Nardo’s BBQ Bar & Grill

As predicted… Nardo’s is now officially CLOSED. When driving by yesterday, 3÷16÷16, they were loading up the rental truck with whatever little stuff they owned.

This place is a whole in the wall. Its on a side road off in a corner and you can miss it. I had dinner here with some family friends. There was only us and one other family so it was a nice quiet place to catch up.
The waitress was not very knowledgable with the menu. I asked for a sweet tea and she said they did not carry it. About 15 minutes later I noticed a container at the waiting station labeled regular tea and sweet tea. We had a couple of questions about the menu but she could not answer them, so she went in the back and brought out the owner/​cook. She was extremely knowledgable and helped us decided on what to order.
We all ordered the two plate special with different meat choices. I ordered the BBQ Chicken and Brisket. I was kind of disappointed we could not pick our sides every order came with french fries. I was wanting to try the beans, slaw, hush puppies, or other side dishes they had available; but they were all an extra charge. =(
My brisket was shredded up meat in sauce. It was more like meat flakes and I was not impressed. I was expecting some nice long tender pieces of brisket cut fresh, but it tasted like left over pieces smothered in sauce. My chicken was actually fried chicken then covered in sauce. The chicken was in no way BBQed, rotisserie or smoked. The chicken tasted great but it would have just been better as fried chicken by itself. I do have to say the sauce was good, I had the spicy sauce.

This is a great place to eat ribs and the owner makes it even better with her great passion for the food!

Great place! It may be new but they know how to serve and flavor everything! The ribs are amazing, their bbq sauce has the most unique and flavorful taste. They’re working on their beer selection but I can’t complain. If you want good bbq made from loving family hands, then head over to Nardo’s. I plan on going back as often as I can when I need to satisfy my bbq craving. ps, I heard that on Sundays they always add a special something to their already amazing menu. It’s great to find a bbq place that can remind me of home. Keep it up Nardo’s bbq, I love everything Ya’ll cook, grill, and serve.

We stopped for an early dinner, as we had taken a wrong turn on the way to the highway. We saw the sign that said «BBQ» and decided to give it a try. The atmosphere was a bit unexpected, the place is old with a strange configuration. However, we soon forgot that because we were greeted warmly and invited to sit where ever we liked. We choose the bar.
I had the rib tips and brisket. Mister had ribs and brisket combo.
Wow! The sauce is amazing, so rich and flavorful. The meat is perfection. I almost never order bbq because I am picky about meats and sauce. Please believe me when I tell you that you will not be disappointed with the food. The meat was juicy, full of flavor, and moist.
We visited with the owner, who was friendly and accommodating.
I noticed that this place does a bustling take out business.
We live downtown Chicago and have been to several places claiming to be authentic BBQ, but many times they turn out to be overpriced and they fall short of the promises. This place understands meat.
We look forward to a return visit.

Take a pass on this — The BBQ was not great! The owner is experienced in catering but the restaurant experience is still a work in progress. Actually, the service was a comedy of errors on what not to do and crossed the line into insulting. Has anyone working there ever been to a restaurant and seen what basic service and manners looks like? I felt swindled and part of a bad joke — boiling point meets reality!
The employees and owners have no love or pride for their food, restaurant, or service

This place is a gem, truly. The brisket sandwich will melt in your mouth. The sauce is an explosion of flavor and compliments that sweet bun. The sides I’ve tried, Mac n cheese and beans, are both so goddamn delectable you would think god was feeding them to you. They have a fully stocked bar. Great beer selection.
Now, the service. yes, they are a new restaurant but the service will make you feel like you’re at home. It is a family owned restaurant and they actually care about the food, the atmosphere, and want you to come back. Ms Rita poured me a real drink and I’m very critical of my booze.
My best friend finished her entire meal, she’s never satisfied. The inside is big and the bar makes me want to boogey.
If youve made it to the end of this Unilocal review, take away one thing: Ms Rita and Darnell got that good good. That’s all I got to say about that.

This is by far the best BBQ place within miles. The atmosphere is a little rough around the edges, but it looked as if they’re starting to spruce things us now. The outside dining area is very nice, however. The food is very reasonably priced for what you get. This is very authentic BBQ, not some overpriced, overhyped BBQ place you’d find in the Loop.
Excellent food, regardless of price. When you factor in the low prices, this is a real winner. We’re already planning to bring a bunch of our coworkers back there next week.

I love the homeyness of this place. The food was good, very much like home made. The BBQ sauce was great and had a unique flavor. They had great fried okra! The service felt like they were new at this but the owner stopped by several times and really made us feel welcome.

Nardo’s makes BBQ ribs the way they were meant to be! Quality meat, delicious sauces and a friendly atmosphere make this establishment a «Must do» for lunch, dinner, dining in or take out. Try them today and, I promise… you won’t be disappointed!

My experience here was absolutely amazing. A coworker and I always try new places for lunch and today we decided to try a bbq place. The food was extraordinary and there homade bbq sauce was to die for. The service was great and the owner thanked everyone for coming. It is owned by a set of fine young people. And the environment is home like and welcoming. They also have a bar for if you want to sit down and have a drink. Plenty of variety there.

I use Unilocal all of the time to decide where to eat, but have never written a review until now. Our experience at Nardo’s has inspired me enough to finally give my opinion. Lunch this afternoon was fabulous. The owners are absolutely amazing. Wonderful, kind and fun people. The place feels like a warm, welcoming back yard barbecue on an absolutely freezing February day. The sauce was great and the food was wonderful. What a great way to warm up on a cold winter day!

Food is great, prices are high, and the quantity of food you get is on the skimpy side.
To expensive, and takes to long to go to for lunch in my opinion.

This is a nice little neighborhood place to go for good food and friendly conversation.
I’m not a huge fan of the interior but I guess it gives them some charm? It kinda reminds me of like a drunk uncle’s basement apartment that he vacuumed and spot cleaned right before you came over. It looks like it should smell like stale cigarettes… but it doesn’t.it smells like fresh bbq!
I came in soon after the grand opening of the bar side. Um… They are really nice people. Can’t poor a drink if life depended on it though. It’s family run so hiring a bartender might not be in the cards but at the very least, watch a YouTube bar tending video and get it together.
Most important, the food is great. They did have the nerve to charge me $ 2 for a quarter-​sized side of coleslaw… but the slice of chocolate cake I got for dessert made me forget all previous transgressions.
I felt at home — the staff was super accommodating and attentive. Everyone was invested in making sure we had a good experience, and we did. Can’t wait to go back!

This is the kind of place you feel good supporting: a down-​to-​earth, family-​run restaurant with amazing food. The best ribs I’ve eaten in years. Zero North Shore attitude. We’ll be back.

I’m so happy to find places like this on the north shore. Nice owners and smiles that make you feel like you are at home. Homemade hush puppies, fresh catfish. Sauce that is a lick your fingers kind of good. They even let me sample the ribs while I waited. The owner even sat and talked to me while I ate and made me feel like I was with family :) I’ll be back!

Have been wanting to try this place out since it opened and I finally have been able to. I went around 11:45am on Columbus Day, and I ordered carry out. A gentleman greeted me and I explained it was my first time. The menu was very basic, leaving me with question on how things were cooked/​prepared. But the gentleman explained the dinner sizes well and I chose the Shrimp dinner and I substituted the fries for Okra! He explained the shrimp would be fried and he mentioned that he also does jumbo shrimp that he hand batters himself. I never specified which I preferred, but once I arrived home, my guess is that I got the jumbo shrimp.
I was very pleased to not be charged extra for substituting my fries, which many places do.
The inside was fairly dark, although it wasn’t gloomy outside also. This is a no frills place and I certainly would not have any problem eating inside next time. The tables were good sizes and the chairs were comfy.
When I opened up my meal at home, I was a little disappointed to see a very small side of cole slaw, especially since the dinner comes with fries and slaw. The slaw appeared to be like 4 good forkfuls. But once I saw my side of Okra, I wasn’t worried about the size of the slaw. My okra portion was much larger than I expected. It’s hard to find restaurants around here that offer okra and if they do, you barely get any!
The shrimp was nice and golden, and butterfly cut. I wish I did eat in the restaurant for the first time because I could then ask what the sauce was that was given. It was very tasty, almost had like a glaze texture. I’m not sure if that sauce is specific to the shrimp, but I enjoyed it.
I will certainly return to this place to try out other items, more specifically the BBQ on the menu.

We unfortunately took a chance on this place instead of going to R.U.B. in Vernon Hills in hunt of good BBQ. I cant say we will be going back.
The interior is enough to steer you right back out to your car. They are in serious need of some tile, a good painter, and a solid cleaning. And if you pay attention to their menu you will notice grammatical errors all over the place haha.
Our service was sub-​par, but fortunately is was better than the other 10 people sitting around waiting 40 minutes for their food. Don’t get me wrong, everyone was courteous and welcoming even though they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
The food was okay, but a little overpriced in my opinion. I had the brisket sandwich that was relatively fatty on a generic white bread bun with the hot BBQ sauce (yep, it was hot but good), baked beans that were probably from a can, and hush puppies that were actually really good.
I’ve hit almost every BBQ place from Gurnee to Burr Ridge and this place doesn’t touch the top 10.
Kudos on the sauce.

A place worth checking out … Don’t let the old Hillary’s stop you from going inside. They except credit cards unlike Hillary’s and the sauce is not pasty. Prices and portions very reasonable. C’Mon North Shore let’s give them a chance …

Worst BBQ I ever had and I’m from Chicago, customer service was horrific and the owner or manager was walking around drinking wine and a little intoxicated. The crazy thing is they don’t even sell liquor.