Steamboat BBQ

This place is what it is all about. I drive all over the place and have yet to find better bbq. The burnt ends rival anything i tried in Kansas city and the sauce is boss hog status.

Went here while visiting Lake Geneva winterfest. It is typical family owned restaurant. Servers were girls from possibly the owner’s family or friends of owners son/​daughter. They did not seem to be trained servers. No bad experience from service as such, but it was not to the par. Considering this is family owned corner restaurant, I have no complaints in service.
Food was good. BBQ Pulled pork sandwich was nice. Onion rings were good. I do recommend this place for quick bite while around lake Geneva.
The place is very small, so adjust yourself to small chairs and tight sitting.

A fun neighborhood joint — what a delightful surprise on a Friday night. We loved the pulled pork and the sweet and spicy sauce the most. Apple Bourbon way too sweet for me, but our son loved it. Sides were all really yummy. Catfish was not the best I’ve had but still quite good and a nice compliment to the red meat. Great for take-​out. A great small business to support!

I’d give this place a solid 4.5 stars. The reasons it’s not 5 are: 1) it’s not perfect, 2) I haven’t had all their sides & meats yet, 3) they have Diet Pepsi instead of Diet Coke (still acceptable but not ideal) and 4) Their sweet potato fries come out overdone & have cinnamon & sugar on them instead of salt & pepper.
We’ve been here 3x over the last few years. It’s one of our most favorite BBQ joints. The reason it’s only been 3x is that it’s about a 1.5 hr drive round trip, given lights and traffic and we’re seldom in the area while hankering BBQ. When we’ve been there, we have had their pulled pork, brisket, smoked bacon & pulled chicken. All are outstanding! I also LOVE thier apple bourbon and butler sauces. I would’ve taken a few bottles home but we almost always have 3 – 4 bottles of various BBQ sauces on hand. As far as sides, I’ve only had their sweet tater fries, regular fries and their smoked tater salad. The smoked tater salad is awesome, but I’d like to have more than 3 – 4 ounces of it
Service has always been great. Very friendly, patient, etc. We’ve even met the manager on a couple occasions & he’s always warm and generously offers up some free samples of stuff! Smart business plus always helps that your product is REALLY good!
As far as décor, you’d easily pass it if you’re driving by as the neon sign only says «BBQ» and it’s in a strip mall. Inside, it’s your typical BBQ joint with the smoker right in front to greet you. Not the cleanest place you’ll ever see but gotta consider a man owns it, mostly male clientele, it’s BBQ and I’ve always found that dive places seem to have the best food in terms of quality & value.

I feel like we’ve been lacking in the «try something new» department, so we made a visit to Steamboat BBQ on a Saturday around 2pm. I’m a believer. It was really very good.
Parking was a bit of a drag, but I would have happily walked a lot farther to make it inside to smell that smokey goodness.
We were overwhelmed by our choices, but after staring at the menu board for far too long, we did make some decisions. My favorites included the pulled pork, the Apple bourbon BBQ sauce and the smokey bacon potato salad. The hot links were good too, but a little different from what I anticipated. They are a BYOB establishment which I don’t feel we see much of here in the burbs, so that was interesting.
The staff was great and even though it was quite crowded, we were able to snag a table right as someone else left. I’m glad they’re pretty close to home because I foresee some future visits soon. Steamboat BBQ is a welcome addition to our dining out rotation!

Fantastic! Great BBQ– good menu, prices are decent — love the variety of bbq sauces! I love the BBQ brisket! My family loves the BBQ PORK– great fries & beans! Order at counter –either eat there, small seating but not too small, or take it to go!

Good BBQ join in the area. It’s hard making a fair review on this place. I’d give it 5 stars on the quality of their food. However, I was displeased with the quality of service. I was placed on hold for over 8 minutes until the call disconnected. Then I tried calling from another phone thinking that my call just got lost. This time no answer. I understand that they get busy, so I wasn’t upset. By the time I got there I expected a long line, not one person in line and just three tables were occupied. This was only 5 minutes after trying to get ahold of them on the phone. Also when I got there I heard the phone ring, and not one person answered it…

Food here is pretty good :)

We went to this place based on the Unilocal recommendations. It was summer, on a Friday evening so there was quite a long line. Apparently there is not much air conditioning because it was quite hot inside. After waiting in line watching the process in the kitchen I realized why it was taking so long. The kitchen staff and process was very inefficient. We finally got to place our order, then had to wait a significant time again for it to be filled. You only get a certain amount of small containers for sauces. Finally got the food and luckily my husband snagged one of the few tables. Had to eat the food while a bunch of people in line filed past. We got their supposedly famous brisket and pulled pork and ribs. They were good but nothing exceptional. A few of the sauces were quite good. Fries were ok. In my opinion not worth the wait, I would much rather have a relaxing bbq meal at Q bbq.

Don’t get turned off by the strip mall location. This place can give any Texas or St. Louis BBQ joint a run for their money. Big portions and very tasty ribs! Opt for the Boubon BBQ — great smokey flavor! I have ordered several times since my first visit and they never disappoint.
P. S. Call your order ahead for quicker service!

Umm yeah… You should go here. This is my third favorite bbq place in the entire country, and that’s after Arthur Bryant’s (Kansas City) and 12 Bones (Asheville, NC), 2 places that bbq connoisseurs will recognize as benchmarks.
Their burnt ends rival Arthur Bryant’s and I’ve been trying to find a place that had even half way decent burnt ends and stumbled on this Mecca of fatty flavorful goodness.
Please don’t ever change, you’ll break my heart…

My goto place to get BBQ. Great food and service.

This place is so amazing in so many ways. Just go. This is classic stuff. Best potato salad you’ll ever try. Best wings you’ll try. Best burnt ends. An amazing brisket chili and award winning style ribs!!! 3 different bbq sauces. REAL DEAL BBQ.

Still the best BBQ in Chicago! Try the Turkey Club, the beef brisket or the triple porker. You simply cannot go wrong at Steamboat

Good barbecue. I had ribs, pulled pork, bbq beans and slaw. There are some highlights and some misses for sure. They were doing a catering order. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was a huge hotel pan filled with chicken sitting out uncovered for what had to be 15 minutes. They finally wrapped it but it remained out at room temperature for our entire stay.
The ribs were ok. I didn’t really like the rub. They have several sauces. The mustard was the best. The others were average at best. The pulled pork is terrific and was the star of my meal for sure. The slaw was cooked in it’s dressing and I didn’t like it but the beans were ok.
It’s a nice enough place and the staff was interested in how we liked our meal. I think if I didn’t have the world of BBQ experience, I might have given them a better rating but I’ve had a lot better in BBQ country.

It’s hard not to give a good BBQ place anything under 4 stars, because even average barbecue is still really good, but Steamboat is genuinely a great place. It’s tucked away near the Jewel in Wheaton and could be an easy spot to miss because of the location, but make sure STeamboat is a part of your rotation if you live in the area.

I love this place, the BBQ and sides are great. It can by quite busy so if its a nice day try to grab the bench outside. If you are going for something specific on the menu and its nearer the end of the working day I might call ahead and make sure, sometimes meats run out because they are so good. And finally parking can suck because of how busy they get, but its in a strip mall that opens up into a big parking lot so you’ll find a space, you may just have to walk more.
Try it you’ll love it despite its slight negatives!

Maybe 5-​stars seems high for one visit, but I know my BBQ; and this is the real deal! I have driven by this place on my way to/​from work since it opened in 2014. I smelled its goodness, yet it took almost 2-​years to finally try it.
I walked in and was greeted by a nice crew and a wonderful smoky aroma. I said that I loved BBQ and used to live Texas. The man behind the grill turned around said, «order the burnt tips and beef brisket meal.» So I did and had a bottle of Sioux City Root Beer.
Man oh man that meal was so good my head was swimming in smoke for hours! Seriously the best BBQ I have had had in Illinois!

Food: the BEST!!!
Service: attention to customer high
BYOB
Seating: limited
Music: appropriate
Hidden gem…

Been next door to Spa for years and never bothered to try this place until my brother in law told me to try it. I love love good BBQ and it’s so hard to find in Chicago burbs. Small, unassuming place but big on BBQ flavors! This place is the bomb! Couldn’t decide what to order so I was glad I brought my whole extended family. The burnt ends sandwich was awesome, great caramelized bits and juicy meat. Niece ordered the BLT and it was so good with like ¼ pound of thick cut smoked bacon. Will def be coming back for more.

My second experience was MUCH better than my first. Came here yesterday for dinner, got a full slab of ribs & mac & cheese bites. The ribs were really tender and flavored perfectly! The bites were a little on the salty side but it was quite alright.
I’m glad the manager invited me to return. I’ll be back.

I have to update my review and give Steamboat BBQ one more star. 5 stars for this delicious place. My boyfriend and I have ordered from here on several occasions now, so much that we crave their food. Love them!!!

Ribs tips are the bomb. The sauce is great also. Every time we come here they are very friendly

The BEST BBQ in the Midwest!
I consider myself a bit of a BBQ snob but this place did not disappoint! We came during lunchtime on a Friday and waited in line for a good 15 minutes before making it to the walk-​up order window. My BF got the 3-​meat combo which came with bread & 2 sides and I got the burnt end sandwich (that’s right, they have an entire sandwich full of burnt ends!!), which came with 1 side.
The food was incredible! The pulled pork was just OK but the hot links and burnt ends were out of this world! The onion rings were fried as usual then grilled to create perfect grill marks. The cold potato salad was super unique and tasty. The coleslaw was a little dry. What really put them over the top were their homemade BBQ sauces. Although it’s not unusual for a Q joint to make their own sauces the flavor of Steamboat’s was unreal! I liked the apple bourbon but what really got me was the Carolina mustard sauce. I usually dislike all things mustard but it wasn’t bitter and had a good amount of spice.
The portions were good too. I mean, both of our meals totaled about $ 25 but to those who say this place is overpriced or has small portions don’t know much about BBQ.
The Negatives: This business has gotten too big for their britches. With the crowd they draw they desperately NEED a bigger restaurant. Between the people seated eating, those waiting in line to order, and those waiting to receive their food, this place is uncomfortably crowded. Speaking of the wait to get my food, it was a little long and some others who were in line after me received their food first.

Great BBQ. My wife and I had the burnt ends, pulled pork and ribs. All cooked to perfection. The burnt ends were the best either of us have ever tasted. There’s about 5 different BBQ sauces you can add. The ribs and burnt ends were fine the way they were. The only thing I would suggest is the 2 different sauces labelled hot could be hotter, but that’s a nit. The Mac n cheese bits were good and the cole slaw excellent. Can’t wait to go back again.
The restaurant is hard to see from the road and a bit on the small side. Approximately 8 tables inside which fill up fast. We arrived at 5 pm on a Saturday, all the tables were taken by 5:15pm and a line of people queued up to order already. The inside is old school BBQ joint, nothing fancy but only adds to the enjoyment of the meal.