Best Rib Tips In Joliet? Kevin 'Rib Doctor' Roberts Reopens: Photos

JOLIET — One of Joliet's longest running restaurant owners, Kevin "The Rib Doctor" Roberts, is back in his kitchen wearing his blue doctor's scrubs. Nowadays, his two adult sons, Kevin, and Zevin, are working for him at the Chicago Style BBQ, 1215 N. Broadway Street.

People in the Joliet area had to live for two months, all of July and August, without Chicago Style BBQ. Roberts said he also shut down for two months, in 2022, during July and August.

Taking some time off during the intense summer heat made sense, he said. Ice cream parlors are closed for the winter and that during the sizzling summer heat, it gets incredibly hot grilling the ribs inside his kitchen while his restaurant stays open 10 hours a day.

Meanwhile, many of his loyal customers are vacationing or choosing to grill outside.

"I found out that July and August are the best time to take a break," Roberts remarked during Monday afternoon's interview that took place while Roberts continued to cut up rib tips with his meat cleaver, make french fries and package dozens of carryout orders.

Roberts reopened for business on August 29 and nowadays, he has steady help working with him, it's his sons. Kevin Jr., age 28, and his younger son, Zevin, age 24.

"August 29th, that Tuesday, we were busy, man," Roberts recalled. "All the way through Labor Day. Labor Day was like two days of business. There were people waiting for an hour."

Ribs, Wings, Rib Tips and Sausage Links. That's what Chicago Style BBQ is known for.

But there's one item on the menu that steals the show. That's the rib tips.

During Monday's interview, Roberts pointed to the wall with the carryout order receipts in front of him. He had nine orders to make. Eight different customers ordered rib tips.

"There's nine orders, and only one is chicken wings," he pointed out.

For years, Roberts has tried to make inroads informing his customers that it takes time, a lot of time, for him to grill their ribs and ribs tips to perfection.

Making rib tips isn't like grilling a steak, he stressed.

"A steak takes five or six minutes, ribs take three to four hours," Roberts pointed out. "Nothing takes longer to cook than barbecue and people want it right away."

Nowadays, Roberts posts a sign on his front counter so that walk-in customers realize it will likely take at least 20 minutes for their order to be ready.

A takeout-only restaurant, Chicago Style BBQ is now open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. Roberts said he's now closed on Saturday and Sunday.

After being open seven days a week for several years, Roberts said he's decided to cut back and shut down on the weekends.

"And people are so hard to deal with on the weekends," he explained.

Roberts first opened at 1215 North Broadway back in 2018. During his first four years at this location, he stayed open an incredible 363 days of the year

"Four years (of being open 363 days per year) is enough," he said. "Seven days a week, only off Christmas and Thanksgiving, 363 days, that's just overkill."

Even though he's now cutting back to staying open five days a week, Roberts estimated he still puts in at least 70 hours a week on the job.

"It's 14-hour days, there's no way around it," Roberts remarked.

And having his two adult sons, Kevin and Zevin, working with him has gone well.

The boys started working for him this spring. According to Roberts, a large portion of Chicago Style BBQ's regular customers expect the staff to know their favorite orders down to the specifics as far as whether they want their barbecue sauce in a separate container as opposed to being spread on their french fries or the rib tips.

Kevin Jr. is 28 years old while Zevin is 24.

"They called me and told me they wanted to start," Roberts said. "Yeah, it's working out okay, but you don't want to force it on them."

Roberts has been a Joliet restaurant fixture since the early 1990s.

During Monday's interview, Roberts retrieved an old photograph from his restaurant that shows him and his family standing in front of his first Joliet restaurant location at 500 East Cass Street.

That restaurant building is now Taquerias Atotonilco.

Roberts said, "I've been doing this since 1989. I was on the South Side of Chicago and I came to Joliet and from 1992 until 2005, I was on Cass Street. From 2005 until 2017, I was on Chicago Street."

Then, on Feb. 3, 2018, Roberts reopened Chicago Style BBQ at 1215 Broadway Street. The phone number to place carryout orders is 815-714-2704.

"I like to do this. This is not work for me," Joliet's Rib Doctor professed.