Fat Willy's Rib Shack is really more of a 4 in and of itself, but the 5 is for the combined experience of eating here and then hitting up at a movie at the Western Ave Theater across the street.
I mentioned this before in the Fox & Obel review, specifically that the Fox & Obel/Illinois Theater combo is worse than the Fat Willy's/Western Ave Theater combo. The former is like having 2 machine guns in Contra, the later is like having Spray and Laser AND doing the up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right,a,b,a,b,Âselect,start trick. Â If you know what I'm talking about, you are a male between the ages of 23-35.
My new obsession is BBQ. I feel like it's one of those cuisines you have to be in the mood for... like sushi, but when you are - man that craving comes on strong. Therefore, I've been trying to hit up as many BBQ spots in Chicago as I can.
This one is really tasty. I ordered the beef brisket, with mac n cheese and vinegar cukes as the sides. It really hit the spot. The brisket was perfectly cooked, although I felt that the horseradish sauce that accompanied it was lacking a little in flavor. Would definitely recommend this place.
Their pulled pork remains the best in town, but we've had two disappointing meals here recently. On one occasion, the middle-sized portion of the spareribs turned out to be three ribs (!!!) with a huge piece of the chine bone attached at the bottom - which had virtually no meat! Both orders were like that - we felt really ripped off. What is their small-sized portion - one rib? Then, last night, the Fat Willy Burger was two quite well done 1/4 pound patties (you can order a burger with one, two or three patties) - dry as the chine bone on their ribs. Of course, it's easier for them just to stock 1/4 lb. burgers and double or triple them to make the larger sized burgers, but the result is that they can't cook them medium or rare. The coleslaw is still good - wish they'd give you more of it (kvetch, kvetch).
Review Source:Ordered chicken and waffles. My husband ordered ribs. The ribs were overdone, as was the waffle...the chicken was literally still bleeding in the inside and very greasy! Not so much as an apology. Quoting the server" oh, we'll take it off your bill, I'll let the manager know." There was no apology, manager never addressed me personally.
My husband asked to speak to the manner after paying the bill. I explained the situation to her and my husband, who has a food and sanitation licence, was appalled when the manager stated "I'm sorry about that but it happens sometimes, I'll give you another one free of charge." I asked if she had seen the chicken and she stated "oh that's just the blood vessels in chicken."
At that point I discontinued the conversation and informed her I would be filing a complaint with the city of Chicago.
Please save yourself the trip . . . Their manager does know the difference between properly cooked poultry and undercooked poultry!
I had the baby back ribs, side of cornbread, and side of mac and cheese. Â The ribs were the meatiest, tastiest ribs I have had in a while, and they were cooked to perfection. Â Service was quick, but the quality of food was amazing. Â I had to take half the full rack home with me, where I was able to get to more sittings. Â
I was going out with someone from work, and so I suggested Willies for this event. Â This time I had the pulled pork sandwich, which i smothered in BBQ sauce. Â They have a vinegar coleslaw that goes on the sandwich (I think it is supposed to) i wasn't sure if I liked it on the sandwich but I have to try it again. Â In any event, the vinegar based slaw itself was outstanding.
Really enjoyed it both times. Â First time I had a rib dinner, and second time a sandwich. Â Both were excellent.
One of the best BBQ places I've been to in the city. It's weird, even though I grew up close to Kansas City and all that, I mever really "got crazy" about BBQ like some people. This place is super low key and convenient to get to. Their special of the day was a sloppy joe with cole slaw and sweet potato tater tots! Just what I was craving. At $8, that was the best deal ever. We had to wait a while because people were taking their time, but the server was so nice. I would definitely come back! Huge portions.
Review Source:The most underrated BBQ spot in town. Food sweats are a common occurrence. A frequent guilty pleasure for my wife and I. Service is always great; food is excellent. I'd rate it 5, but there are times they can be inconsistent. The good news is, even on a bad day it's still a 4 - most times 4.5 and occasionally 5.
Review Source:/Sigh. Memory can be both a bane and a blessing. In this case, I almost wish the memory had just stayed. Now, It's very rare that I get disappointed by a 3* rating, but when your memory is of Fat Willy's being absolutely amazing, it is a disappointment.
Now, let me say that Fat Willy's is still very good and on the whole, quality BBQ. But, it's just insanely variable. I ordered a bunch from here for a get together at my place and I had been talking it up for two weeks.
We covered the general spectrum from here as we did the mac n cheese, chili, brisket dinner, and then just the meat of pulled chicken and a large order of baby back ribs.
I will say that the mac n cheese was off the hook and exceeded my memories of it. Hands down, this is some of the best mac n cheese that I've had. Unfortunately, Mac N Cheese does not BBQ make. The brisket was the contrast as it was brutally dry. Sadly, you want your brisket not to be this dry and more weight goes to the brisket, boo. The ribs did pull straight off the bone and were very solid (though still on the drier side), while the pulled chicken was very good.
Basically the quality was all over the place and it made me sad. The delivery was fast, but Fat Willy's isn't as high on my list as it used to be. Welcome back Smoque, you are back to no.1 in the city in my books.
I wouldn't say that this is bad bbq, just not necessarily great bbq. I had the pulled chicken with baked beans and collard greens. The chicken was a bit dry, and not very flavorful. But I guess that's what you get with pulled white meat chicken... The baked beans were good, not the way I like them (thick and floppy with hunks of pork in it) these were a little "liquidy". And finally, the collards had pieces of fat and other meat in it. Personally, I don't want rubbery pieces of fat in my greens.
All in all, I would come back, but this wouldn't be my first choice. The portion size of the chicken was good, but the sides were too small. Also, it was pretty expensive for what you get.
I'm a huge fan of Fat Willy's. Â We've been several times and have never been disappointment. Â The chicken is tasty, ribs are flavorful and mac and cheese is deliciously rich and cheesy. Â If you are looking for an outrageously large dessert, they've got your covered with a freshly baked skillet cookie topped with ice cream. Â Yum. Â This place is very casual. Â Street parking can be tricky, so I recommend heading over to the movie theater garage and paying the $2 parking fee.
Review Source:On a quest for BBQ, we set our sights on Fat Willy's Rib Shack. Deb and I arrived fairly early and snagged a table right away. We were hungry (shocking) and ready to dive into to the menu. To start? Beef brisket poutine and onion rings. We had no idea how humungo these starters would be...or maybe we are just pigs. Don't judge. The onion rings were amazing. Probably the best onion rings I've ever had. They are accompanied by a buttermilk parmesean dressing and mustard bbq sauce. Yum. Â
Ok folks, I've never had poutine. I don't consider myself a picky eater. I am not a plain Jane. I just always found this combination of food items to be odd but as a lover of all things Canadian (I'm looking at you Ryan Gosling) I decided it was time to try it. I'm not a fan. I like gravy. I like cheese curds. I like brisket. I like fries. I feel like I SHOULD like poutine, but I don't. I will say that the all the components of the poutine at Fat Willy's (w/the exception of the gravy) were tasty. I thought the brisket was tender and the big fat crisp steak fries were great...which I WILL be ordering next time sans poutine-stuffs.
Oh, yea! The BBQ! We ordered baby back ribs. They were delicious. I also enjoyed the variety of sauces served up at FWRS. I thought the collard greens and mac n cheese were really good. I prefer the mac n cheese at Fat Willy's over Smoque but dislike having to pay $1 upcharge to receive it. Skip the mashed potatoes. I tried them and there is no substance to them.
Overall, I quite enjoyed Fat Willy's and would totally come back for round two of BBQ goodness and fried treats...speaking of, the fried chicken and waffles served on Sundays sounds promising. I'll be back.
Talk about delicious BBQ.
It's a little bit hidden since it's across the street from a giant movie theater and the street is a dead end but it is some good old fashioned barbeque.
Brisket and ribs are all I really care about when it comes to BBQ and they do them both right with a delicious sauce.
The moment that food is set down by the waiter I immediately dig in and disregard all table manners and napkins and just focus on the delicious BBQ flavors that are on my taste buds.
I picked THE BEST DAY to try Fat Willy's. New Years Day. I was rocking the hangover hungries, so BBQ, and plenty of it, was a great choice.
We started with the brisket poutine. Holy mother of God - was this amazing. Crispy outside but fluffy inside steak fries served in a cast iron skillet. Topped with gravy, melted cheese, bacon, and brisket. Paired up with a prefectly spicy bloody mary and it was a fabulous start to our meal.
As for entrees, I went with the spare ribs with greens and mac n cheese. Ribs were good, not great. Greens were good, especially with the vinegar based sauce on top. The mac n cheese was bland and dry. I also tried the fried cat fish. That was delicious! Sides were just ok.
Our service was friendly, albeit a tad slow with drink orders. Maybe we just drink too fast. That's probably the case. Music was phenom! All 80s new wave. I loved it.
Maybe the poutine and bloody were so damned good that the entrees just couldn't live up to my expectations. Next time, I'll just double up on the poutine,
This place is alright... it's nothing spectacular but if you're in the mood for ribs, it'll hit the spot. Â I went to Fat Willy's after my boyfriend declared that he really really wanted bbq. Â We found Fat Willy's and decided to try it out because it had pretty good ratings on Yelp. Â Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the hype. Â
They were out of the brisket, which is really what I wanted. Â So instead, I had the baby back ribs. Â They weren't very tender; in fact they were pretty hard. Â They were also sort of cold, like they had been sitting in the service window for a little too long without a heating lamp to keep it warm. Â The sides were fine. Â I had the mac 'n' cheese and corn on the cob. Â My boyfriend also had the mac and fries. Â The mac was probably the best thing on our plate!
I would be interested to go back for the brisket, but if I'm just going for ribs I'm sure I can find a better place to get them. Â I wasn't surprised to see Fat Willy's was pretty packed when we arrived. Â Though I was surprised as to how small the place was. Â I would say this isn't the place to go if you're looking for something fast and easy. Â
Overall, super disappointed.
Yummy!!
Delicious ribs and delicious sides.
Had a great brisket which was served with a horseradish sauce. (As far as I can remember)
Friendly waitress and great service.
There Are better restaurants with ribs but this has to be one of the top ones in Chicago. I would go back! Price isn't all too bad either, it's well worth it.
What used to be a superior food experience is now jaded. The popularity of the restaurant has forced the hand of the inevitable decline of it's quality; leaving much to be desired.
The dine-in offers the better opportunity to experience the better side of the food. The carryout is very inconsistent. One basic example is the Arnold Palmer drink. It's the best thing to have while dining in, but a takeout version of the same drink taste like the worst thing you could ever ingest. The service is always mindful and congenial, which is a bright side.
Some highlight items to have while dining include the chicken wings, pulled pork, the whole chicken, and the brisket. The Arnold Palmer is a good drink to have, but only while dining in.
Fat Willy's has become the kind of place where you have to know who's working in the kitchen on certain days, and must have the right server who knows how to mix a drink. Things that didn't require much thought before now depend on the stars to align just right to get the ultimate experience here, which is a noticeable problem. It's been real, but Fat Willy's is no longer that shining star that it once was.
Ya know...I visited Fat Willy's last night. I had some of the Beef Brisket...the special was a "Sloppy Joe burger...I had some Onion Rings.. what I had was OK. The service was nice.It was very busy on a Saturday night. The brisket was nice...didn't send me 2 the moon,but it was nice and tender..the onion rings were kinda soft for me. I like a li'l crunch.The sauce was a creamy parmasan that was pretty tasty. The food was a little pricey for me. Maybe that's why I wasn't that thrilled about my experience. I don't think that I'll go back if I have another choice for BBQ. It was OK..but yes, I've had better.I can think of 2 places that have better BBQ for less than half of my paycheck..It might be heavenly for some,but not for me...
Review Source:A really great BBQ option. Whenever I get in the mood for some BBQ, I usually head towards Fat Willy's.
More hits than misses here. The meats are ok, a little overpriced though. During my last trip, I ordered the Brisket Dinner, at a $19 price point, i thought I was going to have my mind blown with smokey goodness. .... I was wrong. It was just OK. I didn't love the char on the outside, also, I thought it would be served with horseradish, but instead I got an au jus and some flavorless cream sauce.
I think they would really benefit from having a dinner option that was a "pick 4 sides" type deal. The greens and mash w/ gravy are OUTSTANDING! The cornbread and steak fries are decent.
The brownie beehive dessert is VERY tasty if not diabetes-inducing.
So... I like the location right next to the movie theater and also think the interior is cute. Â However, the ribs are not very good, and certainly not even close to other places in quality. Â The corn bread was OK. Â However, the mac and cheese is fabulous! Â I may make a pit stop here just for this! Â Delicious!!!
Review Source:Om nom nom nom nommmmmmmm........no talking, dont talk to me....Silence..... I'm busy...eating....shhh.
I can't believe I have not eaten here before having lived in Bucktown/WP for 7 years now and going to City North movie theater this whole time! What the hell is wrong with me!? I think its probably because the name and exterior of the place for whatever reason made me think the place was a dump...stupid! Â But walking in last night I came to find it was more shabby chic than dump - what a pleasant surprise!
On a Thursday night there was no wait at all - our server was friendly and helpful and made good recommendations. Â I ordered the baby back ribs with the vinegar cukes and corn on the cob for sides. Â Husband ordered the brisket with sweet potato and collard greens. Â Everything was delicious. Â I will have to order the corn bread next time, that looked amazing. Â All the sides were great - Brisket was tender and delicious also.The collard greens, while they had a hint of meatiness, were still not overpoweringly porky and you can feel somewhat healthy for eating them. The corn on the cob was great too. Â The vinegar cukes are no big deal but a nice refreshing bite to cut through all the smoke and sauce.
So usually at BBQ joints, I eat a lot of sauce. I'm dipping everything in there. Â But for once, i didn't really need any extra sauce at fat willy's. Â The ribs had a generous sauce on top, and there was plenty of crispy delicious burnt ends on the ribs. Â These ribs may rival Lilli's Q on North Ave, my current fav rib spot....I liked that they were just smokey enough, but didn't leave me feeling like I just swallowed an ash tray.
The only tragedy was that I ate so much (could.not.stop.myself) that I had no room for popcorn afterwards at the movies.
I'll be see'in you again real soon Fat Willy!
How convenient this place was tucked around a corner and right across the street from the movie theater we were going to. The outside gives off the appearance of a dive, but it's really not.
Had the pulled pork sandwich and the man had the hot link sandwich (with grilled onion and horseradish sauce). I'm not fond of pulled pork, but this bore little resemblance to those I've had before. Good and smoky, unsauced, and on a toasted bun (was that garlic butter I tasted?) The meat seemed a bit on the dry side, but a good slosh of that vinegar sauce fixed everything. Would much rather do it that way anyway because I find most places oversauce and/or use a sauce I don't really care for. What I had of the hot link, it seemed pretty tasty, too. With fries and coleslaw, I didn't think $8 for each meal was breaking the bank.
As a newcomer, the menu seemed fine to me; I don't need a book of items to choose from. They had the staple proteins available as meals, sandwiches, or by themselves and a good amount of sides to pick from. At a BBQ place, all I'm looking for is good, smoky meats and that's exactly what I got.
Friendly service and fun atmosphere to boot; yeah, I'd go back.
AMAZING!! That pretty much sums up this place. Â I've had good BBQ and I LOVE BBQ and outside of the south it just doesn't get much better then Fat Willys. Â OMG you have to try the Brisket Sloppy Joe. Â Hello! Â You'll instantly be in Heaven.
The food is reasonably priced, great service, large portions and the quality of the food is to die for! Â Check it out you won't be dissapointed.
Okay is the perfect word for this place. This place is no smoke daddy's or Lillie Q's, but it can assuage your BBQ craving for a bit.
Food:
Average to good, but far from stellar.
Price: Baby Back -just under a half rack for  17 and a full rack for 26? While 26 bucks for a full rack of ribs isn't bad, what is bad is them charging 17 for what the waiter told us was 5 bones. A pulled pork sandwich is also 12 bucks, which most other places is 2 or 3 bucks cheaper.
Drinks: Â They do have the typical canned water in PBR, but they have recently started to included higher end craft bottles. Though there bottle selection is still unimpressive and doesn't necessarily pair well with their food.
Sauce:
Not a fan of their vinegar based sauce, but the other two on the table are okay. Nothing I would buy and take home, but good enough to dip your fries in. The sauce on the puller pork sandwich, however is pretty good.
Overall I consider this place a back up, to my back up BBQ restaurants.
I've never had better BBQ in my life! That's right. I said it.
We came here before going to the movie theater across the street. Â Although the outside and inside appearance is pretty rough, the food and service is on point. Â We ordered cheesy cheesy mac and cheese. Best Mac & Cheese ever. Seriously. We were scraping the crusted cheese on the side of the bowl trying to get it all down. Â
The pulled chicken sandwich...to die for! Â Cole slaw, OMG! Best cole slaw, not kidding. Â
The decor was nothing special, the tablecloths were thick paper, and everything just seemed very old, high school cafeteria-like. Â That's why I didn't give it 5 stars. Â Honestly I'm not saying a small BBQ place needs to be anything fancy, but "jeeeez" paint the walls, redo some of the tiles on the floor, and for heaven's sake put a decent tablecloth down. Â It just looks like it's falling a part. To many people, they may take one look at that place and never really know how good it is considering its appearance.
But, THANK YOU for the amazing food and service. Even though they were packed they still managed to keep an eye on us and were pretty friendly. Â We told them we were late for a movie and they instantly had a our check ready to go. Can't wait to go back, maybe take-out this time :)
Ya see those spare ribs down there? Dive your face into them...nobody's watching. Yeah. Mmm. Oh. You got it. Â Keep it going. Mmm. That's..whew....that's so good... What? Brown sugar's blended into the butter for my sweet potato side? Oh, hey girl, hey. WHAT? The corn fritters ain't dried out like the rest-a-da-world's fritters? MMMM. Shoo. Huh? You givin' me part a dat chicken you ordered? Oh, haaaaaylll noooo.....mmmm. That a be some straight up deep-smoked chiggen. Â
So good, I may become a regular on the 76 Diversey bus.
I used to have a good time here, but the quality of the food has just gone down. I got the beef brisket and my boyfriend got a 1/2 slab of ribs.
The ribs were alright, nothing special. But I've had a lot better. The beef brisket was tasty, if you doused it in the spicy bbq sauce. We saw another couple who ordered the poulane? We should have gotten that instead because it looked massive! The side dishes were standard, but I could have sworn my sweet potato tasted a little funny. A little sour actually.
The server was nice and attentive. I think next time we're in the area, we're going to try to go to the restaurant on the corner instead before going across the street for a movie.
Baby back ribs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First time I tried this place was because of work and it was amazing. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich and it was sooo good.
Then I came here after me and my boyfriend watched "The Hunger Games" in the movie theater across it (get it?). We tried the baby back ribs dinner and we felt like we were in heaven until the next morning!
Very affordable pricing and friendly staff. Everyone should try this place!
3 words
Pulled Pork Brisket!
This place rules. The only thing I think that sucks is the parking. I would prefer not to have to park in the theater garage to have to pay, or several blocks towards diversey because its mostly permit parking on the streets closer to the restaurant. Aside from that, the food is so good and tasty. Â I love the variety of sauces they offer with their plates, the beer selection is good, and their giant brownie volcano of death is amazing. Make sure you are very hungry before coming to this place. You will be stuffed. You will be happy.
I am obsessed with their soup of the day. First time, it was a tomato soup - one of the best I have ever had. Last time, it was a Brunswick stew - a sour (on purpose), thick, meaty bowl of awesome. Next time, I may just have a giant vat of soup with corn bread. And onion rings. My god, these mega onion rings will be the death of me.
They also make THE best Arnold Palmer I have ever had. It is shaken by hand with lots of ice, and the silver shaker cup with extra Arnold Palmer is left at the table. Delicious.
As for their BBQ, the 1/2 chicken dinner I had was pretty tasty. You can have the chicken sauced or dry. I went with sauced. The meat had a smoky flavor that I liked. Add a side of green onion corn bread with honey butter and baked beans, and you have a dinner that will plump you up nicely for the winter. #WinterIsComing: Eat meat and onion rings.
Originally I wanted to hit up Hot Doug's, but the line was too long. Â My dad remembered hearing about Fat WIlly's on the Travel or Food Channel and suggested we come here (It was my birthday, and I wanted Hot Doug's or Smoque).
So, we ended up at Fat Willy's.
First off, the service was excellent. Â We got water and soft drinks extremely quick, she put up with a lot of questions and indecisiveness, and she only got a little defensive when I started reading Foursquare reviews that said "go to smoque instead for ribs" (my brother was thinking about having the ribs but wanted to know if they were good.)
As for the food, I had the Beef Brisket. Â I asked our waitress what was most popular among the regulars, and that's what she said, so that's what I had. The food was definitely tasty, but I don't think I'd become a regular just for the Brisket. Â As for the sauces (it is a BBQ joint after), they were decent. Â It came with two types of sauce, one spicy, one not spicy. Â I preferred the spicy one, but it wasn't too hot. Â Overall I thought the sauce was slightly above average, but nothing "Travel Channel worthy", or anything I'd drive into the city from the 'burbs for.
The portions were definitely adequate. Â We were there for lunch, but I had a dinner portion (it was my birthday afterall). Â Fries were tasty, and I recommend putting the spicy sauce on them. Â I think it was a vinegar based sauce, so that probably explains why I liked them on the fries so much.
Besides that, my dad had the same thing as me, but the lunch portion (which came with two sides - he said the BBQ beans were pretty good), and my brother, who used to live in New Orleans had the gumbo. Â Normally my brother "poo-poos" Cajun food up here, but he said the gumbo was pretty good.
Overall, I'd say I'd eat it if I was in the area, but it's not really worth going out of your way for. Â I think there's probably better BBQ in Chicago, and I'll definitely let you know when I find it.
Fat Willy's, what have you done? Â
I have been a FW patron for over 5yrs and seriously only got 2 delicious platters, the ribs and the hot link dinner. Â Last I was dining here was about a year ago with my now husband. Â He got the pulled pork sandwich and I, yes, got the hot link dinner with my 2 sides and Texas toast! Â YUMMY! Â You can't imagine how my mouth was watering on my drive from the burbs to Chicago to those hot links....
And here is where the disappointment starts.
Yes, I know Fat Willy's made it to the wildly popular Check Please! and yes, I was aware that it has gotten a lot more patron traffic since being featured on same (as Check Please will do)....what I wasn't expecting was the complete shock we got when we arrived.
First, they have definitely jammed a few more tables into this already small dining area inside then a year ago. Â So if you are one of those people who have a hard time dining about 15" from the party next to you...be prepared.
Second, the woman who I believe is either the general manager or owner was solely responsible for seating people. Â She walked around with her nose in her clipboard obviously plotting how she can fit more people in this restaurant. Â Never once did she welcome us to the restaurant, look at us in the eye or the general direction of our faces or worse yet, tell us to enjoy our meal.
Third, our waiter was nice but a little over the top...almost like he was prepping us for the experience to come.
So, I look at the menu and what??? Â Where's the rest of it?? Â If you are a long time patron of Willy's you know EXACTLY what I am saying. Â Please know they have removed so many items from the menu and wouldn't you know it, they removed my hot link dinner. Â However, they still serve a hot link sandwich so how hard can it be to accommodate an old frequent flyer if you still have the hot links available??? Â Our server asked Ms. Boss Lady and she flat out refused. Â Guess I'm going to try something new tonight.
I ordered (as did my husband) the brisket dinner. Â Usually, we have never ordered this in the past because we either got there too early and it wasn't done or we arrived to late and it was already gone. Â Either way, it was horrible. Â Actually, it was disgusting. Â I have professional culinary school training and there are basic food serving rules that are common sense to even a common diner.
The brisket came cut up on a plate and was completely colorless. Â Let me clarify....if you have been told in the past that the brisket is not available because it is still "smoking", Â one can reasonably assume that they are making some authentic smoked bbq brisket. Â Brisket that has the outside fat layer charred to a nice bark and that wonderful telltale red outline of a good smoked meat. Â
Nope, not what we received on our plates. Â I was looking at boiled meat. Â Okay, think I'm being harsh?? Â I gave it a chance and dived right into that brisket and with my first mouthful, I almost gagged. Â Confirmed, BOILED BRISKET with bay leaves. You ask, how do you know it was boiled with bay leaves?? Â Well, basically because I had a mouthful of dried, sharp-edged broken bay leaf in my mouth. Â With almost every bite...which was only about 3 at this point and in my opinion 3 too many. Â I spent the rest of my dining experience watching my poor 6'3" Slovak husband stomaching his brisket because he was starving and randomly picking the bay leaves out of my brisket and piling it in a corner of my plate. Â It is standard practice in any restaurant that you DO NOT place anything on the plate that isn't edible...especially boiled hard broken bay leaves with white fatty bland brisket. Â
The server asked me if I wanted a "to go" container...I told him no because if I want bay leaves I can eat the ones in my pantry at home. Â What was even more discouraging was that the server didn't even question WHY a customer would leave a full plate of their most expensive item and not take it home. Â Why would any food establishment do this?
GREED. Â Think I'm too harsh again?? Â Also know that while I was picking the bay leaves out of my white boiled meat and piling it in the corner of my plate, I watched Ms. Boss Lady walk back and forth through the dining room numerous times with her nose in that clipboard wondering how many tables she can turn over for the most money that day....in this economy, establishments should be doing whatever they can to make sure patrons that are coming to their establishment to spend money are PLEASED with their experience.
So, note to owner/general manager at Fat Willy's if you actually read your Yelp reviews.... Â I paid $70 for 2 brisket meals that were inedible and flavorless... know that I will never return to your establishment again and if you read your reviews, so are quite a few of your other past customers.
600+ reviews, ave 4 stars I know my review will be lost at sea, but here goes. Â
I use to love Fat Willy's - when it first opened - that's when I use to go. Â They had a nice robust menu, with pretty much anything on the menu guaranteed to be great! Â But since it became really popular and the lines grew, and consequently the wait time, I stopped going. Â Recently, we decided to go back. Â HUGE mistake. Â As what happens with many restaurants in this area that become successful, the prices go up, and the quality goes down. Â
First thing I noticed...the really limited menu - what happened to all the stuff they use to have?...oh well gotta pick from the slim pickins... Â I ordered the fat willy burger - which was the size of a big ass plate - but it had NO taste. Â It "looked" really delicious, with a lot of melted cheese, grilled onions, bacon and BBQ sauce but bland dry ground beef is bland dry ground beef no matter how you try to disguise it.
My BF had the ribs...and he was so disappointed. Â He was starving when we left -- why? Â because they were pretty much all bone. Â
The sides were nothing to write home about either... so I won't.
Wow, and to think about how much I loved this place back when it first opened. Â
Service, that was fine, no complaints there, nothing I mentioned above was the fault of the host or the server, both very nice and friendly. Â :-)
Well, that's just my two cents... in a bucket of 600+ reviews.
This place used to be SO GOOD! What happened?
The last few (5-6) times I have ordered take-out my order has been completely screwed up. This last time was the worst. We ordered a chicken, 3 sides and 2 side salads.
We got home and no sides. None.
My salads were wilted, slimy and so tiny! $5 for MAYBE 4 fork-fulls of inedible food.
I call them up to see what we can do.
The person I reached had no idea how to handle the situation and after holding the line and repeating the issue multiple times she says she can give me a $15 gift card in the mail or mark down on a list that we can have free sides when we come in next time.
I tried to explain there would be no next time. We do not live close, they have screwed us on food multiple times and we would not be going back. Could I not get my $10 in salads and $15 in sides credited to my card? No. I ask to speak to a manager. She says she IS the manager. What the...? Seriously?
My boyfriend, no joke, drove to Feed, got MORE FOOD for LESS MONEY and a CORRECT take out order, dropped it off with me then drove all the way back to Fat Willy's and returned all of our food.
I used to love this place. We would get take out once a week or so. Now I can honestly say I will not ever be going back or recommending them to anyone I know. Get your shit together Willy's.
We had a HORRIBLE experience at Fat Willy's tonight.
It must be the new staff the other reviewers were writing about.
We placed a delivery order and called one hour later to check on it.
We were told that the order hadn't been placed because they had taken down my credit card number inaccurately but didn't even bother to call us.
We were ready to cancel but kept with it when they promised it would be right over.
This never happened in the past.
So, one hour and half later our order finally made it....without an apology or anything to make up for it.
Then the food.
It used to be terrific.
But, you wouldn't know that the food was from the same place.
AWFUL!
DON'T ORDER FROM HERE!
Incredibly disappointed with the new menu. I've been going to Fat Willy's for nearly 4 years now, and when I went in about two weeks ago, discovered the menu change.
What used to be an entire booklet of options was narrowed down to one long back and front sheet. Some of my favorite menu items have since disappeared. The BBLT was one of the best things on the menu, along with the hot link basket. Prices seem to have gone up as well, but that might just be a result of pulling all of the "basket" options off of the menu.
One of my favorite things about Fat Willy's was their Parmesan Garlic salad dressing, when I ordered a side salad on my last visit, the waitress informed me that it was going to be "creamier" than it used to be. I'm assume this was code for watered down and not as good. The old dressing used to have so much Parmesan in the dressing, that you could feel the texture of it, now it's just a liquid-y, mediocre dressing.
Honestly, this used to be one of my favorite places in the city, my go to restaurant when I couldn't make up my mind. Not so much anymore.
Is it because Owen and Engine is doing so well next door? Did you feel like you had to try to class things up with a Quinoa burger? That doesn't sound like the Fat Willy's Rib Shack I remember. :-(
I'm EXTREMELY pissed! I love their food, but Delivery Options are HORRIBLE!
They won't deliver 8 more measly blocks East past Ashland to Oakdale and Seminary!!!!
At 4PM on a Saturday????
I just now tried to order a $30 Dinner of Spare Ribs!
With my two sides of Mashed with gravy... add $2
and Mac and Cheese... add $1
and a jalapeno corn fritters... $7
and pulled pork sandwich... $12.
============================
Total of $52 Dollars and 2.75 Delivery fee!
I suppose my hard earned cash and my one time to treat myself to a $50 Delivery Order is simply just not good enough for them! Really? I do not and will not accept this. They truly need to change this and definitely need to make this up to me! I know they check these blogs and I expect a response!
Pull your head out of keister, Willy! Because your losing business by doing this. I guess I'll order somewhere else. ;P
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