The BBQ Rib Competition That Led Sweet Baby Ray's To Fame

If it wasn't for the Mike Royko Ribfest, brothers Dave and Larry Raymond and longtime friend Mike O'Brien — the founders of Sweet Baby Ray's — likely wouldn't have built their successful barbecue sauce business or the two restaurants Dave started with Larry's son, Duce. But, after entering in 1985 with a barbecue sauce recipe Larry created especially for the contest, they turned their second place status into a winning business.

The man behind the barbecue rib festival, which lasted from 1982 to 1987, is considered a Chicago legend. Although Mike Royko is probably best known for the almost 8,000 newspaper columns he wrote for Chicago's top newspapers, the Chicago Tribune recalls that the Pulitzer-prize winning writer also boasted about being the best barbequer in the world. The Windy City may be better known for its Italian beef sandwiches, but Chicago still has its own styles of barbecue: either boiled, smoked, and slathered in sauce or rib tips served with sausage.

Proclaiming himself "The Top Slab," "The Thriller of the Griller," and "The Bone that Stands Alone," Royko jokingly attributing his success to a 351-ingredient recipe for barbecue sauce created by his Aunt Willie Mae Royko in the 15th century to appease her pierogi-and-kielbasa-weary husband, Bubba Ray Royko. To prove it, he launched the Mike Royko Ribfest, which became an annual rite for a short period of time.

Although the brothers' second place-finish is likely one of the little known facts about Sweet Baby Ray's, the barbecue contest worked out well for the business. Using Tabasco as a key ingredient in the sweet and tangy sauce, the brothers incorporated in 1986 and ended up with a line-up of more than 20 flavors before selling their business in 2003 to Ken's Foods. 

In a Chicago Tribune column, Mike Royko himself expressed disappointment at the 1985 winner that bested Sweet Baby Ray's, a "yuppie" advertising executive named Steve Crane whose first foray behind the grill was the day of the festival. Crane, who Royko said wouldn't know a "hickory chip from a poker chip," won by unanimous vote. The curmudgeonly columnist ended the contest in 1987 because it had become logistically difficult to organize, the prizes had become too extravagant, and too many corporate sponsors were now involved.