One of the more interesting places I've eaten at over the past few years are the Weber Grill restaurants in the Chicagoland area.
The premise of the Weber Grill restaurants is simple - the main meat entrees and many of the sides are cooked on special made stainless steel Weber Grill kettles that range in size from 22" to 42" in diameter over Kingsford Charcoal. It's like cooking outside at home, except you're not home, and you're not cooking and you don't have to clean up.
There are now four Weber Grill restaurants in the Chicago area. The original one out in Wheeling (see map); the location in Lombard (see map); downtown Chicago (see map); and the new one out in Schaumburg (see map). I've eaten at all except the new one in Schaumburg.
Each of the Weber Grill restaurants have a Smokey Joe's Bar - a nice little bar area that you can eat in. Actually, the bar at the Weber Grill restaurant in Lombard is very good sized while the one in Wheeling and the one downtown are much smaller. But they're comfortable enough that you can grab a meal at the bar if you're by yourself. They have no problem with that.
There's nothing better than cooking over charcoal, and the Weber Grill restaurants do it very well. The first time Cindy and I ate at the one in Wheeling, Cindy had the filet and I had the prime rib - one of their specialty items that is seasoned with herbs and garlic and cooked slowly over charcoal at low heat. They get their grills for steak heated to over 1200 degrees for a quick searing, then transfer them to a grill at lower heat for the main cooking. Cindy's steak was great and the prime rib was very good.
They also do ribs, chicken, seafood, pork chops in addition to the steaks they're famous for. They have a great grilled meat loaf that is as interesting as it is delicious. And it's tough to pass up the grilled shrimp appetizers, but tell them to hold the barbecue sauce.
And according to Cindy, they also make a very good burger at the Weber Grill restaurants, too. I've got to try one sometime when I'm there.
When we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Chicago three years ago, the Weber Grill restaurant is attached to the place. In fact, I swear they pump the smell of the cooked meat throughout the hallways, not that there's anything wrong with that. They also serve breakfast at the one downtown, cooking the food on griddles on top of the Weber Grills.
I recently ate at the one in Lombard again. The food was excellent - I had the filet and it was a perfect medium rare. It usually comes with a side of either their garlic mashed potatoes or their baked potato, but I opted to upgrade to their whipped sweet potatoes with a bourbon maple butter mixed in. Oh man! It's killer!
I still think it's somewhat of an art form to cook on a Weber Grill - you're at the mercy of the coals trying to keep them at a constant temperature while you're cooking. But I've never had a bad meal at any of the Weber Grill restaurants.
It's a unique restaurant, the food is good, the service is impeccable and it's a comfortable to place to dine. The Weber Grill restaurant is highly recommended - any of 'em.
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