Windy City Ribs & Whiskey — Restaurant in Chicago

Take a seat boys and girls cuz this is going to be a good one.

I was in the area today and noticed this place for the first time. I got pretty excited because I'm a long time home BBQer. I couldn't wait to try out a new place so close to home. Who doesn't love a good BBQ place?

Later that evening, I placed an order through Yelp Eat24. $67 in food. Main items were a full rack of ribs and a half order of their sliced brisket. Got a few sides and a half order of chicken wings to complement. Pick up.

Eat24 informs me that it was going to take 60 minutes for a pick up. This wasn't acceptable because I have small children. I didn't plan on a pick order taking an hour. So I called Eat24 to cancel and the customer service rep said that their system was showing a 20 min wait. He calls the restaurant and apparently they had push the wrong buttons on their end. The restaurant also informs Eat24 that they were out of sliced brisket. No problem. I completely understand running out of a meat at a BBQ place. Replaced it with pulled pork.

This is when the story gets good. When I got to the restaurant at about 7:30 pm, I made sure to check my receipt to see if they charged me for the pulled pork or for the brisket. This was a concern because the brisket was $2 more expensive. According to the receipt, they indeed did charge for the brisket. I bring it up to the woman who was serving me and these were her EXACT words:

"Do you actually expect me to take the $2 off?"

Oh yeah. That was her response but don't think this is the peak of this story. It gets better.

I told her I actually expect to pay for the food that I'm receiving. She hands me $2 in cash and I take my sizable bag and turn to leave. Before I had even taken a step, with my back turned, she lets this one out:

"Thanks for tipping."

That's right folks. The server here expected a tip on a take out order. Not just any take out order. One that had been riddled with problems. In my 39 years of life, I had never encountered a server that wanted a tip on a take out order. And then to actually say it to my back as I left. Just wow.

At this point, I leave and begin to drive away. But I just couldn't let it go so I come back and ask for a manager. She says that the manager is not there and I ask for an alternative way to contact them. She says that's not possible. I'm actually curious if her manager or boss even cares so I'm going to call the restaurant later, near closing, and let them know. I'll update this review then. It's one thing if it's just one server. It's another if it's a systemic issue.

Anyways, the food. For a place that advertises itself as a "smokehouse", the food was completely devoid of any smoke rings. The chicken wings and ribs were just gray and a bit overdone. Still can be understandable since they might be smoking at a higher temp to meet customer demand but I fully expected the pulled pork to show some evidence of pinkness near the bark. Nothing. You can come to your own conclusions about a "smokehouse" that has food that shows no sign...

The food is okay. Whatever you do do NOT order delivery on their web site. Completely incompetent when it comes to that service. Placed an order on line, on their web site at 630 this evening. Get 2 confirmation emails - 1st saying the order had been received, the second informing me the food would arrive at 735. No show. 7:55 I call, and the obnoxious young woman on the other end says Grub Hub is slow tonight. I tell her I didn't order off of Grub Hub, I ordered off their web site. Turns out my order is sitting right in front of her... she's like "oh, here it is..." we'll get it to you. Okay, I think - just a mistake, the food will get here soon. Half an hour goes by. I call again. Again, obnoxious young woman. She tells me the food is on it's way. I ask her when it was sent, because it's probably cold by now. She flips me over to the manager who blame Grub Hub again and offers to knock the price down on the food. I think, okay - when will it be here. He tells me it's on its way. Another 1/2 hour passes (my house is literally a seven minute drive away). I call again - the obnoxious woman who answers tells me they recooked my meal and the manager was headed over now - and that there would be extra free food in the bag when it arrived. It's approaching 9 o'clock, I give her an earful - asking why they advertise delivery and give confirmations of delivery times when they can't actually deliver. She blamed Grub Hub and said I could talk to the manager showed up at my house. Fifteen minutes later the guy shows up. I suggest that they find a better delivery service system. He apologizes and repeats that he's given me a discount and there is extra food in the bag. He leaves. I open the bag..... 1/3 of the original order IS NOT IN THE BAG! The extra food? Three nasty pieces of chocolate cake. I'm furious as the third part of the order was for my daughter. I call the manager on his cell (who managed to get lost two doors down from my house and had to call me for directions when he delivered) and tell him 1) that the order was not correct; and 2) where are the free extras you promised? Hem haw, ummm.... I don't check the bags (well who does? maybe you should manage them better, mr...

Ok I'm giving this place 2stars because the guy running the place named HAPPY was super nice & accommodating. His staff was pretty cool to. Now as far as the food really didn't care forvNac& cheese they served it with shredded UNMELTED CHEESE ON TOP! Didn't like Chicken Nachos because they used a cheap tasting cheese sauce. The food was served COLD! Now the Brisket Sliders were pretty darn good! The Brisket could've been more seasoned but it was tender & the coleslaw on slider was a perfect touch. The drinks were ok the bar tender tried but you can tell she's not a professional bartender. Now Happy it's the dead of winter in Chicago I'm going to need you to TURN THE HEAT ON! THIS PLACE WAS FREEZING.!!! WE WERE THERE FOR ABOUT 2HRS & IT NEVER WARMED UP. Because Happy was so cool we hung in there until what seems like maybe his girlfriend walked in she was hella rude didn't speak to us customers & just kept giving us a cold stare !! Not only that this lady went behind the bar with her coat on didn't wash her hands & poured her a drink in her personal cup she brought in from outside!! Talk about UNSANITARY!! SMH. Happy get it together!! We make come back some day just because...