Rib tips are the small, meaty pieces trimmed from the end of a rack of spareribs, made of meat, fat and cartilage. In Chicago they are smoked until tender and served in a box with fries, white bread and a vinegary sauce, often beside a hot link.

What is the difference between rib tips and hot links?

Rib tips are cut from the pork rib, while hot links are spicy smoked sausages. Chicago barbecue joints often serve them together as a tips and links combination, so a diner tastes both the chewy meat and the spice of the sausage in one meal.

Is Lem's Bar-B-Q carryout only?

The Infatuation describes Lem's as carryout only, with ribs served over fries and a mild, vinegary sauce. Lem's is a long-running South Side barbecue spot. Check its current hours and policy before you plan a visit.

Where can I eat rib tips in Chicago besides Lem's?

Sanders BBQ Supply Co. in Beverly and Lexington Betty Smokehouse on East 111th Street are two newer names The Infatuation mentions for rib tips. Menus and hours change, so check both before you go, and ask what the smoker is doing that day.

How do I keep track of the barbecue I try in Chicago?

Mosey is a food app for finding places, rating each dish and sharing lists with friends. After a barbecue day in Chicago you can rate every plate by the dish, add a tag, follow friends to see what they rated, and save the places in a shared list.

Do Chicago barbecue joints take credit cards?

Practice varies. Some small barbecue counters take cash only, while larger smokehouses usually take cards. A quick call or a look at a recent post from the restaurant saves a trip, and bringing a little cash is wise when you go to a carryout window.

Dish guide

Rib Tips in Chicago: Where to Eat the South Side Cut

Mosey · November 11, 2026 · 5 min read

Rib tips in Chicago are a South Side specialty: small, meaty pieces trimmed from the end of the spareribs, smoked and served with fries, white bread and a vinegary sauce. Lem's Bar-B-Q, Sanders BBQ Supply Co. and Lexington Betty Smokehouse are three places where people go for them, and each cooks them differently.

What are rib tips in Chicago, and why do they matter here?

A rack of spareribs is trimmed into a neat rectangle, and the trimmed piece is the tip: cartilage, meat and fat that cook into something chewy, smoky and rich. In many cities they are scraps. In Chicago they are a menu staple, often served beside hot links, a spicy smoked sausage, in a combination people call tips and links.

The style belongs to the city's Black barbecue joints. It is a counter-service tradition: you order at a window, take a box and eat in your car or at home. Expect fries and white bread to soak up the sauce.

Because tips are a cut with a lot of bone and cartilage, eat them with your hands and expect a mess. Napkins are not optional. Ask for extra sauce on the side if you like to dip, and take the box somewhere you can sit.

What is an aquarium smoker, and where do you find aquarium smoker barbecue in Chicago?

The aquarium smoker is a glass-fronted pit, shaped like a fish tank, that cooks meat over charcoal and hickory while the cook watches it through the glass. It is a Chicago signature of South Side barbecue.

ABC7 reports that Lem's cooks its ribs in an aquarium barbecue pit over charcoal, hickory wood and fire. The Infatuation describes Lem's as carryout only, with a mild, vinegary sauce and the ribs served over fries. If you want to understand the style, start there and eat in your car like everyone else.

Where do you find Chicago South Side barbecue?

Lem's Bar-B-Q, on East 75th Street, is the best known name. Fox 32 and ABC7 describe it as known for rib tips, hot links and a secret sauce, and it is the place most people mean when they say South Side barbecue.

Lexington Betty Smokehouse, on East 111th Street, is the newer name. The Infatuation names it for rib tips, turkey leg and pulled pork, and Choose Chicago lists it among its Roseland barbecue favorites.

Which Chicago barbecue rib tips and hot links should you order?

At a counter-service joint, the classic order is a tips and links combination with fries and bread. Ask for the sauce on the side if you want to taste the smoke first, and add a hot link if the menu offers one. Fox 32 describes Lem's as known for both rib tips and hot links.

At a newer smokehouse, treat the rib tips like a starter. Sanders BBQ Supply Co., in Beverly, is a smokehouse that The Infatuation calls out for snackable, buttery rib tips. Order them with a side and something else from the smoker, and share.

Is Sanders BBQ Supply Co. worth the trip for rib tips?

Sanders BBQ Supply Co., on West 99th Street in Beverly, is a smokehouse with national attention: a recent report notes that The New York Times named it among America's 50 best restaurants and that its standouts include oxtail gumbo, rib tips and peach tea-smoked chicken wings. Its chef-owner, James Sanders, was reported to be planning a second restaurant in Hyde Park.

Treat it as a different style from Lem's: a smokehouse with a broader menu rather than a carryout window. Go for the contrast, and try both in one weekend.

How do you judge a good plate of rib tips?

Look first at the color. Good tips have a dark, caramelized outside and a pink smoke ring in the meat. The meat should pull away from the bone with a little resistance, and the fat should be rendered rather than rubbery.

Taste the sauce on its own. A mild, vinegary sauce, as at Lem's, lets the smoke come through, while a sweeter one covers it. Fries should be crisp enough to hold up under sauce, and white bread is there to soak up what is left. Compare two places in one weekend and you will quickly learn what you like.

How do you rate Chicago rib tips and fries?

A plate of tips and fries is easy to judge and hard to compare from memory. In Mosey you can rate a place with just stars, then add the dishes you had, so "rib tips" at one window and "rib tips" at another are compared from your own notes. Add tags that fit, and write a line on the sauce.

Make a list called Chicago Tips with the places you tried, share it with friends, and follow the people whose barbecue you trust. How this works in the app: Make a list.

What else belongs on a South Side food day?

Barbecue pairs well with soul food, which the Bronzeville soul food guide covers. For another Chicago street sandwich, see the Italian beef and hot dog guide, and for Creole-style ribs north of the city, see the Evanston restaurants guide. University of Chicago country is in the Hyde Park restaurant guide, and more of the city is in the Chicago food guides and the US food guides.

Get the Mosey app, rate your first plate of rib tips by the dish and start a barbecue list you can share with friends.

Questions

Common questions

What are rib tips?
Rib tips are the small, meaty pieces trimmed from the end of a rack of spareribs, made of meat, fat and cartilage. In Chicago they are smoked until tender and served in a box with fries, white bread and a vinegary sauce, often beside a hot link.
What is the difference between rib tips and hot links?
Rib tips are cut from the pork rib, while hot links are spicy smoked sausages. Chicago barbecue joints often serve them together as a tips and links combination, so a diner tastes both the chewy meat and the spice of the sausage in one meal.
Is Lem's Bar-B-Q carryout only?
The Infatuation describes Lem's as carryout only, with ribs served over fries and a mild, vinegary sauce. Lem's is a long-running South Side barbecue spot. Check its current hours and policy before you plan a visit.
Where can I eat rib tips in Chicago besides Lem's?
Sanders BBQ Supply Co. in Beverly and Lexington Betty Smokehouse on East 111th Street are two newer names The Infatuation mentions for rib tips. Menus and hours change, so check both before you go, and ask what the smoker is doing that day.
How do I keep track of the barbecue I try in Chicago?
Mosey is a food app for finding places, rating each dish and sharing lists with friends. After a barbecue day in Chicago you can rate every plate by the dish, add a tag, follow friends to see what they rated, and save the places in a shared list.
Do Chicago barbecue joints take credit cards?
Practice varies. Some small barbecue counters take cash only, while larger smokehouses usually take cards. A quick call or a look at a recent post from the restaurant saves a trip, and bringing a little cash is wise when you go to a carryout window.