Best BBQ in Chicago: 10 spots for rib tips, hot links and brisket

Barbecue in Chicago runs on two tracks. On the South Side, glass-walled aquarium smokers turn out rib tips and hot links over fries and white bread, a Chicago style built by Black cooks who came north from Mississippi and Alabama during the Great Migration. Elsewhere, newer pits chase Central Texas brisket or South Carolina mustard sauce. This list covers ten city spots from both camps, plus two suburban standbys, for anyone who wants more than one style.

The list favors places that cook over wood or charcoal every day and sell out when the meat runs out. Expect to pay $15 to $22 for an order of rib tips, $16.50 to $22 for a half pound of brisket and $27 to $50 for a full slab of ribs. One spot is carryout only, one takes cash only and two let you bring your own beer or wine.

How we chose

The ranking starts with consistency: every spot in the top ten appears in at least two independent guides, including The Infatuation’s Chicago barbecue guide updated July 1, 2026, Time Out Chicago’s barbecue list and Tasting Table’s April 2026 roundup. Named, dated honors came next, led by the James Beard Foundation’s 2025 America’s Classics award and The New York Times’ 2025 restaurant list. Years in business broke the remaining ties. The final ten also had to cover the range, so aquarium-smoked rib tips, Texas brisket, Memphis dry rub and a Carolina-rooted kitchen all made the cut. Every pick was checked in late September 2026 against the business’s own website or a 2026 listing.

Hours and prices below come from each business and change without notice. Call ahead if you are making a special trip.

Lem’s Bar-B-Q

The standard order at Lem’s Bar-B-Q is rib tips and a hot link, piled on fries with white bread and plenty of the sweet, vinegary mild sauce. The Lemons family traces the business to the early 1950s, and the meat still cooks in an 8-by-10-foot glassed-in pit on East 75th Street, fed with hickory and charcoal. No other place on this list has worked an aquarium pit as long, and a national award in 2025 sealed the top spot. There is no dining room, so plan to eat in the car or carry the bag home.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 311 E 75th St, Chicago, IL 60619

Why they made the list

• The James Beard Foundation named Lem’s one of six America’s Classics honorees nationwide in 2025.
• Carmen Lemons, a retired schoolteacher and the daughter of longtime owner James B. Lemons, runs the business today.
• In a 2016 Saveur story, Lem’s claimed to be the first place in town to serve the rib tip and hot link combination, starting in 1951.
• Brothers Myles and Bruce Lemons started the family barbecue business, according to the James Beard Foundation.

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Sanders BBQ Supply Co.

Chef James Sanders and pitmaster Nick Kleutsch opened Sanders BBQ Supply Co. in June 2024 in a former pizzeria space on West 99th Street, and Beverly has had a barbecue destination ever since. The kitchen blends Texas and South Side habits, so salt-and-pepper brisket shares the tray with rib tips, fried catfish and oxtail gumbo. Whatever else you get, add the sweet potato cornbread. A place on a national restaurant list in 2025 and the No. 1 slot in The Infatuation’s Chicago barbecue guide, updated in July 2026, put Sanders second. Bring a bottle, and ask for the patio in warm weather.

Hours: Wed-Sun 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; closed Mon-Tue

Address: 1742 W 99th St, Chicago, IL 60643

Why they made the list

• Sanders made The New York Times list of the 50 best restaurants in the United States, released September 10, 2025.
• BYOB covers wine and beer only, with a $10 corkage fee per bottle of wine or per six-pack of beer.
• A large order of rib tips is $21 and a full slab of ribs is $50 on the restaurant’s posted menu.
• Kleutsch ran his own barbecue restaurant in Indiana before joining Sanders.

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Smoque BBQ

Brisket is the reason to drive to Smoque BBQ, which Barry Sorkin and his partners opened in Old Irving Park in late 2006. Order the sliced brisket platter, $29 with slaw and two sides, and add a quarter slab of St. Louis ribs for $8.50. The ribs carry a Memphis-style dry rub and smoke over oak and applewood. Close to 20 years of steady reviews, on nearly every local barbecue list, put Smoque third. The room has about 50 seats and is BYOB, and a small lot behind the building on Grace Street opens for parking on evenings and weekends.

Hours: Tue-Thu 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Mon

Address: 3800 N Pulaski Rd, Chicago, IL 60641

Why they made the list

• Sliced brisket by the pound is $39, and a full slab of baby back or St. Louis ribs is $27 without sides.
• The restaurant sits right off the Kennedy Expressway at the Irving Park Road exit, close to the Blue Line and the Union Pacific Northwest Metra line.
• BBQ gumbo made with ribs, chicken and sausage costs $6 a cup or $11 a bowl.
• A brisket taco kit, three crispy tacos for $15, is sold Tuesday through Thursday.

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Green Street Smoked Meats

Down a brick-paved alley in the West Loop, Green Street Smoked Meats has served Central Texas-inspired barbecue from a counter in a warehouse-style room since 2014. Get prime brisket by the half pound and a cheddar jalapeño hot link, then grab a seat while the rock music plays. Frito pie is the side to add. Draft beer and several cocktails come by the glass or the pitcher. Texas-style brisket and doors that stay open past 10 p.m. every night put Green Street fourth. There are no reservations, and groups of up to 12 are seated first come, first served.

Hours: Sun-Thu 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Address: 112 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607

Why they made the list

• Prime sliced brisket costs $17.99 per half pound, and a hot link is $8.99.
• Valet parking at 114 N Green St starts at 3:45 p.m. on weekdays and 9:45 a.m. on weekends.
• Online orders are carryout only, because the dining room is held for guests who order in person.
• Green Street Smoked Meats is part of the Hogsalt restaurant group.

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Honey 1 BBQ

Pitmaster Robert Adams Sr., born in Marianna, Arkansas, opened the first version of Honey 1 BBQ in the 1990s, and he was running the business with his son, Robert Adams Jr., when the shop moved to East 43rd Street in Bronzeville. Spareribs and rib tips come out of a glass-walled aquarium pit that burns nothing but wood coals, and they arrive with fries and white bread. The sauce leans sweet, with a clear note of honey. As the second aquarium pit on this list, younger than Lem’s and without a national award, Honey 1 lands fifth. Bring cash, since cards are not accepted, though an ATM is on site.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 746 E 43rd St, Chicago, IL 60653

Why they made the list

• The family moved Honey 1 from 2241 N Western Ave in Bucktown to Bronzeville in spring 2015, DNAinfo reported.
• Before a decade in Bucktown, Honey 1 operated in Austin on the West Side.
• The menu also includes hot links, smoked chicken, wings and catfish.
• The Green Line’s 43rd Street station is west of the shop on the same street.

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Lexington Betty Smokehouse

Chef Dominique Leach trained in fine-dining kitchens before she and her wife, Tanisha Griffin, grew a 2016 catering company and a food truck into Lexington Betty Smokehouse. The restaurant opened on East 111th Street in Pullman in 2022 and is named for Leach’s grandmother, Betty King. Rib tips with a deep pink smoke ring lead the menu; add a smoked turkey leg with candied yams and greens. Leach’s TV credits and a menu with vegan-friendly options put Lexington Betty sixth. Doors close at 7 p.m. on most days, so aim for lunch or an early dinner.

Hours: Tue-Sat 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; closed Mon. Check Sunday hours before you go.

Address: 756 E 111th St, Chicago, IL 60628

Why they made the list

• Leach won Food Network’s BBQ Brawl and the title of Master of ‘Cue, and she appeared on Chopped in 2021.
• Betty King, the grandmother behind the name, came from Lexington, Mississippi, according to the restaurant.
• The business once ran three locations before consolidating to one, CBS Chicago reported in 2024.

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Soul & Smoke

Chef D’Andre Carter and Heather Bublick, both fine-dining veterans, turned a catering company into Soul & Smoke during the pandemic, and the Avondale location adds a sunny dining room and a patio on the river. Get the tip and link combo, a half pound of Duroc rib tips with a Maxwell Street-style hot link for $22, plus mac and cheese. Prime brisket smoked over hickory and cherry wood is the other draw. The riverside setting and a menu that stretches to gumbo and red beans and rice earn seventh place. Meats are smoked daily and do sell out, so preorder online for a sure thing.

Hours: Sun-Thu 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Address: 3057 N Rockwell St, Chicago, IL 60618

Why they made the list

• Soul & Smoke came to Avondale in 2021 as a delivery-only ghost kitchen before moving into the riverside space.
• Tables can be booked on Resy.
• An 8% service charge replaces tipping on counter orders, and the company says every employee earns at least $20 an hour.
• Prime brisket is $22 a half pound, and the prime brisket dinner with mac and cheese, collards and a cornbread muffin is $32.

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Offset BBQ

Just south of the California Avenue exit of The 606 trail, Offset BBQ is a family-owned room in Humboldt Park that mixes St. Louis ribs, Texas-style brisket and pulled pork on one menu. Two dishes show off the kitchen’s sense of humor. The BBBLT wraps smoked brisket in a blanket of bacon for $19.25, and chicken fried ribs are a smoked half rack, dredged and fried, for $18. Open seven days a week with weekend brunch, Offset ranks eighth for range more than tradition. Walk or bike in on The 606, and book a table if you are coming with a group.

Hours: Mon-Thu 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Address: 1720 N California Ave, Chicago, IL 60647

Why they made the list

• A half rack of St. Louis ribs with slaw and a side is $24, and a full rack is $38.
• Brunch runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
• The $95 Just the Meats package, a rack of ribs plus a pound each of brisket and a second meat, feeds four to six.
• Carlo Carani and Doug Pomba own the restaurant, according to Tasting Table’s April 2026 barbecue roundup.

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Lillie’s Q

Chef Charlie McKenna learned barbecue from his grandmother Lillie in Greenville, South Carolina, and Lillie’s Q still cooks with that accent: a mustard-based gold sauce, Brunswick stew, pimento cheese and stone-ground grits. McKenna opened the restaurant in Bucktown in July 2010 and moved the counter into a pour-your-own beer hall on North Ashland Avenue in May 2020. Order pulled pork or tri-tip by the half pound, with a pimento cheese sausage on the side. As the one Carolina-rooted kitchen in the top ten, Lillie’s Q takes ninth. The beer hall admits guests 21 and older only, so leave the kids at home.

Hours: Check current hours before you go.

Address: 417 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Why they made the list

• McKenna graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2000 and worked as a sous chef in two Chicago fine-dining kitchens before opening Lillie’s Q.
• The beer hall takes no reservations and seats guests on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Bottled Lillie’s Q Carolina and Gold barbecue sauces are sold in grocery stores.
• Axios Chicago singled out the pulled pork sandwich and the mustard-based gold sauce in a 2024 barbecue roundup.

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The Tonk

For more than 18 years, The Tonk has cooked Memphis-style barbecue at 18th Street and Racine Avenue in Pilsen, first as Honky Tonk BBQ and, since a 2023 rebrand, under the shorter name. Meats are dry-rubbed and cooked over wood and charcoal only, with the sauces served on the side. Get the personal platter with pork or brisket for $21, or a slab of rib tips chopped to order for $15. Live music several nights a week makes The Tonk the pick for a night out and earns the tenth spot. Reserve ahead on show nights.

Hours: Wed-Sun 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; late-night menu Thu-Sat 11 p.m. to midnight

Address: 1800 S Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60608

Why they made the list

• Prime brisket is $31 a pound or $19 a half pound, cut fatty, lean or both.
• St. Louis spare ribs and baby backs smoke for six hours, according to the restaurant.
• Every side on the menu is vegetarian or vegan, and the two red barbecue sauces are gluten-free.
• House sauces include Chicago Sweet, Memphis Tangy and a Carolina mustard, butter and garlic blend.

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Also worth knowing

Out in Berwyn, Babygold Barbecue is attached to a historic music venue on Roosevelt Road, and chef Steve Domanik’s menu centers on brisket and ribs, with beef ribs off an outdoor stick burner as a frequent special. Po’ boys and chargrilled oysters nod to the venue’s Cajun music heritage. The Infatuation and Time Out Chicago both include Babygold in their Chicago barbecue guides, which makes Babygold the suburban pick for a show and a brisket plate.

In Evanston, Hecky’s Barbecue has held the northwest corner of Emerson Street and Green Bay Road since October 13, 1983, when Hecky Powell and his wife, Cheryl, opened with $100 in the register. The recipes came from Powell’s Creole grandmother in New Orleans. Order the Chicago Combo, a pork hot link and a pound of rib tips over fries, for $19.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the best BBQ in Chicago for rib tips and hot links?

Lem’s Bar-B-Q on East 75th Street and Honey 1 BBQ on East 43rd Street both cook rib tips and hot links in glass-walled aquarium pits, the classic South Side method. Lem’s won a James Beard America’s Classics award in 2025. For a newer take, Soul & Smoke in Avondale sells a half pound of Duroc rib tips with a Maxwell Street-style hot link for $22.

Which Chicago barbecue restaurants serve Texas-style brisket?

Green Street Smoked Meats in the West Loop describes the barbecue as Central Texas-inspired and sells prime sliced brisket for $17.99 per half pound. Smoque BBQ in Old Irving Park has been known for brisket since 2006, and Sanders BBQ Supply Co. in Beverly blends Texas and South Side styles.

Is there Carolina-style barbecue in Chicago?

Lillie’s Q, founded by Greenville, South Carolina, native Charlie McKenna, serves a mustard-based gold sauce, Brunswick stew and pimento cheese from a counter at 417 N Ashland Ave. The beer hall around the counter admits guests 21 and older only.

See a place we missed or a detail that has changed? Send us a correction.