George's Rib House Harvey IL

After searching the forum for BBQ posts I found a few for George's rib house in Harvey and gave it a try about 9 pm last night. As I was coming up to the rib house I could see a tall fat stack with some sweet smoking coming out...NICE what a sweet site to see on a Monday night!

I ordered a small tip no fries/bread only sauce on the side. I knew I had a bit of drive and did not want the fries to get nasty and I am not a real big fan of fries in general. Chatted with the dude behind the counter a few, they had the pit loaded with meat and it looked killer GOOD! Got my tips and two guys behind the glass said THANKS! Smelled great in the car I kept picking up the bag and smelling it as I was speeding home.
I got the tips home and cracked a beer and the bag open! Snap the tips look great and were still nice N hot. Even though the do not use wood they still had very nice flavor, super moist/tender, not a lot of fat or grease either nice and lean and just tasted awesome. These are some of if not the best tips I have munched on. The sauce was good but I found myself almost forgetting about the sauce cuz the tips were just so darn good as is. I ate the whole order slow and enjoyed every bit. I even found myself doing a lil dance when I got about half way thru...Yeah the 4 beers helped with that! LOL..to wrap it up these rib tips were killer good and this place rocks out in a big way. I will B back there for sure to try a full slab and other stuff. Below is one of the posts I read that got my BBQ wheels turning to this place. Oh yeah when BBQ makes u do the BBQ dance you know its good...FOR SURE

G Wiv wrote:

sdritz wrote:This was our first trip to George's, but it won't be our last.

FrankP wrote:Sounds like a good place. Would you mind posting an address? Thanks!

I've been to George's a couple of times and found it good, though not to the same degree as Suzy. George is an interesting and idiosyncratic fellow who only uses lump charcoal in his Aquarium style cooker as, and I quote, "wood has worms and I don't want no worms in my BBQ" Really, I'm not making this up.





Enjoy,
Gary

George's Rib House
168 W 147th St
Harvey, IL 60426
708-331-9347

Thanks for the post. I am a real fan of George's and it has been far too long since I have visited. Strictly speaking, what they do is not barbecue in the sense that there is no wood used, and thus no smoke flavor, but they have always done an almost perfect job of slow cooking over charcoal - beautiful bark, tender, flavorful meat - when I visited, so I am willing to give them a break on the smoke flavor.

Went to Georges last night and order a small tip, no fries and hot sauce on the side. The lady taking my order gave me a funny look after I said sauce on the side and said the tips have mild sauce on them already. I asked is there any way to get them dry she said no. I told her I was there Monday night and had some killer tips that were dry. She said well they must of done thing different that night...tonight ALL our tips have mild on them already. I was bummed and left tip less. What do you guys think about this...why why WHY? I noticed when I was talking to the lady I was trying to get some eye contact with the dude in the pit. I know he heard what was going on but had his back to me and never turned around.

Cbot wrote:I asked is there any way to get them dry she said no. I told her I was there Monday night and had some killer tips that were dry. She said well they must of done thing different that night...tonight ALL our tips have mild on them already.

Often BBQ joints pre sauce, maybe its held over meat, maybe they were dry, maybe it was a different cook. Who knows, maybe the tips would have been good with the sauce, especially if they were dry/held over to start with.

Georges is an idiosyncratic place, give em another try or try a new joint.

Enjoy,
Gary

dicksond wrote: Strictly speaking, what they do is not barbecue in the sense that there is no wood used

You know, I used to think this, too, but now I'm not so sure. As long as it's cooked long and slow and there's wood somehow involved in the process (in this case, as charcoal), I think it's fair to call it barbecue, isn't it? Maybe we can get some elucidation from Gary? The reason I ask is my two favorite barbecue joints in Memphis -- Cozy Corner and Payne's -- both used charcoal-only in their cooking (Cozy Corner actually uses an aquarium smoker, and Payne's has a pit. I'm sure Cozy Corner is charcoal-only, as I both asked and read further up on it online. As for Payne's, I asked the older lady working there what kind of wood they use, hickory, oak, etc? and she said they only use charcoal. I'm still a little skeptical of this information, but that's what she said.) Based on this experience, I personally expanded my definition of barbecue to encompass places that do their meats this way.

Did a late night run to George's for a small tip hot on the side meal. Tips were great! Meaty, good pork pop and spiced up good. The sauce tasted a bit different than i remember and was pretty hot in temp. not served cold. Fries were a bit over done. Good late night meal. Really wanted to go to Exsenators, drove by and they were closed...bout 10:30 pm...think they only say open to 10 pm on Wed.
The Hickory will call me back SOON!

I phoned George's Rib House Saturday(11/24/12) to make sure they were open, because it is a somewhat long drive to George's and I was not entirely eager to do all of that driving on a cold night, where the temperature in Chicagoland was right around the freezing point. It is always late evening before I will even consider buying barbecue, anyway, because I, one, try to reduce the chance that I might get reheated barbecue that did not sell the previous night and, two, I have always felt the best possible barbecue comes from a pit(cooker) that has been on for many hours, resulting in a thorough heating of the entire system, including, crucially, the air above the actual cooking surface.

So, the telephone rang a good number of times until, finally, someone answered. I asked until what time they would be open and George, I know his voice, said they would probably only be there until about 1am, "because it's the holiday, it's slow, but then I got a lot of people calling". I hung up the telephone and, then, woke up at about 11pm. Well, you would be unlikely to catch me driving anywhere after about 10pm, and Saturday night was no exception; so, there was no George's barbecue for me Saturday. After calling again, 2 days later on Monday(11/26/12) evening, to make sure they were open I was off to get my food.

I walked in, stepped up to the window, and was greeted by George, before he took my order(rib tips) and told his employee to get my "large tip". There were no other customers in the restaurant when I arrived and, as I remember him having a tendency to do in the past, George took the opportunity to start a conversation with me since no one else was waiting. He started talking, fondly, of old times and said we do not really get a lot of snow anymore, we might get some snow sporadically and that's about it. I said, "I can remember many years ago when we really had marked seasons in Chicago"; I told George I remember a huge snow storm we had in the 80's and mentioned specific kinds of cars that I remember pushing to get them unstuck. George responded and I kind of wished, as his employee approached the window with my rib tips, that it would have taken more than those few minutes to prepare my order, because I would not have minded talking to George a bit longer. The employee stressed that I needed to keep the bag with my food in it level and I told George to have a good Christmas and Happy New year as I walked the few paces toward the door.

After I was in my car I carefully placed the bag with my food in it inside 3 larger plastic bags and tied them shut, in order to prevent any sauce that might leak from staining the interior of my car. From past experience I know that, occasionally, George's will add so much sauce that it will spill and soak through the bag. As I grabbed my camera and, then, stepped back out of my car to take pictures of George's Rib House 2 more cars(customers) entered the parking lot. One of the cars stopped in front of me and a lady asked if George's was open; I said, "Yes Mam, they are open", waited for the car to move after she exited the passenger side, waited for her to get inside the restaurant, and snapped my pictures.

George's Rib House

great post, thank you. I actually built up some anticipation with the two photos of the bag.
George's Rib House

third coast foodie wrote:great post, thank you. I actually built up some anticipation with the two photos of the bag.
George's Rib House

Thankyou for your kind comment.

I found this forum, because this thread showed up in a SERP(https://www.google.com/search?q=george% ... l=en&gbv=1) for "george's rib house hours".

Historically, I do not really eat restaurant food a lot; most people would probably call me boring. More often what happens is I occasionally get "on a roll" where I will eat restaurant food multiple times during a short period. Consistent with the boring label, I am not adventurous and I am usually very loyal. So, when I find myself really, really, liking a specific food I kind of take the "if it is not broken why fix it" approach and continue eating the exact same thing instead of trying anything else. Hence, if I am going to get barbecue it will be rib tips and it will be from "George's Rib House", firstly, or possibly Kenny's Ribs, and if I am going to eat a salad the dressing will be french, never any other dressing.

Kenny's Ribs franchises its restaurants; thus, there can be differences in the rib tips from restaurant to restaurant. So, I became loyal to one particular Kenny's Ribs restaurant. The Kenny's restaurant ended up on my list, because, back in the early 90's, they gave me a sample of their rib tips that I liked. There was a time when Blanche's, a restaurant that was not far from George's Rib House, would have been a top choice as well. I do not know how Kenny's is doing these days as 1999, or so, was the last time I bought rib tips from them.

It was somewhere between walking the aforementioned "few paces toward the door" and getting to my car that I decided to write a post, here, about George's. And, despite the excellent+ food I probably would not have ended up writing anything at all if George, in amiable fashion, had not stood there and, so it seemed, made it a point to get a conversation going with me.

trivia: I believe a store just down the street from George's, although I guess it has changed ownership many times by now, may be the one that was once owned by Sammy Davis Jr.. I read that Sammy Davis bought the place, which is still open under whatever ownership, after a particular incident there elicited compassion from him. I also remember going to Dixie Square Mall(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Square), just around the corner from George's Rib House, many times, long before it was used to film scenes for "The Blues Brothers" movie, with John Belushi. The only Jack in the Box(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_in_the_Box) restaurant I ever remember eating at was on the other side of the road from Dixie Square Mall. I had no idea Jack in the Box still does business, in other places, until relatively recently.

I grew up in a neighboring suburb and I remember that back many years ago there was a place on 154th called "Rotten John's Rib Shack." We never stopped in and I don't suppose it is around anymore. . .

One of my first jobs was working as a busboy at Gino's Steak House in Harvey.

Gino's certainly rings a bell. http://www.suntimes.com/restaurants/ste ... -gino.html Relatives of mine were good friends with Gluc's Ace Hardware, in Posen, and I remember, going back decades, someone saying Mr. Gluc's had treated them to a meal at, I think, Gino's. At one time or another, over the years, it seems like there were lots of restaurants in the area. ... Americans trying to live the American dream by establishing a successful restaurant.

I kind of consider George's Rib House a story of not only success, but longevity. It was not until after I had left George's, Monday night, that I wished I had asked him what year he opened for business.

112812 wrote:Kenny's Ribs franchises its restaurants; thus, there can be differences in the rib tips from restaurant to restaurant.

I can vouch for the Rib Tips at the Kenny's in Lansing.

Kenny's Ribs & Chicken
16825 Torrence Ave, Lansing IL 60438
(708) 215-2222

Artie wrote:I can vouch for the Rib Tips at the Kenny's in Lansing.

That is the Kenny's that was on my list.

For years there was a Bally Total Fitness across Torrence from the shopping center that Kenny's is in. The Bally was between Sportmart and another restaurant. I used to frequent that particular Bally's, right down the street from the Ingall's outpatient facility, almost daily. Indeed, I remember when Best Buy was still across from the Calumet City Post Office, before it moved to a location almost across the street from Ingalls. I remember when Dominick's and, even, Phar-Mor, were right in the area, along Torrence in Lansing, IL, as well. Last time I passed the old Dominick's location, across from Arby's(?), I noticed a new, enormous, health club had been built and I think it encompassed the old Dominick's location, which had closed some years ago.