The Big Red Grill

Late last week I had lunch at a Weber Grill here in the greater northwestern suburbs. Instead of a bovine-based meal, I picked the crabcake sandwich and was well rewarded for my choice. I also went back to my car and fetched the camera, just so I could have a picture of the big red grill outside the restaurant.

 

There aren't quite as many Weber Grill locations as I'd thought. In fact, there's only four: the one in Schaumburg, another in Chicago that I visited some years ago, one in west suburban Lombard, and one in Indianapolis. The one Chicago has a large grill hanging over the entrance and a bronze statue of a griller and his Weber just inside the door. I didn't notice any art of that kind at the Schaumburg location.

"Watch our chefs masterfully prepare steaks, burgers, chops and chicken to your desired level of doneness on real Weber kettles grills," the restaurant web site says. "The grills are very similar to the Weber Ranch Kettle, but modified slightly for indoor restaurant use. (Notice they are not porcelain coated since it doesn’t rain indoors.)... that’s real charcoal they’re piling into those grills, heating them up to about 1500° F. Our chefs heat up about 2000 pounds of coal per day, using a genuine Weber Chimney Starter just like you would at home."

Not just like me. I don't have a real Weber, just a generic ovoid grill, and I haven't gotten around to getting a chimney starter, though I've seen them at work.