Although I've been to Chicago hundreds of times, I've never really spent that much time downtown. So when I ended up staying downtown near Michigan Ave. for work, I was actually at a loss of where to go for dinner. My co-worker, Eric, suggested the Weber Grill since it was one of his favorite places to go when he's in town for work. The restaurant is owned by the same family that owns the actual Weber grills that people have in their backyards and in true grill fashion, most everything on this menu is meat related. I'll be honest, when I first walked in, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not. It kind of reminded me of the big steak chains and I was expecting the food to be chain level quality.
Luckily, it wasn't the quality of an Outback and I left feeling full and happy. We got there pretty early (around 5:30pm) and the place was still empty but as the night went on, it got really crowded and I noticed that about 85% of the restaurant was older men. So ladies, if you're looking for a guy over 40, this is your place! The menu has about every kind of meat you are looking for: steak, lamb chops, ribs, burgers, brisket, meat loaf, pulled pork, grilled chicken, grilled fish, grilled vegetables, rib eye, along with big salads and grilled fired pizzas. It's really overwhelming. Eric and I were both starving, so we split the onion curls ($6.50) to start and I got the BBQ combo with brisket and pulled pork with my choice of 2 sides of mac and cheese and garlic mashed potatoes ($18), while Eric got the combo with meatloaf and another meat (I think pulled pork? sorry it's been a week since I was there, so I don't really remember!). I also ordered a small green salad ($4) because I felt like I had to eat some kind of greens. The restaurant starts the meal with these yummy warm pretzel buns with whipped butter. They were fantastic and I had to basically stop myself or else I would have ruined my entire meal. The onion curls came out first and while I've never been to Outback, it's essentially what I envision a bloomin onion to be. It's a ginormous plate of fried onions and served with chipotle mayo and BBQ sauce. I had a couple of bites, but it didn't have the crispness or thickness of a real onion ring. It was kind of like a bunch of shredded onion that wasn't really fried well. I wasn't a huge fan so I was starting to get nervous about my main meal. Next came the green salad and it was a totally basic and fine side garden salad. The greens could have been a bit fresher but at this point I wasn't really expecting a farm to table-like experience but it filled my need for fresh vegetables. Next the combo came out and I was really pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. There was a very healthy portion of both the brisket and pork - maybe half a pound of each? The brisket and pulled pork were moist and quite flavorful but not in an over seasoned way. They both had a light coating of sweet BBQ sauce, which was great and it reminded me of how much I do like to have some sweet based BBQ sauce with my grilled meat vs. plain meat or a heavy cream sauce on top of it. Unlike the pulled pork I had at Morgan's, it wasn't overly peppery which was refreshing. While the food isn't like my favorite BBQ in the city, it was actually pretty darn tasty. The mashed potatoes were super buttery and very whipped (isn't that the best kind?). I had only 1-2 bites of the mac and cheese because by the time I got to it, I felt like I was going to burst. There is so much food on that combo platter, it really could be for 2 people instead of one. I was actually really sad that I couldn't bring it back to the hotel and eat it the next day because I had almost half a plate left. But I just couldn't do it.
All in all, I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised at my meal here. Yes - it still wasn't a James Beard Award winning dinning establishment and it does still have a slight big Midwestern chain feel, but you know what? I was in the middle of tourist central in downtown Chicago and having walked past a TGI Friday's on the way here, I was more than happy with where we ended up. Just make sure to go when you're super hungry or have a fridge in your hotel! The price is also totally reasonable - almost scarily so with the 2 meat combo platter at only $18, that is something that I could see restaurants charging at least double in NYC. Total bill: ~$80ish with tax, tip and drinks
Photo Credit: Yelp
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