It would seem the Weber barbecue grill people have parlayed their popularity into a series of restaurants, and the latest one is in Saint Louis.
I have great fondness for my Weber grill. It was my Dad's treasured possession. He knew all about the indirect smoking and the chimney and the water spritzer. He was a scientist of BBQ. I remember hamburgers and pork steaks made on the grill. I also remember waiting hours for the food to smoke. He was not a scientist when it came to estimating cooking time.
I inherited the grill, and it stands on my patio as a shrine to Dad. (I use it about once every two years.) So when I heard there a restaurant built around Weber grills I knew I had to go in honor of Dad.
This statue at the entrance even looks like Dad grilling pork steaks.
Right inside the entrance they have a shop where you can buy grills and grill accessories. They didn't sell the 1980s model ash catch pan to replace the dented one Dad left me, but the hostess tracked down the main office number so I could place an order.
The shop opens up to a test kitchen. They really dreamed big when they planned this place.
All the food - wait - most of the food - is cooked on industrial Weber Grills.
I scanned the menu for pork steaks, of course, but since it's a St. Louis thing and the chain started in Chicago, pork steaks didn't make the menu. I recommended that they add them, at least at the St. Louis location.
The place really shines when you eat the food you expect to get off a Weber grill. The barbecue was sublime. The French Onion soup looked spectacular and tasted ... fair. The chicken chili looked fabulous and tasted ... average. But the barbecue, especially the brisket - mwah. Slobber. The brisket was divine.
It was insanely pricey. Or, possibly, I'm using 1980s prices as a benchmark. I'm glad I went once, and I would go back if I were nearby and in the mood for barbecue. Now, I'm wondering if there are other theme restaurants. George Foreman Bar and Grill? A bakery based on 1990s bread machines? A diner with little Fry Daddies you can use to fry things, kind of like the Melting Pot - oh! The Melting Pot! That's already out there.
Hi! New to your blog. Yep, I wasn't super impressed with the Weber restaurant I went to, when I visited in laws in Chicago burbs. Frankly, great BBQ is hard to find. Even when we went to Memphis and Nashville a few summers ago. Found a few ok places, but nothing spectacular. I guess a trip to St. Louis is going to have to hit my bucket list. ;)
Posted by: Kailani | May 13, 2016 at 12:41 PM
Livin' the dream...
Our foodie neighbor makes the best pork ribs ever!
Posted by: Hattie | May 13, 2016 at 10:58 PM
Kailani - (Hi, Kailani!) We have a pretty good BBQ place in St. Louis now, Sugarfire smokehouse. On occasion the have a sublime pork steak, as good as Reds in Ferguson used to be.
Hattie- Pigs are in general delicious. Of course the best pig I ever had was buried in the ground at a luau.
Posted by: theQueen | May 15, 2016 at 10:33 AM