste any of your life going to Sweet Baby Ray's in Wooddale.

Interesting. The brisket I had was VERY smoky. But I wouldn't say that it had a lot of other flavor. Either way lousy customer service is a crime. This is especially true for a place that just opened and might have consistency problems at first.

Did take out from SBR yesterday. Pulled pork was quite smokey and good if a bit small, almost as good as what we make here at work;and we're serious about our Q. Pulled chicken, not always available at BBQs, was also very well received.
We also had the one pound beef brisket. Now I've previously posted that I think that there are much better pieces of meat to slow cook. And I was at Chuck's in Burbank last week and had some excellent brisket. (Chuck's is always a problem to order at because it is so varied and good-the man knows his roux and his Q.) Tough competition to be sure, but SBR's brisket was fine, well smoked, and not at all tough. They offered samples to try beforehand so there wasn't much risk. I'd have preferred a thinner slice like at Chuck's but lots of folk like the thicker slice; the extra container of sauce was perfectly adequate. The rolls are a joke though, more like dinner rolls that anything else-totally bad.
I counted a minimum of three smokers on the premises including a large portable outside. FYI-they smoke with only hickory; there are certain things we like better with oak, maple, or apple, but there is nothing wrong with just hickory. The point is these seem to be people serious about barbeque.
Even after the young staff gets adjusted, I have a feeling this place is always going to be slow. The menu is longer than I expected with a whole bunch of less standard stuff to try.

I am writing in response to several different speculations that have been posted on this website.

The most important thing I want people to understand is that Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Wood Dale is not corporately owned or operated. It's true that Dave Raymond sold his interests in the sauce to Ken's Foods, which has been manufacturing the sauce for a number of years. However, when he did so, he retained rights to use the name in a franchise restaurant. This restaurant is the birth of that plan. There is no Schaumburg location, nor are there any other locations in any other part of Chicago, Illinois, the midwest, or the country. The sauce is used in over 1500 restaurants in the Chicagoland area, and over 18,000 restaurants nationwide, but we are the only Sweet Baby Ray's restaurant. The experiences that you all are having at this Wood Dale location will shape our concept development, which is still definitely a work in progress.

Sweet Baby Ray's participation at the Taste of Chicago is sponsored by Ken's and we in Wood Dale have no immediate involvement with that at this point. Dave Raymond has been in charge of that booth in the past, but not for the last 3 years or so. A friend of his, Joe Haracz with Tailgators Catering & Barbecue, had been working with Dave at the Taste for the last 9 years, and is now fully in charge of that immense responsilbility and we thank him for his dedication.

In addition to not being corporately owned, we are quite the opposite; we are a family business. Sweet Baby Ray is a real person, with a real family, and I am lucky enough to be a part of it. My father created the recipe for the barbecue sauce many years ago, and his brother, my uncle Dave, took that recipe and with the help of another friend, Mike O'Brien, and a few others, developed a small empire. My brother is excelling in his culinary education at Kendall College, and still finding time to put in loads of hours with us in Wood Dale. There are several people also who are not necessarily related to Dave by blood who have become part of our extended family through their incredible dedication and support to us in this venture. Chef Paul Papadopoulos and Chef Michael Nykaza, as well as many others, have been working long, hard hours in order to ensure goodness in our recipes, consistency in their preparation and quality of our service.

This is the hard part: we are a brand new restaurant. I do not want to come out swinging, trying to defend every criticism or have an excuse for every complaint. I know that every order has not been perfect and that every customer has not been happy. We are constantly working, putting in blood, sweat and lots of tears trying to edit and revise our system so that each day fewer mistakes are made and more customers have more positive things to say. Nothing is set in stone. We are open to all suggestions, appreciate your feedback and excited to have your business. We want to make you happy, and are trying round the clock to do so. Our first week was overwhelming. Just as my father never imagined that every WalMart in the country would carry a product with his name on it, we never imagined that with absolutely no advertising (except for our sign) we would be as busy as we have been. Every day has been a game of catch up, and now we are starting to get ahead.

We hope that you keep trying us, because we know we will get better and better, and for those of you who are already repeat customers, keep us in mind for your next catering event. Thanks so much for your patience and your support.

moraymond wrote:This is the hard part: we are a brand new restaurant. I do not want to come out swinging, trying to defend every criticism or have an excuse for every complaint.

Monica,

Thank you for your informative and evenhanded response. Though, please keep in mind, LTHForum is comprised of opinionated people and no product, including Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue, is going to appeal to all.

I'm a fan of BBQ, am looking forward to visiting your restaurant and, after sampling Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue, will post to this thread with my impressions.

Enjoy,
Gary

Monica, first let me thank you for clearing up some of the confusion. Other than that, as Gary said, don't expect too many folks to pull too many punches around here. We do take out food seriously.

I did get a chance to get back there a 2nd time. This time, instead of hitting it during dinner time I went when it was first opened up. It was much less hectic but still, the service was a little sloppy.

This time I ordered the 1lb of brisket and a full slab of baby back ribs. Again, both to go.

First the ribs. I don't normally order ribs in restaurants because they're just too expensive. But I know many people do and thus, it was my LTH duty to check them out. I would rate them very good, but a little short of excellent. They were very smokey. Some places will have a nice smoke ring on the meat, but these were pink all the way through. Very nice. And I really thought the sauce worked prety well with the overall product.

But there were 2 things that kept them from being perfect, at least to my tastes. First, a little too much sauce. I personally would like to see a little less sauce on the ribs with some extra served on the side for those that want more. The second was the amount of doneness. While they were far (very far) from falling into the meat jello category, I like my ribs to have a little more fight to them. But both these points are a personal preference. Overall though, they were very good.

Now for the beef. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the brisket is very good. Very smokey and enjoyable. But here is where the service let me down. There was supposed to be, according to the menu, sauce served on the side. There was none included with my order. And then there were the rolls. I expected to get 3 of the same rolls the sandwiches are served on. Instead I got 3 rolls that look like they were stolen from a White Castle warehouse. If I wasn't taking it home and didn't happen to have adequate rolls there I would have been really upset.

So, a little good, a little bad. Overall, good food. But there are a lot kinks that still need to be worked out.

HI to Ms. Raymond -

Love the sauce, in fact I used it last night Good luck with the restaurant! I'd love to see you succeed with a franchise BBQ place that really does BBQ right.

Lee

stopped by this place last night for dinner to check it out..the pullled pork and brisket looked great so im thinking wow someone in Chicago finally
got it right..but thats where it ended..frankly it was some of the blandest BBQ ive eaten..no seasonings whatsoever that i could notice..
it was as if they didnt even apply a rub before cooking..all I tasted was the sauce..
I did manage to eat some meat that didnt have sauce on it and although smokey it was very bland..kinda pricey two...15 bucks for two sandwiches and a drink...
service was ok though..girl behind the register was friendly
in any event now I know why I learned to make my own Q.

Like many places, SBR's has already gotten both good and bad tihngs sadi about it. I have been buying the sauce the last 2 months here in SoCal and really like it. Yes, it's sweet, but hey, I like sweet! We went camping with my wife's family last week and I made ribs for about 40 people and used SBR sauce...had a half dozen people ask me what it was and where they could get it (hmm, was my homemade sauce in previous years that bad???).

Anyways, I am visiting the family in the Chicago 'burbs next week, and in addition to italian beef and pizza, I'm always on the hunt for good BBQ, especially ribs. I may venture to the S side to try Barbara Ann's, but I can be pretty sure that from my enjoyment of the sauce and Monica's very courteous and informative post here, I am going to give the SBR restaurant a try. One of the things I enjoy when I go back to see my parents and sisters is helping them discover new places to eat (mainly through posts here and chowhound), and I could see SBR's becoming a favorite if the first experience is a good one.

If you go, order sauce on the side and add it as you like rather than letting them drown the meat as is their style. Also, I have been there and can say that the pulled pork is far and away the best thing there. Don't miss it. It's the real thing! The ribs, not so much, but passable for commercial stuff.

Well I've been avoiding the pork because my wife complained that it was too salty. But I went back the other day and ordered it anyway. Even drowned in sauce it was really really good. The sauce really does work pretty well with pork, I'd just like a little less of it.

But the best part is that my wife still thinks it's too salty. So I can buy some and it will still be there when I get home

G Wiv wrote:I'm a fan of BBQ, am looking forward to visiting your restaurant and, after sampling Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue, will post to this thread with my impressions.

LTH,

Met Steve Z a few weeks ago at Sweet Baby Ray's in Wood Dale. I guess the place is not all that hard to find as it's on Irving Park Road, but I managed to get lost twice, I really should stay East of O'Hare. SBR's was bustling when we walked in around 1pm, though the line moved quickly. If SBR was having problems handling orders it certainly was not in evidence that afternoon.

We managed to snag one of the tables, there are only a few booths and tables, which featured a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and a roll of paper towels on metal stand. Steve and I, in true LTHForum nothing says excess like excess, ordered a representative sampling of individual BBQ items. No combination plates available, which is a bit of an expensive pain to those who wish to try more than one item.

We ordered our BBQ sauce on the side, which evidenced a slightly odd look from the fellow taking our order and, when our food came up, the expediter, who conscientiously checks each ticket against what goes out, said hold on a sec, they forgot the sauce. She was a bit surprised when I told her it was correct and that we wished sauce on the side. Sweet Baby Ray's dearly loves their sauce.

Ribs were ok, a little dry on the ends of the slab, but still moist in the middle section. There was little smoke flavor, but a noticeable pink/smoke ring color, which I found slightly disconcerting. To SBR's credit the ribs were not of the meat jello variety, though still overly tender for my taste. No dry rub I could detect, but I imagine 99.99% of the ribs consumed are slathered in SBR BBQ sauce.

Sweet Baby Ray's Baby Back Ribs



Brisket was mediocre, ok texture, on the firm side, sliceable, slightly large slices, slight smoke ring, but no smoke flavor. The brisket had an almost watery mouthfeel and there was the ever so slightest hint of bitter. Sandwiches came with a pickle that looked like a kosher new pickle, but had an oddly sweet note.

Sweet Baby Ray's Brisket Sandwich



Chicken was so-so at best, glazed with a light coating of SBR, no smoke flavor, meat had little flavor. Bird was juicy, Z thought it might be brined, but I don't think they'd go to the trouble. Much like the brisket, not bad, but no reason to ever have it again.

Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Chicken


The pulled pork, no sauce, was a surprise in that it was really quite good, and not on a sliding scale in comparison to the rest of SBR's BBQ offerings, but on an objective basis. There was recognizable smoke flavor, some crisp edges aka Mr. Brown, and was nicely pulled in long strings of flavorful piggy flesh. The pork could have been enhanced by a little Eastern NC 'dip', and they had no hot sauce when I asked, which is surprising. I think they really want to focus on the SBR sauce.

Sweet Baby Ray's Pulled Pork Sandwich (No sauce)



SBR's really needs to rethink their Green chile mac and cheese. We were served a gooey mess of shell noodles in a straight gummy cheese base, might have been some cheddar in there, with the faintest hint of green chile. This dish does not work, at least from my perspective. Cole slaw was industrial, iced tea ok, buns were large and had good texture and support for the sandwiches.

All in all SBR's was much better than expected, and the pulled pork was actually good, in the top couple of Chicagoland BBQ joints where you don't order through bullet proof glass.

Enjoy,
Gary

Sweet Baby Ray's
249 E. Irving Park Road
Wood Dale, IL 60191
888-6-Baby Ray

Was out in the LandBeyondO'Hare last night and met a friend for dinner here. The concept and atmosphere here is depressingly corporate, but I agree with Gary: the pork is way better than it has any right--or need--to be. Duly impressed, was I.

Everything else was bland and ready for suburban St. Louis/Toledo/Des Moines.

Sweet Baby Ray's
800 E. Higgins Road
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
(847) 437-9555

midas wrote:Driving down Irving Park Rd. this morning in Woodale I see that they're building a new one. I've heard about the BBQ sauce, but never actually tried it. But I've never heard of them having restaurants. I did some research and saw they have one also in Schaumburg.

So what's the scoop? Any good? Somebody must have tried it.

I didnt care for the one in Wood Dale at all. Very mediocre BBQ IMO.