Robinson's No. 1 Ribs — Restaurant in Oak Park

My girlfriend and I went there yesterday around 6:30 pm. I should have known by the empty house that the service was going to be absolutely horrible. The ribs were ok, probably would have been a lot better if they had been warm and didn't take 45 minutes to get to the table from placement of order. (we were the only table in the restaurant at the time by the way) The service was beyond horrible. As a server of many years myself i understand having a bad day and the fact that you can't win every table. This was absolutely unacceptable. the server first of all didn't greet us for 15 minutes after sitting down. Then after greeting us took our drink orders (water and a coke, not hard) and took another 10 minutes to get it to us. after taking our order we waited 45 minutes for the food. I had to refill my girlfriend and my drinks myself multiple times. I had to get up and walk to the counter multiple times to ask for butter, to go boxes, and refills until i decided to get it all myself. Our waitress was no where to be found. This was a horrible experience and i will NEVER go back to this place. As a server its hard to write a review and to say this but it was well validated. Also it was the closest i have ever been to dining and ditching seeing as how we had to wait another 10 minutes at the register to receive our bill.

Side note the cook...

I ordered rib tips and fries W extra mild sauce ON THE SIDE! I’m what you would call a Chicagoan! I live for mild sauce and tell all my friends in Seattle and othEr places u need to have mild sauce, I asked for extra mild sauce ON THE SIDE! Let me telllll youuu 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 i Honestly don’t knowwwww what they are using in there but IT WASSSSSS NOT ON THE SIDE! Problem 1! Itsssss NOTTTTTTTTTT MILD sauce PROBLEM 2 it’s cheap I can taste all kinds of funky flavors in it and multiple sauces mixed as I do taste mild but a nasty bbq sauce over taking the mild! And it was drenched on top like I read from many other comments STRIKE 3! I had to add my own tatter tots to TRYYYY TO SALVAGE IT! But the sauce on the side wasn’t needed from how much sauce was used and it’s a nasty sauce again this is DOG FOOD TRASH 🗑 I spent 45$ and SO it made the meat useless…… honestly I want a refund! what a WASTE YOU’RE BETTER OFF COOKING IN YOUR OWN OVEN AND MIXING SAUCES AT HOMEEEEE.this Is turning into a rant but only because i had no idea it could be so bad!thank god I didn’t eat there I can...

Another location that is sort of a "taste of my childhood". I worry that Robinson's is just sort of cashing in on it's name and reputation. Meat isn't bad, sauce is great, but for bbq, sauce should be more of an afterthought than it is here. Service is almost always friendly, but whether the staff is particularly helpful or not is hit or miss. Today, I would rate their bbq as "meh". I mean, it's good, sure, but when I was little, it was like THE FOOD OF THE GODS. I can't say whether the chow has gotten worse, or if my tastes have matured, or if I just discovered much, much better bbq elsewhere. Probably a little of each. Still, if you're into bbq in general, Robinson's or a place like it is a good stop to make so that you can try bbq made in an aquarium smoker, as I understand it, it's a purely "Chicago" way to make it. There may be better options for that idea too, but I don't spend enough time back home to...