What more can you say about the most indispensable piece of steak cooking apparatus in the world? Only that thanks to the advancement of marketing they're now in a restaurant. I was invited out to the Weber Grill Restaurant in Lombard. Their schtick is that everything is cooked on a Weber Kettle using charcoal. Except the mashed potatoes? It's situated amongst the pop-up office parks along Butterfield Road, you can't miss it- there's a twenty foot high Weber Kettle in front of it. I had just enough beer to make this hilarious. We arrived at 8:15 for our 8:30 reservation and got the typical slow-down. It was a Saturday night and (quite) a few more cocktails were in order so we bellied up without complaint. This place is huge and it was filled to capacity. The bar was full of diners and there wasn't an empty table to be found when we were seated at about 8:50. You walk past the "kitchen" on the way in- gigantic custom-made Weber Kettles that radiate like a bonfire. Not surprisingly, it smells delicious. Though busy, the service was quite adequate- we never had an unpleasant wait for orders, food, or drinks. For apps we ordered the scrimp ($5.95), a nondescript warm artichoke-and-spinach-dip-thing ($6.95), and their version of the sampler platter ($11.95). The four scrimps were very tasty. They were grilled and cooled before being served- the charcoal flavor gels in them. The sampler was a bust- an onion loaf with a few noshes... two small scrimps, two chicken strips, two ribs, two little skewers of meat, and very little substance. For mains we had a little of everything. We had a Chicken breast ($16.95), Pork Chops ($18.95), and Lamb Chops ($19.95). It was my first time there so I ordered up their bludgeoun of beef, a 22-oz. T-bone($29.95) named "The Summit." They don't produce a life-changing steak- they grill a steak as good as you'd generally cook on a good day over the Kettle. I've cooked a better steak, but I've certainly cooked MANY worse! They have this down to science. Surprisingly, my steak came perfectly seasoned. Perfectly. I don't think I've /ever/ had a steak that didn't meed a little salt or pepper. I didn't taste the Chicken or Lamb (but there wasn't any left-over!), the Pork was juicy and delish, with an excellent charcoal twang. For sides we had garlic-mashed, and asparagus. The grilled asparagus was OK, and the potatoes certainly contained garlic but were nothing to fall off of your chair about. They have an Irish Coffee prep-table made out of a Kettle and they make it for you right at your table. They rim a glass with sugar and flambe the Whiskey (Bushmills) to melt the sugar onto the glass. Finish with coffe and whipped cream and voila- Irish Coffee. More schtick with good results, we each had one. I glanced over the wine list which was fair, but didn't order since we were drinking mixed. If you're a gangster or a politician they had Moet & Chandon ($195 IIRC). All in all I was very pleasantly surprised. It's nothing great but it is worth a trip. It's clearly a template restaurant with a schtick, but the bottom line is that they serve a good steak in a reasonable amount of time in a busy (but not loud) room. Four people, $200 + tip, including cocktails. Overall- good, not great; the steak was enough to get me back. trent
Chicago, IL