Salt Creek Barbeque

staff was very friendly unfortunately the food was terrible. I had to pour a ton of bbq sauce just to eat the brisket. so sad I was so hungry

A very bad experience recently. Came in for their full slab rib dinner.
The rib’s were very dry and nothing to write home about. The BBQ beans were very bland tasting. The onion soup was like drinking brown gravy. It wasn’t worth the price I paid.

Wow. What a difference a new Manager makes! I feel like it’s a whole new restaurant now!
I remember frequenting Salt Creek years ago on trips to the bowling alley or to Menards, always a good experience, but the last few years it’s kinda taken a dip…
That is until a friend of mine had recently mentioned it to me, I said «Yeah, I used to go all the time», and he proceeded to tell me that he swung by and had a chance to meet the new manager, Toby. He said the food was awesome and the service was like when they first opened plus a little extra.
So, had to give it a try since my friend has a BBQ tooth like myself. I went on Thursday and there were quite a few people already enjoying their meals and some libations. I was instantly greeted upon entering and was pleasantly surprised by the smells of smokey meat.
I had a group of friends come with me, because BBQ just needs a group, and we all tried different things.
The BBQ Pulled pork? Amazing. Great flavor and the dinner was an EXCELLENT portion size for the price!
The chicken fingers were moist, meaty and tasty. And I like the honey mustard sauce a lot.
The ribs were VERY good. Especially smothered in the delicious BBQ sauce, try the hot, not too spicy and has a great flavor.
And the rib tips… Ohhhh the rib tips. I will be back for them. ASAP!
And props to the new Blue Moon Lager or Amber that I tried. I had a nice ice cold 23oz. glass. Delicious.
Overall, I am EXCITED to have a quality BBQ place back and with the TV’s there I could see going up for a lunch or dinner and watching some hockey, baseball or football in the fall.

I would not have tried Salt Creek Barbeque if I didn’t have
to help lessen the load on my wallet (this poor student has to eat somehow… thank you student loans). The food is mediocre at best. The pulled pork was too sweet for my taste and the chili was unmemorable. There was probably more fat present on the rib tips than actual meat. I also got half an order of chicken, which was actually decent. If you’re really craving BBQ, there’s another place nearby called Hickory River that outshines this place.

I guess you can call this BBQ. More like beef jerky. I got the brisket and rib tips. They were both aweful. The brisket was so hard I think I lost a tooth. I told myself I wanted to try this place, now I tell myself never again. Service was ok.

I had high hopes for this small BBQ shack on North Avenue.
I picked up a BBQ chicken sandwich with fries, and my wife got a pulled pork sandwich with mac n’ cheese as a side. Our little peanut was crying her head off, so we took it home.
The fries weren’t bad. They tasted a little bit too much like frozen fries reheated in an oven, but they were spiced and seasoned, and I liked them. My chicken sandwich was a bit dry, but fortunately they provided a little extra sauce on the side.
The sauce was all right. It’s a vinegar-​based BBQ sauce, but sweeter than you would expect. Nothing to complain about here.
My wife’s pulled pork was also OK; sort of sweet because of the sauce. Then there’s the mac n’ cheese. I think I’ve said it before… if you’re not going to do the sides right, why do them? There was a distinct lack of cheese flavor, and the pasta was way, way overcooked. It was on par with cafeteria mac n’ cheese, and that drives me nuts (as in, –1.5 star nuts).
So it’s an OK barbecue place. Unfortunately, those are a dime a dozen out here.

Mediocre barbecue, small portions, slow service.
I went through the drive-​through, ordering one brisket sandwich and a side of mashed potatoes. I sat there for (no exaggeration) 15 minutes. The food came to the car cold. The bun was stale and the brisket itself was OK but the sauce a cheap canned flavor. Portions were small, and the mashed potatoes were clearly from a box.

Standing on the site of a former Portillo’s, Salt Creek Barbeque is a decent sized BBQ joint located off of North Avenue. When driving by I saw a sign that said 1.00 Hot Dogs and Burgers all month (this was in December) and decided to drop by and try out the hot dog. The inside of the restaurant has a fair amount of seating with both booths and tables and it’s a little dark on the inside.
I decided to try a one dollar hot dog, and some macaroni and cheese. A few minutes later my food was ready and I was on my way to digging in. The first thing i tried was the Mac and cheese, it came in a Styrofoam cup. It was very cheesy though admittedly tasted like an off the shelf brand (Kraft perhaps), this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as I like off the shelf Mac and Cheese. The noodles were soft and it was very cheesy, for roughly two dollars I was happy with the Mac & Cheese.
I then decided to try the hot dog. For a one dollar hot dog I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but lo and behold here was a nearly fully decked out Chicago style dog at a bargain price. It came on a soft non-​poppy seed bun, there were long tomato slices too so that tomato was in every bite. While I detected no sign of celery salt, the neon green Chicago style relish made its appearance along with a good application of mustard. The sausage itself was skinless but well heated and tasty. The sport peppers used weren’t too hot or too rough in texture and were a nice compliment. Overall, this was a well above average hot dog, and was boosted by the fact that it was only a dollar.
Overall my opinion of Salt Creek Barbeque is a positive one. The food was good, the prices were great. While I don’t think the one dollar hot dogs are supposed to last forever, it was a good hot dog at a great price. I recommend Salt Creek Barbeque and give it four stars.

i agree with the majority of the reviews here. Really wanted to like it but it is mediocre at best.
When I first went in, the guy taking orders was sitting at the bar with headphones on. Fortunately he looked my way when I walked in or I would have been waiting to place my order until his playlist ran out!
I had rib tip/​pulled pork combo. It was just ok. I think I make better at home and I’ve certainly had better at other restaurants. The rib tips were dry and required additional sauce to even eat. The pulled pork was somewhat better but was still better with sauce. Normally I go sauceless, but not here!
I won’t be going there again despite driving past the place fairly often. That in itself is disappointing as another BBQ place will be out of my way. But, given the food here, worth the extra drive I think!

We just ate here for lunch and the BBQ is good… I’ve had better. I love the grilled chicken breast with the BBQ sauce. I’ve had better slaw. Good, but I’ve had better.

I really, really want to love this place but sadly, it lets me down in so many ways.
I give it three stars instead of two because it’s the only place close by to go to when I am craving BBQ. Also, since they’ve participated in both Groupon deals AND
certificates, the steep prices balance out a bit and make the experience more tolerable.
But let me be clear, there is NO way I would give three stars if I had to pay full price.
Let’s start with the price, shall we? Way too high if you order any sort of dinner. Maybe the prices for a sandwich combo are okay, but if you’re spending $ 14-​$ 18 for an entrée, then Salt Creek, stop being stingy! I think BBQ by nature is a hearty. hefty meal, and if a person leaves a BBQ establishment still hungry (but $ 40 poorer), um… yeah… you’re doing it wrong. So either lower the prices, or increase the portion sizes.
Their full rack of ribs is woefully small and with hardly any meat on it, your $ 18 would be better spent somewhere else.
Sides are decent, but nothing special. They show a cornbread muffin on the display board but what you actually get is a pitiful square that looks and tastes like it could be courtesy of Jiffy.
Shaved beef brisket was okay but did not hold its own without needing a boost from the bottled Spicy sauce.
Pulled pork is also just okay — the day I ordered this, they were out of Texas Toast and didn’t even have the courtesy to inform me they’d be substituting a plain old hamburger bun in its place. Again, when you’re ordering an entrée for $ 14, it’s the little things.
Apple cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream seems to be best thing on the menu.
They let the dirty dishes pile up, don’t keep the silverware well stocked, and don’t monitor the iced tea dispenser to make more BEFORE it runs out.
I think with some changes, this place could be really good. Until then, I’ll keep an eye out for the deals and only come here when I absolutely HAVE to have BBQ but don’t want to go out of my way to get some.

I bought a good coupon from Groupon so I could give this place a try. I love BBQ!
To me the best item to try to test a BBQ place is their ribs. Wife got a half slab and I got a full slab. The ribs were the smallest I have ever seen. Mini ribs! HA! They were over cooked, dry, not meaty and flavorless. Their sauce was lame and the sides were not very good either. The fries were good though! If you want to try this place, which I would not reccomend, dont get the ribs.
I am going to be an optimist and go back someday to try a different menu item such as their pulled pork. That is if they are still open.
The people working there are not real friendly and the service is slow. That is the limited service they have. You order and pay for your food up front and they bring it to you. Come to think of it the beer was really cold and good! But if you want a second one you better chase down the person taking the orders because she wont ask you until your ready to leave.
If you want great BBQ give this place a pass. And stay out of the washroom! OMG!

WtHad a slab of ribs 3÷16÷12
Good suburban ribs… I’ve had better. Had worse. Lem’s bbq out south on 75^th street in the city. Would destroy this place… but like I said. Decent suburban ribs

Salt Creek BBQ is probably a bit of an embarrassment to the BBQ purist, to those who know, live, eat and breath bbq. Now i’m not one of them but I do enjoy BBQ and the establishment’s that serve it up.
From the jump the place is kinda creepy. The run down building stands alone at the front of a large semi-​desolate strip mall where they have such fine retail offerings like a Dollar Store, a Goodwill, Vitamin Shoppe, Mexican Carniceria, et al.
Upon entry the interior was cold, sterile and completely uninviting. There were two other ppl in the large space and this was around Noon on a Friday? I put in my order BBQ pork sandwich, fries and a pop and make my way to the fountain to get my drink. I hadn’t even finished filling u my pop and the guy who took my order was already walking over to bring me my food. It was probably close to 30 seconds. lol
The bbq pork was completely pedestrian and the bun was cold and unappetizing. No pickle, No Slaw… missing one of these two items when doing BBQ is committing a major BBQ foul. Missing *both* is just down right BBQ blasphemy. Fries were steak cut and average.
Defo No-​Go [x]

Oh Unilocal bookmarks, why do you taunt me so? I bookmarked Salt Creek BBQ quite a while ago and today I finally found myself cruising down North Avenue and we decided to stop in for lunch.
It was a couple minutes after noon but nobody was there. That’s a bad sign. A co-​worker and I both ordered the ½ chicken and pork combo. It turned out to be ½ terrible and ½ edible. The chicken was terrible. It was almost like they boiled it to cook it and threw it on the grill for a moment to give it grill marks. It was not good. The pork was okay. Nothing to write home about. The fries were decent.
The food took a very long time to come out.
The service was friendly.

This place just reeks of reheated BBQ. It kills me because especially in the winter when its too cold out or snowing to fire up my smoker I want this place to be good and it never is. It is average BBQ at best and that is what drives me crazy. I will always choose the small mom and pop place for almost everything food-​wise if I have a choice but I would rather go to a chain like Famous Daves instead of this place.
I have tried the rib tips, beef ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and pretty much ever side that they have to offer. The only thing worth getting is the pulled pork in my opinion and that is only because they actually have good sauces to choose from. The sides are also not too bad considering.
Overall I would skip this place and my word of advice to them is to cook the food right and you wouldn’t need all of the good sauces to cover up the fact the meat is dry and overcooked or just plain reheated!

For starters, this place looks like a hole in the wall and is in desperate need of a paint job. It sits by itself in a strip-​mall parking lot that is all torn-​up and in poor shape.
I ordered the beef brisket dinner with a side of mac & cheese and some onion rings. The brisket is truly nothing more than italian beef meat slathered in bbq sauce on top of texas toast. This is NOT brisket in any way, shape or form. The Mac & Cheese tasted just like the kind they give you at KFC and it’s probably from the same food service supplier. My wife and I split this dinner together (which cost $ 21 for the single meal we ordered). Unfortunately, we were very underwhelmed by the meal and we both ended up feeling queasy a few hours after eating it. I so wanted to like this place and had hoped that it would be a new dining option for us whenever we were in the mood for BBQ. Sadly, we won’t likely be coming back.

I got the full slab. The baked beans were not my cup of tea, but i could see how others would like them. The mac and cheese was good, but not great.
The ribs were a bit toooo smokey/​burned, and their sauce didn’t have much flavor. For the cost of a full slab, I’ll take Brother’s Ribs in Palatine any day over the ribs here.
Also, there is a whole rack of tasty looking hot sauce behind the pickup window, but I was unclear whether or not it was for customers. The staff didn’t seem too eager to help, but I was there during a slump.
FWIW I heard the pulled pork sandwich is excellent and it is very affordable, I may have to go back for it sometime.

We stopped into this place because we were in the area and starving for BBQ. We were very disappointed with this place; the portions are small, the food is overpriced and the food is not very good.
We ordered some ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork, and a Cajun hotlink along with sides of fries, mac and cheese, corned bread and mashed potatoes and gravy. The ribs were very dry and slightly burned. Slathering them with extra sauce made them edible, but I have had much better ribs for less money other places. My husband had the beef brisket and said it was awful — way too thin and not very good. The pulled pork was okay but the sauce on it was overly sweet and tried to cover up that there was no real flavor to the meat. The Cajun hotlink was actually pretty good. The sides were all okay but nothing special.
I do give this place a little credit because they serve uncommon soft drinks such as Green River and Berghoff’s Root Beer. The restaurant itself is a decent size but the person who was taking the orders seemed annoyed that we had questions and was overall just not very friendly. For this price, go somewhere else.

The food was decent but nothing impressive. My husband liked the baked beans. The sweet potato fries were cold and when I asked if I could get all white meat for my ½ chicken they told me they couldn’t because it was already cooked. There were flies buzzing around and the dining area wasn’t appealing. I was disappointed because I used to live by the Elk Grove location and kept meaning to try it. I won’t go back.
If you’re willing to travel south, check out The Pit in Hickory Hills. Soooo much better food and atmosphere. Check the reviews here — everyone loves it because it’s great BBQ!