Matt's Barbecue — Restaurant in Lemont Township

Ordered catering for our 4th of July party last year (2023): 20 slabs of pork ribs, barbecue sauce (included), cole slaw (included), potato salad, and mac + cheese. Food was delicious apart from the cole slaw which was just average. They were kind enough to take our large order only several days before our party, which was greatly appreciated – smoking 20 full slabs of ribs is no joke!

One thing to keep in mind is that each slab of ribs was wrapped in foil individually and not cut. We usually order from Mission BBQ and are used to having all of the ribs cut up and catered in a tray. Having each slab wrapped individually was actually pretty great, as we had a ton of leftovers and having the ribs uncut and wrapped individually kept the meat more fresh for the next few days!

Few stars removed for various reasons… The online catering menu lists incorrect pricing for the ribs - listed online as $25 per slab, but placing the order over the phone, Aneta (who took my order), said they were actually $27 per slab. I mentioned that the website says otherwise, but she did not care. I told her they should update the pricing ASAP and she said ok… it is still listed with incorrect pricing in 2024!!!

I inquired whether they provide any discounts for such large orders and she told me "no, because it is not a holiday”. I was confused because 4th of July is a national holiday.. Her response was “oh, well we only offer discounts at Christmas time”.

Then she asked if I can stop in to make a cash deposit for half the order, but I offered to pay the full amount with my card over the phone. She then told me that orders like this require a cash deposit? I explained that I won’t be able to physically make it in that day and she ended up just taking my card over the phone for the full order??… strange

Regardless, I would order again only because the food was...

We ate here for the first time today. I'm a big fan of barbecue and smoke my own meat all the time at home. I rarely go to a barbecue restaurant because I'm usually disappointed. I was excited to try it here because I'm not a big fan of barbecue sauce and Texas style barbecue doesn't just drown everything in sauce.

First I want to say that the staff was suuuuuuuuuper friendly and more than willing to show us around, including the smoker outside! Very cool! They made a small mistake with our order, I mean very small, and they ended up giving us extra food to make up for it, even though we told them it wasn't necessary.

As for the food, we got the pork belly burnt ends, the beef rib, and the mac and cheese. The pork belly burnt ends were okay, on the dry side. The fatty part of the pork belly of course was delicious but the meat part was pretty dry. The mac and cheese was decent, very cheesey (lots of places tend to serve dried out Mac so this was a plus) although it was a little too smoky for our taste. For sides I prefer a lighter smoke. The beef rib is a beef plate rib or short rib, which is my favorite! The cook on my rib was perfection. It fell apart easily and melted in my mouth. The only critique here is that there was way too much pepper on this rib, and I love pepper. But it was so much I couldn't enjoy the nice crust with every bite, I had to leave some of it out.

Either way, I'll definitely be back for more. I would love to try the brisket and the Texas Twinkies, which were sold out when...

After several friends recommended this place, I finally stopped by for the first time on a Sunday afternoon.

If you are looking for moist, Texas style brisket, you won't find any better in the suburbs than Matt's Barbecue. I also tried the baby back pork ribs, which were dry rubbed and fall off the bone.

I absolutely loved their BBQ sauce also - it's sweet and smoky with great flavor! The Texas Twinkie (a bacon wrapped jalapeño stuffed with cream cheese) was also good, but it had a little too much crunch on the pepper, and could have been smoked a bit longer for a softer texture. I also tried the elotes (Mexican street corn), and it was the only disappointment.

The staff and owner were very friendly and accommodating, the service was fast, and the restaurant is charming and quaint, with a great outdoor seating area.

Matt's smokes their meat in true Texas fashion on a 500 gallon offset smoker with oak. That is what sets them apart from so many other bbq establishments in the Chicago area. And they only prepare enough meat to serve fresh, so when it's gone, it's gone. If you've ever eaten at a Texas Monthly Top 50 bbq joint, you probably understand why, and won't complain if they are sold out. So get there earlier next time!!!

I will definitely be back to try more items on their menu, and highly recommend this place if you are looking for very good and authentic Texas style barbecue. Keep up the good work,...