The Smoke Daddy

06/16/2008 Posted by krwilson

Thanks a lot Smoke Daddy, you delivered mediocre ribs (at best) at a price significantly higher than your website advertises. When I made the delivery phone order, they neglected to give me a price quote but did not forget to add $3 (a 15% increase) to the entree price upon delivery. When I called and inquired the manager basically told me tough luck. Apparently, a new menu was released today but the website had not yet been updated. If the statement "Prices may vary" was anywhere on the website I would have understood. I don't know what the in person Smoke Daddy experience is, but the entire phone order process was just amateur.

Pros: Decent BBQ sauce

Cons: Terrible phone order customer service

05/05/2008 Posted by Bixie

I used to L-O-V-E this place and I don't care if service isn't great: what do you expect, this is a no frills place, straight forward and genuine as is its food. I just went back: spring is shyly creeping in, and I couldn't wait to sit outside and enjoy my rib tips + blue moon. The waitress was very friendly, nice and helpful. Service was good: we got our food fast and.... cold! We asked to have it re-heated, but still, when we got it back, it was lukewarm. Such a disappointment! Well, I love their ribs, but I love them better when they're steamy: what's wrong with the kitchen??? The place was half empty, they weren't too busy! The only hot thing was... The coleslaw! That tasted delicious, by the way.... Because I'm a fan, I'll give it 3 stars, but really... Smoke Daddy needs to live up to its reputation!

Pros: live jazz or blues, lovely atmosphere

Cons: quality of f food

02/09/2008 Posted by ngone

The Smoke Daddy is delicious. People need to be more understanding that the quality of the food, the service, and the atmosphere is totally dependable on whether or not they are busy. The beef brisket is my favorite! I love the cornbread, the salad, all of it. Sometimes, its a pain to go there, but overall I would have to say its my fav bbq joint in the city.

01/26/2008 Posted by bowser5

I love ribs and have made it a point to try numerous rib joints throughout Chicago. I would have to say that Smoke Daddy's ribs are by far the worst ribs I've had in this city let alone in my life. I'm not sure if it was because it was carry out (which is still by far no excuse) but the food was awful and would say the only thing edible was the brown paper bag it came in. The ribs were either (A) underdeveloped bone (B) more reminiscent of beef jerky than ribs (C) or cartilage ridden gristle. Also the sweet potatoe fries were cold, the mac and cheese tasted like left over kraft mac and cheese from a week ago, and the cole slaw was hot and tasted of wet shoe. If you ever think of eating here please do your self a favor and pass.

Pros: Wish I had one

Cons: Overpriced, aweful food

01/01/2008 Posted by mesolo

When you walk into a restaurant at dinner time and don't see that many people eating there that tells me one thing. It isn't that great! It turned out to be the case with Smoke Daddy. I ordered their specialty baby back ribs which came with 2 sides, so I chose the Mac N Cheese and sweet potato fries. One word that would truly describe it is..Awful. The MNC was lukewarm and I swear to God it was made with that artificial Velveeta (or cheese whiz) cheese, Kraft macaroni and some jalopeno peppers and some other concoction as a topping. I couldn't taste what it was because there was too little of it. Obviously they have never been down South because they don't know what makes a good MNC...take for instance REAL CHEESE and they make their own NOODLES. Down South the MNC just melts in your mouth, however Smoke Daddy's just gives you indigestion! Moving on to side #2, the Sweet Potato Fries were limp and soggy, I'm guessing they had been sitting there for awhile and were reheated to go with the dinner. Definitely not crisp or fresh-tasting like I had been expecting. Baby Back Ribs were lukewarm and had a mediocre hickory sauce concoction on it. The only saving grace was the ribs were meaty and fell off the bone. In hindsight I should've just ordered the ribs without the sauce on it, at least I would've know they would've been fresh and come out hot. Lastly, this kind of reminds me a R. Melman (Lettuce Entertain You) place. They start out great, top notch food, excellent service and then once they get established the quality is lowered along with the standards, the crowds start to diminish and it eventually closes. It's only a matter of time before the gauntlet drops on Smoke Daddy too!

Pros: Parking...which also could be a con because w/ popular places there just isn't any

Cons: Parking...plenty of it

07/23/2007 Posted by margolis

I wasn't going to write a review. Instead, I thought I'd go right to the source and let the restaurant owners/management know about their issues. Well, I wrote to the e-mail address they have listed on their site, but it bounced back as "mailbox full," so I'll publish it here. BTW, it's no surprise that the e-mail bounced back to me. If they run their e-mail account like they run their restaurant, it's no surprise. Or, perhaps, they have SO many complaints, they can't keep up. Either way, here's a summation of the e-mail I sent them. Allow me to relate our experience yesterday at Smoke Daddy. My boyfriend and I saw your establishment featured on Rachel Ray's Tasty Travels, so we thought we would give you a whirl. Big mistake! Suggestion #1: Notify diners that they need to seat themselves. Suggestion #2: Hire waitstaff with IQ's higher than the food they are serving. Suggestion #3: Notify the public about showtimes for your live entertainment. Suggestion #4: Limit your waitstaff to one joint a day. Pie-eyed doesn't begin to describe it. Suggestion #5: Notify the public about the spiciness of your dishes. I never thought, in a million years, that my cole slaw would be fire-engine hot. Hmm... Suggestion #6: Fix things. We felt rushed, our food was cold, the service was lousy, we weren't greeted/acknowledged, and we left swearing never to return.

Pros: My diet pop was cold

Cons: Horrible service, dirty, cold food, dry over-cooked meat

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

07/15/2007 Posted by psnchckn

We went here on an early Saturday evening. We were seated promptly, as the place wasn't yet busy. Food was generally good BBQ, though I like my ribs a little meatier than what they served us here. The pulled-pork sandwich is tops, as are the sweet-potato fries and the cornbread. Service was perfectly fine until we got our food, then it fell apart as the restaurant got busier. Still, there were plenty of servers, so waiting 30 minutes to get our plates cleared, then another 15 minutes before asking if we wanted dessert, and then another 10 for our check ... I can forgive service snafus, though, so I'd definitely go back to Smoke Daddy.

Pros: BBQ, fries, price

Cons: Service was a little slow

10/18/2006 Posted by jorgeramos

I guess the reason why there are so many mixed reviews is because there bbq is always inconsistent. For example, one time i ordered a small order of rib tips and got way more food than i could handle and they were tasty (i even reminded the waitress that i ordered a small rib tip, and she said that was a small order!). Then i went a week later (yes, i couldn't wait any longer) and ordered the same and got 4-5 really fatty tips that were too overcooked! Friends of mine had had the same experiences. The only BBQ thing they are consistent on is making really bad brisket ( i guess eating good brisket in Texas has spoiled me). If you do go, only go if you like to gamble, but you can always fill up on their tasty cornbread.

Pros: Cornbread, Cornbread, Cornbread!

Cons: The quality of the BBQ is too inconsistent

08/29/2006 Posted by CCRohlf

This place used to be great! Now that Division St. is so upscale, the portion size has changed (4 slices of brisket) in a non-descript bun for $8.50. A half of sandwich used to fill almost anyone up with a 1/2 sandwich to take home. The sweet fries where cut so thin, all they tasted like was greasy skin overly browned. I think when you moved to plates from the basket, something drastically changed. What happened Smoke Daddy's. You used to be so excellent!

12/31/2005 Posted by carnivore63

Add a bit of liquid smoke - molasses and some cheap fatty gristle and call it bbq .. I wont waste my time ever again .. the service was awful by the time I received a menu I could of ordered at a drive thru much faster .. Not on my best list at all ..and its next to the bar I frequent (SHEESH )

Cons: food, parking, atmosphere