Weber Grill Restaurant – A wondrous place of barbecue genius!

Often times when you travel you find a place to eat that you wish you could have in your own back yard of home, this is such a place!  Weber Grill Restaurant is basically a take of what you know best, the weber grill.  The restaurant builds its design, menu, and flare around the known kettle shaped grill which has been in production since 1952.  This was our 3rd chance to eat at this establishment, twice in Schaumburg, Illinois and this last time in Lombard, Illinois while I was nearby visiting my older sister Tammy.

Now there are only 4 locations:

• Lombard, Illinois
• Schaumburg, Illinois
• Chicago, Illinois
• Indianapolis, Indiana

How many burgers will fit on that enormous grill?
You could fit 300 burgers on the big red grill outside our Lombard restaurant.

Even before you walk in, and you see that giant red kettle, something about it just makes my mouth water at what to expect when you go in, and after you enter, you will not be disappointed, there is evidence of weber grill in every design feature, from the lobby, to the hanging lights over the kitchen area being upside down smaller kettle grills, it just feeds to the fire in this case on how great this place is.  So I covered sight, you also smell and I mean it is the most amazing scent of these large kettle grills with open charcoal flames cooking the food when you walk in, the kitchen is semi open to view, and you can see the fire rising from the grills and the smell of all of that just captures your senses, when you walk in.  Sound, you hear the sizzling of the grill, the meats and vegetables cooking, you hear the adding of the hot ember charcoals that have been started in huge Charcoal Starters to get them going, you can hear the kitchen rumble with excitement as each grilled to order steak comes off the grill and on to the plating station.  Taste, this is where I can’t rave enough, the taste, to this day I still say that something cooked over wood or charcoal is much better tasting, but once you get your meal you will realize what I am talking about, it explodes in your mouth with flavor, it gives you the sense of a backyard bbq with the family, and to start all of that off, they give you Pretzel Rolls while you wait for your order, now let me tell you, if you never have had pretzel rolls, you are truly missing out on something unique tasting in the bread department, so make sure you try them!  Well, that leaves touch, and while you can touch your food if you want, I think in this sense I am going to go metaphorically and say that the food touches you, it gives you a reason to thank you for ordering it, and fills not only your belly, but your spirit too!

This was the view we saw outside from sitting at our table in the back of the restaurant.

Not making my steak yet! but soon to be!

For this outing, while visiting my older sister, my wife and I had dinner with my sister and her friend.  My wife and I both had the Filet Mignon, and I can honestly say the flavors were magical, you can see and taste the smoke from the charcoal cooking in the meat, and it was mouthwatering.  The have a large selection of sides to choose from, along with dinner salads or appetizers to start you off.  My Sister got Chicken, and her friend got Shrimp, but there are so many fine things on the menu, you can’t go wrong!

Now it has been 2 years since we were in the area to see my sister Tammy, and all I can say is that every time we have gone, they have gotten it right!  It is the type of place that you can get excited about if you haven’t been in awhile, but it is also the type of place that I would like to frequent more often, so does that mean I can get to Illinois as often as I can, no, but it does mean I wish they would build one here in Ohio!  Ever Since we went the first time over 5 years ago to the one in Schaumburg, my wife and I have been wishing and hoping they would build one here,  not only would it be cool to see, but I think it would draw people from all surrounding areas in Ohio to come eat there!  So to those wonderful people at The Weber Grill Restaurant, who I hope sees this review and enjoys reading it, please, with a big pile of charcoal on top, bring a restaurant to Northeast Ohio, or anywhere in Ohio for that matter!

I hope everyone got some enjoyment out of reading this, I know we got enjoyment out of eating there, we will be customers for life, just wish we could go to one a little closer to home!  So have any of you been there? if so share your thoughts, if not is this a place you can see yourself going to on a roadtrip?  Let me know in the comments below.

On a side note which I think is amazing and unique for a restaurant to have is that they have Grilling Classes at Weber Grill Restaurant, I have always wanted to take one, but again, Illinois is a little far to go for an afternoon class.

Disclaimer:  I was in no way compensated for this review, these are my own opinions and thoughts, and are a personal reflection of the type of venues my wife and I like to eat at.