Dickey’s Barbecue Pit

I have catered several times from this location! Great prices, and quick and easy for me!

Pretty good BBQ for this part of the country. They say the meat is prepared on site, but it feels weird watching them grab the pulled pork out of a plastic bag and knead it in front of you before it is served. The food wasn’t hot or cold — room temperature. It tasted OK, but would be better if it was warm. The tea had a bit of a mold taste to it, meaning it had been sitting a lot longer than it should be.
The employees are very apathetic. There is obviously a morale problem here and it seemed I was an inconvenience to them when I ordered my food. The dining room was somewhat clean; they tried to wipe down tables between customers.

Abysmal…
First off, I originally came into contact with Dickey’s while working down in Dallas for several months. It became a regular haunt of our team and I noticed that one had opened in Danada. I’m always on the hunt for good BBQ and the stuff in Dallas was better than what I had at a few other chains.
Circle to Friday’s visit here and the only thing I can say is pitiful. Staff had a lack of motivation… dining room was not kept up and the food was tepid. Had the 2 meet special with brisket and pulled pork. Tepid… went for the sauce containers and 2 of 3 were near empty.
Not worth the time…

Finally tried this place. Eh, it’s BBQ… but not good BBQ in my opinion. I got a two meat plate with Ribs and Brisket. Both were terribly dry which made them so hard to chew. The sauce is watered down and has way too much vinegar!!! So if you want really good BBQ in the area head to Q-​BBQ in downtown Naperville!

We love this restaurant and it’s food! Service was excellent, place was clean and the food was delicious.

Would be good if you got some meat. 3 meat platter. Yeah 4 coins of sausage, ¼ cop of chopped brisket and 2 rib tips. not even a real rib size rib. Though you got two large cups of sauce that perhaps I used two tablespoons of. The side orders were a decent size, but how about some meat? Sigh.

Nice little place, good food for fast food. Free ice cream which is awesome to me. I would come back even tho it’s not close to my house.

Really good bbq and bbq sauce. Good sides ! Great service ! You can smell the bbq as soon as you pull up to the parking lot and the aroma is AMAZING!
I usually get the «two meat dinner», that consists of Ribs, pulled pork and two sides of string beans and mac n cheese. You can’t go wrong with this place !

Food quality was average and people seemed like they were unhappy there. Mediocre experience. Unfortunately as it was my first time eating there. There is a place in Vernon Hills by my office that has amazing bbq so I was hoping it would be like that. No even close!

We got in the habit of coming here (and by we, I mean the pack of co-​worker goofs that I go to lunch with) on Wednesdays because of the Wednesday Daily Special. While that’s a great deal, we all eventually ventured elsewhere on the menu and found our favorites.
There are a number of things that are different week to week. Sometimes it’s SUPER crowded and can be a long wait in line, but sometimes it’s super quick. Sometimes the usual (friendly, cool, and super good at their jobs) staff is there, but sometimes there are new faces learning the ropes. Sometimes things get a little hectic with long lines and large take-​out orders.
The one thing that remains completely and impressively consistent is the one thing that matters — the food. Holy moley, it’s good. I can personally vouch for the pulled pork and chicken plate.
Though there is a fairly structured menu, it really boils down to a la carte. How many different meats do you want? Which ones? How many sides? You pretty much just tell them what stuff to slap onto your tray and go from there.
It’s all great. But there’s something extra magical about their chicken.
I do have one (hopefully constructive) complaint. The ice cream. Now, don’t get me wrong — it’s hard to complain about free. And the ice cream is free. Soft-​serve vanilla in a cone or cup. It’s a great idea and a nice extra. Unfortunately, it’s usually mixed pretty poorly at this location. Actually, I’m not sure if it’s how it’s mixed or how cold it is or what. But it’s usually pretty liquidy and runny. Not that this stops me from eating it every week. Today, however, it was PERFECT. So whatever you guys did today, keep doing it.
We look forward to our Wednesday escape from the office. Great food, a cool staff that seem to like their jobs, and a clean, comfortable atmosphere.

I love barbecue, I travel to Memphis often on business. Have eaten at Memphis Barbecue Company, Interstate Barbecue and many others. I tried Dickeys 3 times, believe it or not the food got worse each time. Expensive, fatty, salty, Chewey, barbecue.

The taste: I guess I should mention what I was expecting first. I don’t eat pork so I was craving pulled chicken. They don’t have that, they serve chicken breast in chunks. I sighed, fine, I’d try it. I also really wanted cornbread. But alas none. The chicken sandwich which had the word «big» and it was anything but. The sandwich came with gobs of barbecue sauce on it. Which was way too hot of a sauce to be served on every sandwich as a constant. You’d think with the barbecue sauce bar they had they would just let patrons pick their own. My mouth was on fire and my stomach felt it later. The mac & cheese was so plasticky and overly cheesy; compensating for something I guess. I will give the bbq a thumbs up.
The value: My husband and I can usually split a bbq and both be full. This looked (and felt) about the size of a big kids meal at Burger King. We were both hungry afterwards. Maybe that’s why they give such Humongous cups… Anyhow, it was over $ 11… For one meal. If I was on my own, I wouldn’t have spent that.
Overall:
I would’ve given it 2.5 stars but no halves are allowed. Service was quick and friendly. The restaurant itself was mostly clean. The ambiance was trying way too hard. The food… nothing special. The value… just not enough to get me to go back.

We went on a weekday at 5:30pm and they were out of ribs! We tried the beef brisket which was a little dry but not bad. The baked potato casserole and cole slaw were good. Overall, this is an average BBQ place.

Worst BBQ food i ever had. If have never had southern food tat would do it but it is a few steps below real BBQ. Servers are clumsy nit well trained and food is kinda pricey, paid $ 7 for just a sandwich no drink.

The sign outside has been broken for about 6 months.
The D is burned out and it appropriately announces ickey’s.
At least it is now more accurate.
The thing about bbq is that it is either fresh or it is bad.
This is bad!
The sides are also mediocre.

Very disappointed. If you’re looking for quick barbecue, head over to Q BARBEQUE in downtown Naperville. The 3 meats we ordered were very dry. We came here about a year ago in the quality was much better, something must be going on as far as quality. Sorry we wasted our Sunday lunch out at this place.

I am a big sucker for BBQ, and Dickey’s is actually very good! I had a 3 meat meal of brisket, pulled pork, and chicken with sides of slaw and beans. The meat was very tender and flavorful. The BBQ sauce is tangy, sweet and smokey all rolled into one. I think I liked the sauce more than anything. They offer dry rub and BBQ sauce bottles for purchase. They have tons of menu options, and when you get your drinks, you get to keep the cup! Oh AND I forgot to mention FREE ICE CREAM! I like Dickey’s and for a fast food BBQ place I would say it’s pretty awesome!

Ate here the other day and I wasn’t too impressed. I used to go to the Dickey’s in North Carolina and I thought their meat was great… smoky, flavorful and their sauces were pretty unique. Additionally, they have many sides you can choose from that were all southern style comfort foods… mac and cheese, fried okra, mashed potatoes, etc. Gotta love that.
The store was clean and the staff were nice. They have deals going on every day of the week, and it just so happened that the pulled pork sandwich meal was $ 8.99 that day, so I was all about it. It comes with two sides and a drink. Not bad for 8.99. Normally it’s $ 9 just for the sandwich and the two sides and drink are extra. My dad ordered the two meat platter which comes with two sides, no drink. All together we were looking at about $ 22 for the two of us. Kind of expensive for lunch, but it’s barbecue so that can be expected.
My sandwich was ok. There were a lot of hard, gritty parts in the pulled pork. The mac and cheese was good, but the loaded mashed potatoes tasted like box potatoes. I’ve had them before at the Dickey’s in North Carolina and they did not taste the same at all. My dad was not happy with his meal. His cheddar jalapeño sausage was cold and they forgot his side of bread.
The food was just ok overall. There’s definitely other barbecue places I would choose over Dickey’s, at least in Illinois. What I did like is that they had a free soft serve machine! Root beer floats all day :-)

I’ve been to Dickey’s a handful of times (I have three or four of their «Big Yellow Cups»). Now, I don’t care for BBQ food. I just… no. I only go for the fried okra. Seriously, I know that’s lame but deep down, I’m a southern girl. Just not one that cares for ribs or anything BBQ.
I stopped here today to get some okra before shopping. I walked in and stood at the «order sides here» portion of the counter for almost two minutes before the employee chopping meat acknowledged me. Strike one.
He asked what I wanted. I placed my order and even ordered the «jalapeño beans» as well. Now, Dickey’s (like most places) have different sizes for their sides. The employee didn’t even inquire as to what I wanted. Now, granted I was alone, so maybe he automatically assumed I wanted the «individual» portions (which is what I ended up with). But I would think part of their job would be to upsell the customer. Perhaps ask if I wanted the individual or if I was feeling brave, a larger size? Nope. Strike two.
I pay for my order and proceed to fill up two cups of sauce; their spicy and their own sauce. The couple that placed their order before me was clearly taking advantage of the free sauce, as they had ten cups filled to the brim and were still filling more. And THAT is why restaurants are charging for condiments, people! Cut that ish out!
I get my order and leave. I dig into the okra immediately. They were clearly store bought and not housemade. I knew this, but you could really taste it today. Nonetheless, they were edible and I needed a little something in my stomach.
Onto the jalapeño beans. Oh, well look at that — no utensils. Thanks, high-​school employee with a brain to match. Guess they’ll have to wait until I get home. Strike three.
I guess the next time I’m craving fried okra, I’ll just go to the store and grab a bag from the freezer section for about the same price as the «individual» portion from Dickey’s.

So you know how when a couple breaks up and you’re friends with both of them you either have to pick sides or make sure to spend time with both of them and make sure they both feel like you still want to be friends? Well, last night at Dickey’s was my second outing with the broken halves of a once happy couple, and even tho I wouldn’t have picked the place myself, I ended up really liking it.
I was kind of anti-Dickey’s for awhile because after perusing their menu online it looked like there were no healthy options. Even their salads come with wonderful things like fried onions and I hate being the «Hold this, hold that» guy.
Look, I know I’m not perfect, and I fall off this healthy eating wagon, but I’ve got to at least try, right?
Yesterday was just a disaster because my boss ended up taking me out for lunch to a place I couldn’t eat healthy at either. So by the time I arrived at Dickey’s I was kind of all «whatever, just get in my belleh!»
I made the mistake of parking on the north side of the restaurant. My friends all parked on the south side, and me being an idiot sat in my car for almost 20 minutes while they ordered their food and started eating. After my faux pas, I was educated that most of the Danada restaurants have two doors. Oops. My bad.
So I ordered a two meat combo with turkey and sliced brisket. I got waffle fries and jalapeño beans because at that point I figured what the hell. Calories for everyone!
Surprisingly, the meat came naked. It was tender, well smoked and fall-​aparty. All my favorite things a good BBQ restaurant provides. There were vats of three (warmed) BBQ sauces to choose from. I hate cold sauce. So that was a definite plus.
The fries were okay. Nothing to write home about. And the beans were not jalapeño-​y at all. Nary a single green fleck was found in my container. And they were kind of gross and more refried than baked. I’m not really a bean fan so I’m not sure what prompted me to order them.
My friends’ sides looked more appealing. It looked like one ordered potato salad, and one had mac ‘n cheese. I didn’t ask to sample.
The food came up quick and there was ample quantity to fill me up. It also came with a dinner roll, which was not stale.
Will I return?
Yep.
Do they get 5 stars?
No, because they don’t really offer any TRUE healthy option. And their side dishes could use a little work.