So this is the new order(aka N Center); real estate prices approaching Beverly Hills valuations, brew pubs spawning, many youth already moved back in with the P’s after being let go from the Apple Store etc, etc. oh yeah, my point, and having to trip over tandem strollers to get to the bar. Yep, that happens here. Other than that I love this place and the stroller thing only happens occasionally, like on busy summer Saturday nights or when one of the little ones has a coming of age party between one month and 12 years old. Seriously cool bartenders who chill and don’t force, outstanding pizza and bbq beef tips chili. Hostess is nice too.
Jason S.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Chicago, IL
I’ve been to big bricks 3 or 4 times. It’s a decent place to visit and you should have no fear about a decent/good time there. I would have given it s 3.5 star rating but I am not able to do that so I went with 3. The service is always friendly. And the food is pretty solid. The burnt ends sandwich is my favorite. And the pizza is pretty solid too, although the crust could be a little more involved with moist/flavor. The ribs are okay. On the dry side but they still have a nice flavor to them and the bbq sauce is very tasty. I wouldn’t label this place as a BBQ place. It has decent meats but the pizza and beer selection make it a well rounded bar.
Julie O.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Ravenswood, Chicago, IL
Absolute garbage. $ 5 delivery charge for crap food. First… the pulled pork was swimming in congealed grease. I felt sick after a few bites. The pickle was ok, but I could only finish half because it had been nestled in the grease and was covered in it as was the sides of coleslaw and bbq sauce. Next, the bbq sauce tastes like ketchup and generic bbq sauce mixed together and then watered down. As for the coleslaw and baked beans I couldn’t tell if that was how it’s supposed to taste or if it was spoiled. The baked beans tasted like burnt soy sauce and the coleslaw tasted like vinegar and spoiled mayo. Lastly the bacon you pay extra for on the burger is very fatty and stringy to the point where you have to rip it off because your teeth couldn’t handle the job. We wound up throwing almost everything away. I’d give zero stars if it let me.
Sid V.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Chicago, IL
Decent to excellent food, very good beer at excellent prices(a variety of 4 dollar craft beer glasses are sold regularly and it always tastes fresh) and solid service. Nice dark wood décor that I might have picked myself if I built such a place. Big Bricks has a quality sound system and usually display good taste in their musical selections. My only warning is that sometimes the backroom can be overrun with children and that is not pleasant.
Patrick R.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Chicago, IL
This place is awesome. If you go here hungry, they’ll have to roll you out. The menu is on the pricey end but it’s well worth it. It’s also balanced out by having $ 4 beer on draft, and not that Miller lite crap either. OH! If you get the Mac and cheese, get it with the burnt ends. Ooooooooooo man.
Kristina M.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Chicago, IL
I’ve always enjoyed Big Bricks. The food has always been great, and I’ve never had a problem with the service. You can’t really beat $ 4 drafts, and the burnt ends mac and cheese, I’m obsessed. I definitely recommend coming in.
Ivelisse R.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Chicago, IL
We received our order, which was wrong and missing a drink. We called and they said they would send out the right order. Then they called back to say, their receipt said the order was correct and we would have to pay the difference. That’s not what I ordered, and it’s not what my receipt says, so not really understanding why I should have to pay for a mess up on their end. I will not be ordering from them again
Amanda I.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Chicago, IL
After 2 days I finally received my call back stating my refund would be in the mail. Still find the whole situation very unprofessional, but at least it was rectified to an extent
Michael V.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Chicago, IL
Big Bricks is a great, low key neighborhood restaurant/bar in North Center to grab a few beers and some pizza or bbq. It has a very warm and inviting atmosphere, especially with their xmas decorations up this time of year. It also has a very casual, laid back vibe about it. I’ve ordered both the pulled pork pizza and the pulled pork sandwich. Their house bbq sauce is really good, not too sweet, and I applied it liberally to both dishes. I definitely recommend getting tater tots to go with the sandwiches, because you can basically never go wrong with tater tots. I’ve also had their mac n cheese as an appetizer and it did not disappoint. A full order is plenty to share among 2 – 3 people. They have a lot of great pizzas on their menu in addition to offering the full gamut of smoked meats. I’ve really enjoyed both my visits to Big Bricks! Will definitely be coming back
Roger W.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Chicago, IL
This place has become the Chuck E Cheese of North Lincoln Avenue. Beef Brisket pizza that tastes like someone dumped a bowl of sugar on about a teaspoon full of tasteless, tiny beef chunks. Overpriced beer and service that drops with a thud of «we just don’t care.» Meanwhile, Mom and Dad bring the kids in, drink the beer and have no time to notice that the pizza is tiny, weak and – except for the sugar – tasteless. We came in on a cold night and they didn’t even turn the heat on till we were half way through. In total – these people run a restaurant like they simply don’t care.
Allison G.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Chicago, IL
We ordered Big Bricks for delivery and having Bricks pizza at their Lincoln Park location, we had high expectations. $ 53 dollars(before tip) for 1−12″ pizza, sampler of ribs, and the slutty ravioli. The pizza was more like a flatbread than pizza. If you were craving pizza this would not do your craving justice. We got the Red Planet but really, flatbread/frozen pizza like. The ribs were good but came with 5 ribs for $ 12. Slutty Ravioli was good but was begging for extra marinara/bread for dipping! Delivery took 1.5 hrs(from North Center to Lakeview) on a Sunday evening. All in all, the food wasn’t worth the price and I will not be trying Big Bricks again. Huge disappointment on all fronts :(
Rebeca M.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Chicago, IL
Very very disappointed with my latest experience. Ordered take out this evening … After going back and forth with my roommates about what to get for dinner we settled on this place because I wanted BBQ and they wanted pizza… Ugh! The disappointment. We ordered the Ditka pizza, it was tasty but not amazing. It was kind of dry, with minimal sauce … I was really excited about the burnt end Mac and cheese and ribs sampler… And lord the pity. I ordered The Mac and cheese«dinner portion» and it came in what looked like a side portion, super small, like I was literally confused and think they send me the side portion. The Mac and cheese was basically noodles, no cheese, no sauce … Dry. LITERALLYNOTASTE.(I ordered it before and it was super tasty, I was sad and confused) the ribs were good. But they didn’t send a side of BBQ like at the restaurant. Overall a crappy experience.
Michael H.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Chicago, IL
This joint has come a long way/the food is just awesome! The ribs are by far some of the best I’ve had in awhile, smoked to perfection. They come«Unsauced» but you can request that they be sauced. The pizza is great as well. «Sweet Heat» is my reco in this category but to be honest they are ALL pretty damned good! Shit, Bricks has been around on Lincoln Ave since about 1995 so do the math/Awesome Pizza! Here’s the kicker: $ 4 Drafts ERRRRRYDAY! Not just one selection but the whole damned list/and it’s a good list, a 16oz pour for $ 4 of some really great beers? Good luck finding a better deal. Ask for a tour of The Oyler Smoker in the basement!
Magen R.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Chicago, IL
Loved this place! My boyfriend and I popped in for a late lunch this past Saturday around 2:30 with high hopes to sit outside and enjoy the patio I’ve read so much about. We lucked out and found a table right away. Their patio is quite large with a lot of seating. Definitely a good spot to relax and enjoy a meal or some of their $ 4 draft beers; however, a little background music would’ve have been a great addition to an otherwise great dining experience. When it came to the drinks were pretty amped by not only the stellar price of their draft beer but by the wide and varied selection they offered. I was torn between two choices and our waitress offered to let me try each of them which I really appreciated. But if I thought choosing a beverage was hard it was ridiculously hard trying to order off of the Big Bricks menu. Just about everything on there looks mouthwateringly delicious and we kept getting whiffs of the smoky smells from their meat. We ended up deciding to share and going with a side order of the Burnt End Mac and Cheese, Goat Cheese Dip, and the Burnt Ends Sampler. To top it off we each went with a slider, Pulled Pork for me and Brisket for him. Each dish was more delicious than the last and I have to say we both agreed the macaroni and cheese was pretty much the best ever! I’d highly recommend Big Bricks, their bar and dining area looked just as inviting as the patio and the food is spot on.
Daniel Y.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Chicago, IL
Yes, you can get good BBQ at a pizza place. Who would have thunk it? The wait staff and owner are incredibly nice and were quick and accessible. Our happiness was their’s, and the variety in scenery within the restaurant is great! Bar, dining room, outdoor patio, etc. Big Bricks is family friendly, not overly expensive, and the food is good! Kids have some nice BBQ versions of the typical kids fare. e.g., Pulled pork mac n cheese! Try the brisket plate as it comes with two slices of bread, slaw, and a side. I think the side was customer’s choice, if I recall correctly. Tots FTW!
Jaci Y.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Chicago, IL
Bigs bricks is a great place to get some lunch or dinner. They are family oriented which is so nice because we have a big family of 5 people. They have indoor and out door seating. The staff is very friendly and helpful. We ordered kid’s meals and we shared a platter of beef brisket. Everything was good, overall. I didn’t care for their cole slaw. I’m usually a big cole slaw fan I found theirs to be a little too much like tartar sauce. The rest of the food was fine and I would love to return and try out their ribs and pizza.
Enrique R.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Chicago, IL
Me and the roomie needed a bite to eat before starting the night and decided to try a local spot that was in our radar for awhile now. We went into Big Bricks and got sat in the back with all the kids because we had a teenager with us or so we thought that’s why. It was no big deal but it was noisy and kids running around. We ordered several of their appetizers including their wings, their rib sampler, Mac n cheese and their goat cheese dip. The ribs, wings and Mac n cheese were great except for the goat cheese. It looked like marinara sauce with a dollop of goat cheese. It wasn’t melted and was lukewarm. Good flavor but poor presentation.
Hannah C.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Chicago, IL
This is much more a service review than a food review. The food was fine. Of the four pizzas we tried, the BBQ chicken was the only one worth coming back for. As mentioned before, the BBQ meats themselves lack any flavor and aren’t high enough quality meats to come back for. But, honestly, this probably would have gotten at least three stars if it hadn’t been for the deplorable service. After calling three days in advance to warn that we had a very large party coming, they didn’t have our reservation. Thankfully, they weren’t busy. Throughout our meal, we had to flag our waitress(and occasionally someone else’s waitress) down repeatedly do to basic things like order, beg for more water(and then beg again when she took away the pitchers and didn’t bring more for over an hour), and then point out that they had forgotten TWO of our FOUR pizzas(both vegetarian-friendly options). It was a total disaster. I fully understand that large parties are hard to handle, but the response shouldn’t be to run away from us.
Karen C.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Chicago, IL
Important: $ 4 draft beers. GOOD beers. Not crappy beers. Legit, good, local $ 4 beers. Moving on… Why the heck did I wait so long to come here? 13 minute walk from my house, $ 4 beers(see above), great BBQ, great pizza & holy delicious mac+cheese? For shame, Karen. For shame.