The Nutshell

Lilly’s makes a darn good rib – meaty and tender, but with inconsistent smokiness. Their sauce is high quality, though a little thin for our tastes. The sides are very good. It’s also a great value, but plan to do take-out. Some websites say they have seating, but there’s really only about two tables shoved to the side in a waiting area.

The Spot

We heard that Lilly’s, at the corner of Divisadero and 7th, made some of the best BBQ in San Francisco, so as part of my birthday celebration this past weekend we went over there after a few hours of drinking bourbon and other fancy concotions at Bourbon & Branch (which I highly recommend, but go early). Driving down Divisadero we knew we were close, and I knew we were in for some good BBQ because I could smell the smoke a block away. Extra bonus for Lilly’s: they’ve got their own parking lot.

We intended to stay and eat, but there’s really only a few tables there, and they were full of people watching the de la Hoya / Merryweather fight, so we took our food to go. The employees were nice enough, helped us choose the right amount of food, which turned out to be the perfect amount.

The Ribs

We had ribs. Specifically 1.5 slabs for 5 people. The ribs were meaty, medium tender, not too fatty. There was some disagreement about the smoke flavor – Andrew thought they were ‘some of the smokiest ribs he’s had’, but I didn’t think they had particularly good smoke. This leads us to one of the only knock’s on Lilly’s – inconsistency. Some of my ribs were tough, some were bland, some were all bone. Others, though, were wonderfully tender and meaty with a wonderful pink smoke-ring.

We had the ‘medium’ sauce, which had a nice flavor and a good amount of spice. I noticed that medium was accomplished by splashing the ribs with half mild and half spicy – it worked out though. The reddish sauce was a little too thin for my tastes, but we can’t really knock ‘em for that – to each their own on sauce.

The Sides

The sides at Lilly’s were a pleasant surprise. Their baked beans were nice and sweet with brown sugar and molassas. Just my style, though honestly not better than a number of canned varieties (maybe they were canned?). Their potato salad had a nice balance of mustard, onion, and pickle relish. It was almost smooth, though, like mashed potatoes. The slaw was nicely seasoned, which I’ve founded to be a rarity around here.

So…

Lilly’s is good. Very good ribs, if inconsistent. Good sides. It’s cheap – 5 of us ate very well for about $35. I’m not sure if I’d say they’re the best BBQ in San Francisco though. I’ve certainly had better ribs in the East Bay. Andrew and I agreed that Flint’s ribs are meatier, more consistent, and with better sauce. KC BBQ’s ribs are also superior in my mind.

But I’d go back for sure if I was in the neighborhood. I want to try the brisket (which they were out of) and the chicken, which looked pretty darn good.

(Andrew took some nice pics with my camera, but unfortunately I’d accidentally turned off the auto-focus, so they turned out all blurry. No pork porn this time…)