The Chicago Rib Shack

Ambiance: 5 stars! Tucked away in a bridge under the train tracks in an amazing curved, dark, brick building. Love the simple decorations and how they’ve highlighted the brick. There are a handful of big cosy booths along the wall, regular tables in the middle and some seats at the bar and along the windows.
Service: 2 stars. Let’s just say everyone seemed very confused. It was around noon on a Saturday, and we walked in looking to sit at a booth and were told the booths were booked. A bit confusing, because it was barely half full in there. But oh well… we sat at the bar. After sitting for a few minutes, another server asked us why we were sitting there and tried to move us to a table. We said we were happy so we stayed. It took another 10 minutes for someone to come take our order. After taking our order, the bartender asked if we’ve ordered and tried taking drink orders. Overall — everyone was just confused. No one knew much of anything…
Food: 3 stars. My husband and I split the baby back ribs and with a side of jalapeño mac and cheese. The mac and cheese was good — but so runny! I wish the cheese sauce was a bit thicker. The ribs were just ok. The bbq sauce didn’t taste homemade and it was really thin. There was a lot of meat on the ribs which was great. But they were just a little dry.
I probably wouldn’t go back. There are many other great places to try in the area and this was just ok. It almost seemed as if it was their opening day with how chaotic it was. Overall — just 3 stars.

This restaurant is in a great location and the décor looks great. The menu all sounded amazing and as it had an American diner vibe, my hopes were pretty high.
I had the baby back ribs and they were quite dry. They were slightly overcooked and didn’t have enough sauce. The chips were distinctly average and kind of chewy.
There were no problems with the service, but unwashed disappointed with the food. I think there are several restaurants in the area with similar menus but better food.

Decent burger joint and the fries are good and my waitress was so friendly. You could tell the ice cream in the milkshake was good quality but I would have preferred the milkshake thicker!

This grade is temporary, and I really suggest you to try them for a brunch!
Sometimes I like to get lost in London. I mean, it’s a sweet city with tons of places where to have a walk, big roads and generally calm. And that’s really true for this neighborhood!
I went here with a friend before joining an afternoon at the park (the other big thing in London, parks!), a quick lunch before out ultimate frisbee contest (try it, frisbee is joy).
So what do you want to have before such a busy afternoon? well ribs of course!
So THE signature dish (ribs) is awesome. I mean really, I don’t have tons of experience on ribs but that was really good, seriously good. I preferred the baby ones as I don’t really like to eat a lot of fats and that was exactly what I wanted. 5 stars for that. And 1 stars for the coleslaw, it definitely seemed something prepared the day before, and it tasted a bit of fridge. And I hate the fridge flavor.
Unfortunately my friend took a caesar salad: now, The salad was good, but that was NOT a caesar. I mean, this is kind of a fixed dish, yes you can add something more like chicken or bacon, but the base is always the same. This had the wrong kind of salad, the wrong kind of cheese, the wrong kind of bread, the wrong kind of dressing. I mean, come on, just google caesar salad and stick with it! it’s not difficult, seriously! I know you can do a good dish, but in that case call it something else, don’t use that name! Damn!
Still, I really want to try this place for a brunch: the menu seemed good, they have free coffee refill and they have awesome brunch cocktail! I tried the marmalade martini (or something like that, anyway vodka martini marmelade) and it was delicious, so… My door of acceptance is still open, but I really want to see that dish disappear from the menu!

I always get very excited to hear about new American restaurants popping up. When I heard about the grand opening of this place on Unilocal,figured I should make my way over there soon and try it.
It has a cool funky retro look — smallish but the restaurant was never too busy at a given point. Lotsa funky things to look at… like the stuffed pig machine. As I wait for my friend, I order a homemade ice tea. It was nice — tasted like the bottled lipton tea but didn’t remind me of the homemade brew stuff I usually get back in the states.
I’m glad I checked out some of the photos on Unilocal before hand because I was tempted to get the spicy chicken wings as they totally remind me of buffalo wings but… no way would I care to order 3 wings for a fiver! I’ll go straight to my mains thank you.
I asked the waitress what the difference was between the baby back ribs and the thick cut ribs. She said the thick cut ribs have a layer of fat and the baby back ribs are leaner. Hmm. really? I picked the obvious choice. When the ribs came out, a huge stack of them yes. You need to slab on the delicious BBQ you get on the side — if not, it’s a bit meh. It was a little bit on the dry side — so just need to lather on more BBQ sauce.
I ordered a side of mac and cheese which came in a mini pot. I open it and there are all these black burnt breadcrumbs. It wasn’t even crunchy! This was a really bad fail — I’m sorry. I had some of my friend’s fries and I don’t see what they mean by seasoned. Seasoned fries usually have a bit of flavor besides salt.
My friend had the pulled pork sandwich. The manslaw that it came with wasn’t the best combo — so it was best to scrape it off. He also had a fried pickle… which I haven’t seen in the states ever even traveling to the south…
Lastly, we ordered dessert. My friend had the brownie which was okay. I don’t think it’s anything amazing. I ordered the key lime pie which was delicious. Nice, tangy and a good amount of zest.
Overall, it was just okay — just the average feeling of a chain restaurant.

I took the kids there for opening night and it was busy!!!
I completely forgot it was under the rail line so was convinced i could hear thunder coming lol.
Right lets get down to business, the place is small but airy. Lots of booths and a long bar table in the middle and a few stools by the window.
A good selection of beverages but no milkshakes the day we went as i was dying to try their peanut butter jelly.
Between us we had a homemade lemonade and Iced tea which were bother flavorsome and refreshing.
For starters we shared the pulled pork spring rolls (very meaty and tasty), calamari (a little bland and overcooked) and chicken tenderstrips (fantastic).
We then had baby back ribs (kids loved the adult size portion and said they were very tasty). I had the belly pork ribs which were juicy and tasty but as 65% fat there was nothing left by the time i scrapped the jelly fat off., it can with a very nice bbq dip. for sides we ordered the best ever tasting mac n cheese i have ever had the pleasure of eating, creamy coleslaw and seasoned chips.
The desserts were a choice of vanilla cheesecake (tasty) and the best ever BROWNIE OMG — it was huge slab of dense chocolate goodness as my youngest had this. I had to remove it from him ¼ of the way in as he started buzzing off his seat — a chocolate overload!!!
As it was opening night it was very slow and busy hence with the wait and ordering, eating etc we were there for 2 ½ hrs (not great when you have kids).
As its not far for us this will be our new rib place to visit