Last year was pretty disappointing. I think I'm done with Ribfest. The food was pretty lackluster, and organizationally it was a clusterf**k .

Wow! I missed last year but will be lining up early to get some of those Pete's Pizza's Ribs. Not.

My wife and I stopped at Ribfest for lunch on Saturday. I had never been, had a hankering for ribs and for getting out and about, and was emotionally ready to deal with the crowd. We sampled three: Smoke Daddy (not that good and devoid of any smoke flavor); Big Brick's (very good - looking forward to trying more from their actual restaurant); and Wrigley BBQ (also quite good).

jesteinf wrote:Last year was pretty disappointing. I think I'm done with Ribfest. The food was pretty lackluster, and organizationally it was a clusterf**k .

I'm glad I went once, but will stick to the brick and mortar versions of these restaurants in the future. I'm not sure I could come up with something better, but getting around is terrible. A city street is just not wide enough to accommodate the food tents, people in line at the tents, and people just trying to walk past.

Darren72 wrote:My wife and I stopped at Ribfest for lunch on Saturday. I had never been, had a hankering for ribs and for getting out and about, and was emotionally ready to deal with the crowd. We sampled three: Smoke Daddy (not that good and devoid of any smoke flavor); Big Brick's (very good - looking forward to trying more from their actual restaurant); and Wrigley BBQ (also quite good).

jesteinf wrote:Last year was pretty disappointing. I think I'm done with Ribfest. The food was pretty lackluster, and organizationally it was a clusterf**k .

I'm glad I went once, but will stick to the brick and mortar versions of these restaurants in the future. I'm not sure I could come up with something better, but getting around is terrible. A city street is just not wide enough to accommodate the food tents, people in line at the tents, and people just trying to walk past.

It seems like they finally have some decent bbq there, which is a major improvement over past years. And aside from bbq, I know Monti's was also there. As for crowds, it tends to be packed . . . best to get there very early.

BR wrote:And aside from bbq, I know Monti's was also there.

Yeah, I was hoping they would have a half sandwich or something similar to the sampler portions of ribs that other places were doing. They only had whole sandwiches. We picked up some "pretzel bites," which were a bit underwhelming.

Darren72 wrote:

BR wrote:And aside from bbq, I know Monti's was also there.

Yeah, I was hoping they would have a half sandwich or something similar to the sampler portions of ribs that other places were doing. They only had whole sandwiches. We picked up some "pretzel bites," which were a bit underwhelming.

Two things I've had zero luck with at Monti's: the wings and the pretzel bites . . . I'm pretty sure they don't even make the pretzels in-house.

I was disappointed. I was expecting this to be an event with BBQers from all over - not just local restaurants. Not to mention that the three local places I want to try: Lem's, Uncle Johns and Smoque weren't there.

I forget the names, but one place we tried was not that good - devoid of any flavor and almost mushy. The other was solid, but not what I'd expect from a "Ribfest".

Yeah, the crowds were terrible. Couldn't they have done this in a park or something?

mdpilam wrote:I was disappointed. I was expecting this to be an event with BBQers from all over - not just local restaurants. Not to mention that the three local places I want to try: Lem's, Uncle Johns and Smoque weren't there.

I forget the names, but one place we tried was not that good - devoid of any flavor and almost mushy. The other was solid, but not what I'd expect from a "Ribfest".

Yeah, the crowds were terrible. Couldn't they have done this in a park or something?

mdpilam--sounds like this might've been your first trip to Ribfest. Just to fill in some of the blanks here, it's mostly a neighborhood street festival with ribs as a "theme." A variety of restaurants from around the general vicinity pre-cook and serve ribs and other items in a pseudo-competition. There is a judging panel and they do select a winner but the "people's choice" winner every year that I can remember is Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro--not exactly destination BBQ

While there are places from outside the Irving/Lincoln Square/Ravenswood area, it's not a true "bbq" event and it has never included any of the southside joints as far as I know. While I think there are a few new entrants serving some decent grub, it's all prepared in advance and just warmed up (even the stuff on the grills from what I understand) on site. Not usually a recipe for great 'Q.

As for the crowds--I think I first went in 2002, when it was pretty new, and it was a fun event. But it's a fundraiser for the neighborhood association, so they pack 'em in now with name bands and lots of advertising. Last time I was there was about 3 years ago and I vowed never again.

I remember going to a pizza festival of some sort in the Lincoln Park area once that was such a letdown, I ended up going to Piece (which I hadn't tried yet) just to get some decent pizza since I was already in the mood. How can that be? How can they have a pizza event where the participants are all the bottom feeder pizza joints? I guess the big boys know it's a waste of time. Looks like it's the same for Ribfest. Is the Naperville Ribfest any good?

mdpilam wrote:I was disappointed. I was expecting this to be an event with BBQers from all over - not just local restaurants. Not to mention that the three local places I want to try: Lem's, Uncle Johns and Smoque weren't there.

I forget the names, but one place we tried was not that good - devoid of any flavor and almost mushy. The other was solid, but not what I'd expect from a "Ribfest".

Yeah, the crowds were terrible. Couldn't they have done this in a park or something?

I can only suggest that you check out:

http://www.windycitybbqclassic.com/

Our own Gary Wiv is hugely involved, it was great fun last year (at Fullerton @ the Lake).

But you have to wait until September

Ram4 wrote:I remember going to a pizza festival of some sort in the Lincoln Park area once that was such a letdown, I ended up going to Piece (which I hadn't tried yet) just to get some decent pizza since I was already in the mood. How can that be? How can they have a pizza event where the participants are all the bottom feeder pizza joints? I guess the big boys know it's a waste of time. Looks like it's the same for Ribfest. Is the Naperville Ribfest any good?

I know exactly what you're talking about. That was the single worst 'food fest' Ive ever attended.

I went this year, but made it a point to go right when it opened. No crowds and no lines. Had a nice trout sandwich from Browntrout along with a surprisingly very good 3 rib sampler from Uncle Bub's. I also had a pretty bad rib sampler from a place called Texas Thunder.... I think. They key is... go early.

bean wrote:

mdpilam wrote:I was disappointed. I was expecting this to be an event with BBQers from all over - not just local restaurants. Not to mention that the three local places I want to try: Lem's, Uncle Johns and Smoque weren't there.

I forget the names, but one place we tried was not that good - devoid of any flavor and almost mushy. The other was solid, but not what I'd expect from a "Ribfest".

Yeah, the crowds were terrible. Couldn't they have done this in a park or something?

I can only suggest that you check out:

http://www.windycitybbqclassic.com/

Our own Gary Wiv is hugely involved, it was great fun last year (at Fullerton @ the Lake).

But you have to wait until September

That is exactly what I am looking for! Unfortunately, we will be in Alaska on that weekend :/

Ram4 wrote: I guess the big boys know it's a waste of time. Looks like it's the same for Ribfest. Is the Naperville Ribfest any good?

A few years ago the fest was full of ribs but there was no BBQ. This year 8 of the 13 rib vendors served actual smoked meat. Any one who had ribs from only 1 or 2 vendors is in no position to make general comments about the food. The best way to approach these fests is to have a group of people buy samplers (usually 4 bones). This will enable you to get a taste from a number of vendors. If you find something you love you can get a bigger portion. By scoping out the booths you can limit yourself to those who are smoking on site if you wish.

The Naperville fest is on much larger grounds but can still get very crowded, particularly at night when the bigger bands are playing. All 13 of the rib vendors smoke on site but the results can run from awful to very good. The results vary a lot from year to year and even day to day. The list of this years ribbers is here: http://www.ribfest.net/food/rib-vendors For what it's worth, last year the top finishers in the blind judging were Armadillo's, Desperado's and Uncle Bub's. Surprisingly, this matched up with my experience.

Overlapping with Naperville is the Windy City Ribfest at Broadway and Lawrence. As with Naperville the ribs are all smoked on site. This is a smaller event usually with 6 or so rib vendors. No posting yet of this year's vendors.

Many of the best ribbers at the fests do not have restaurants. They often only have catering businesses or just do the fests.

I think the largest ribfest in the country is in Sparks, Nevada. http://www.nuggetribcookoff.com/

There's also a Porky's Rib Fest scheduled for June 27-30th at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.

http://www.porkysribfest.com/Rib_Vendors.html

Only looks like 5 vendors listed, but there appear to be a few interesting ones.

I think the key here is that it's RIBfest not BBQ fest

Mrs Murphy's food is quite good, actually. While I'm not sure I'd head there just for the ribs, if you are at Mrs Murphy's and someone wants ribs, theirs aren't bad at all.