Chicago’s First Sweet Baby Ray’s Opens in Wrigleyville (PHOTOS)

Wrigleyville’s newest restaurant Sweet Baby Ray’s Smokehouse is officially open, bringing competition-style barbecue dishes to the neighborhood that thrives on the competitive game day spirit.

Sitting at 3478 N. Clark St., the new bar and smokehouse sits in the former Uberstein space. The new barbecue restaurant, however, gave the business a fresh look and feel.

“Structurally, we didn’t do much, but we did get rid of that 1980s ski chalet look,” said General Manager Scott Sonnenberg. “We have the same bar that we sanded down and added some color, and the painter wanted to have a smoky effect on the walls.”

This is Sweet Baby Ray’s third location in Chicagoland, with the two other restaurants in Wood Dale and Elk Grove Village.

It’s also one of four new barbecue restaurants to come to Lake View in the last six months, trailing behind Wrigley Barbecue and Milt’s Barbecue for the Perplexed. That’s combined with the newly announced Old Crow Smokehouse by the owners of John Barleycorn being constructed less than a block from Sweet Baby Ray’s.

Sonnenberg says what will set his restaurant apart is the focus on quality food.

“We’re not too worried,” he said. “I think we plan to pay more attention to food (than some of the others). … We’ve invested a lot of money in a smoker, so we do everything on site, and we go with very traditional recipes like dry rubs and sauces on the side. And (the executive chef) Dylan is on a national competitive circuit. It’s a craft.”

The new restaurant, which had its very quiet soft opening last week, is now ready to serve the community using its new Southern Pride 850 Smoker, capable of smoking 850 pounds of meat at full capacity.

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Sweet Baby Ray’s has a capacity of 130 people, plus more room on the large outdoor patio. There are 14 beers on tap, and the owners plan to have more than 100 bourbons and American whiskeys on hand to offer some serious variety.

The hours are from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. every day, with the restaurant opening at 11 a.m. on Cubs game days. There will even be a special game day menu designed to get the food out fast so Cubs fans on a time crunch can eat before the game.

Sweet Baby Ray's has won over 50 awards including Kansas City Barbecue Society's First Place Ribs and Food Industry News Silver Platter Award for #1 Favorite BBQ Ribs.

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