This has been on my bucket list for awhile. About 35 minutes drive from Wheeling…read more I also met 2 friends from Grayslake. First time, made me sad that it took me so darn long to get here. Young lady at cash register/ counter took time to fully explain menu and make recommendations. So very helpful. Their dining room, which was immaculate manager, Rose was so nice and very proud of her success there. Young man, manager also came by our table and gave us great background on this national chain. Service simply off the charts amazing. Had chopped brisket sandwich, piled high with superb quality smoked meat and sauce. Even something simple as fries were crispy, hot, well seasoned. My ex wife had sliced brisket and green beans. Generous portions and delicious. Fantastic selections of really tasty sauces. Large selection of cold drinks. Fantastic decor paying tribute to military, police, fire. Oh yeah, fairly priced for an outstanding overall experience. Highly recommended on every level. A real gem. Gave us a few samples of sauces to take home to top off an already excellent dining experience.

The Cuisine Umpire says: "Three Strikes and You're OUT!"…read moreHere's the third Yelp I've done about "Mission BBQ" and I'm afraid the Mission was NOT accomplished. The last time we went to one, (In Naperville, IL q.v. my Yelp for it), We were totally bummed as it was a truly disappointing feed, bordering on the inedible: A piece of "Prime Rib" not ready for prime time, adipose pulled pork, and ribs with bone shrapnel. Ug. We had to pick up Grandson and Date from Six Flags Great America down the road, and we were early enough to wedge dinner in before we were expected at the park. Nothing else looked appetizing in the stretch of Illinois 132 just west of G.A., so we figured the last time at Mission was SO awful, it had to be a fluke, and this store should CERTAINLY be better. It wasn't. We both had "2 meat" plates- I with Ribs, Sausage and Wife had Ribs and pulled pork. We both had slaw and fries. The pulled pork was the least offensive of the proteins. This time, it was the opposite of last time--not so fatty, and not so flavorful either. Dry and insipid. The Sausage was mushy and strangely lacking in real flavor. And the goddamned Ribs were the same ineptly butchered mess we ran into in Naperville. Shards of Bones at the top of the cut. Slightly over-smoked/over-cooked as well. WTF? That much of the same criticism of Naperville was in play here made us think this is the way things are served at Mission BBQ and not an anomaly. A mention to the manager wouldn't help things. Now in the "Every theory has a corollary" dept: As in Naperville the slaw, fries and cornbread were pretty good; as was the Iced Tea and fountain drink "throw". The sauces were all pretty good too. Wished there was some decent "Q" to put them on. Maybe it's just our taste, or we are spoiled by "Q" in our visits to the South, but there's no excuse for the lazy butchering of the ribs, or the mushiness of the sausage. I know "corporate" chains tamp down spices in the "come bet" common palates will desire a less bold cuisine, but DAMN! this is BARBEQUE. American Q is NOT a "safe" proposition. This isn't the cuisine to play it safe. Then again, it's not meant as an insult, but Suburban denizens (unless you're a suburb of, say...Austin Texas) prolly aren't in for foods meant to challenge. I see enough 5star Yelps indicating a lot of folks like this place; so I'll assume Wife and I are the outliers. We haven't found a whole lot of Suburban Northern Q supremely edible. The whole mishegoss is a dilemma, as Mission BBQ is deep into honoring our service Men & Women. We are, too. That a portion of the (considerable) cash we left there goes to Service folks soothes at least part of the sting of a lousy feed...

Always hits the spot! We used to frequent their old restaurant across the way and now that they've…read moreopened up their new location we had to check it out. The restaurant is so much bigger and livelier and were so excited to see all of their success. Definitely come early to be able to try their brisket and Tony Mac! You wont regret anything you try but those are defnitely our favorites. Oh and the ribs, if you're looking for the incredible smokey juicy flavor look no further. Any of their bbq sauces are great and pair well, but we highly recommend giving their original a go because of the perfect balance of sweet, savory, with a bit of a kick.

I am a HUGE fan of true barbecue and am also a restaurant owner from a restaurant family well known…read morein Chicagoland and it's suburbs for over 50 years. "Old School" customer service, Hospitality and appreciation for our customers is key and loyalty goes both ways friends. I was very interested to try the food here after trying a couple items that were served at a friend's party. I asked to say Hi to the owner as a entrepreneur myself. They said they would be out shortly at my request, being my first time and spending well over $300 to try some of their dishes I was extremely insulted to see that the owner never had the courtesy to say Hello as I waited. In my world, "old school" customer service is success because without customers you have nothing. I also believe that you should always remember where you came from. The food was very pricey for the Area and not worth the disrespect I felt. After this experience I'll stay with Hecky's in Evanston where we are recognized, greeted by name and given a positive everything when I walk in by the owners Daughter, Gigi...RIP Senior. Hecky's is located North Shore with more than fair prices, above par food and traditional style barbecue. Big Ed's is in Waukegan and we paid double plus for the food and a very poor customer service experience ‍ along with overpriced barbecue and sides. I got lots of sauce for not enough barbecue. If I could have cancelled I would have but it was the first time and the last time. I asked one last time "What happened to the owner who was supposedly was going to say Hello?" They said he left through the side door because he was busy. His picture is on a large sign outside and this man was at Aldi when I stopped for apples on the way back home to Arlington Heights. Go to Hecky's in Evanston, Smoque in Chicago, even Joe's Barbecue in Hillside. Good Luck Big Ed!!!

Excellent service and great food! It was a clean restaurant, tons of TV's, we loved it!read more

Great food and service as always. This is a favorite bbq spot for the whole family. Highly…read morerecommend the Smokehouse Tacos!

Amazing king crab legs expertly prepared. Very expensive but had to feed the need. Service and…read moreambience is DIY. Order deli style. They do holler your name and bring food to the table on a tray. Plastic utensils except for the claw crackers. Paper Towel Roll on your picnic table. No aircon. Table bussing on you. Sweaty hole in the wall Heaven. Go back 100%.

I was really excited to have the pork belly sandwich special of the day and there were a lot of…read moreoptions I wanted to try, so I added the "lobster Mac'n'cheese " and some jambalaya as sides. My friend ordered Alligator bites and collard greens. Food came out and looked great. Had good bite of my sandwich, turns out pork belly is glorified bacon in this instance and was overcooked. If this was a "bacon jerky" sandwich it would be 5-stars... but expectations were askew. Next up, lobster mac... still looking for the lobster in this one. The jambalaya had good spice and sausage, however the rice was mushy (honestly, this seemed like leftovers) Onto the alligator... nicely seasoned, tender, a bit chewy ... overall all... I'll order that next time. I also like the greens a lot. Win some, lose some. Glad we made the stop and I look forward to a return trip to try the brisket and salmon.

Love this restaurant the food keeps you coming back service is always great!!! and everybody that…read moreworks there is always so friendly!!! I give it five stars I'd like to give more!!

There was one server for the bar and restaurant. Thought it might be a problem but he was amazing…read more My guess is he does 30,000 steps a day. They had a mix of restaurant and Togo orders and the kitchen kept things moving. The pizza looked amazing but we ordered sandwiches and wraps. All the meals were great. We did the garlic curds for an appetizer. Great size, and taste. With a great cheese pull. They had 7 tables I could see and the bar area. Was able to have a conversation while watching baseball on the screens. Will be back again for the nightly specials.

Yummy bbq in the park yeah I was actually kinda surprised how good this turned out to be!…read more So we came in and for me it was all about that smoked sirloin as that just sounded yummy and let me say it totally was as they gave me the end piece so it was just honestly really good full flavor and just hit the spot for the day! For our sides we went with crispy smashed potatoes and these too were certainly yummy not too crispy but just soft enough to make them perfect at every bite! The Mac and cheese was also very good it was just the way it should be creamy totally cheesy and just perfect with every bite! Our meals also came with a corn fritter and I gotta say it too was yummy just a fried ball of corny goodness how can you go wrong! Then the 3 sauces they had all of which were unique to their own style with the hunny being full honey style the Kansas City being my favorite as it had a nice tang to it and then the original was also just yummy in its BBQ Sauce kinda way, all of the sauces tasted yummy on each of the items we ordered and it was a nice treat to change between them to keep the full flavor going! They accept dinning pass here so definitely don't skip out as this really was the best restaurant in the park and I could totally see coming here more often than I should had this been closer to home!

For an amusement park, the barbecue was actually pretty good. The steak was smoked well such that…read moreit was tender and flavorful although I needed some barbecue sauce to kind of round out the flavor. The mac & cheese was super creamy and the corn muffin was actually delicious. Just the right amount of sweetness, and the right texture to it. This is included in your meal plan so check it out if you're walking by.

091326 @ 4:08pm - 3 Adults. This is one of the best…read morerestaurants in the area. Great food & service. Valeria was our server. She was excellent! Good time with friends & family. We will return & tell others.

Great neighborhood restaurant & hidden gem!…read more I'll preface this review with a small disclaimer and apology of sorts. I'm a nearly life long resident of Gurnee (36 of my years) and have only been here twice now, and both in the last month. Just recently took my parents because my first visit went so well. They have lived and worked in Gurnee since the early 80s and somehow have never been either, until now. How did I even end up here after all these years? I kept seeing mentions on social media. It was giving WI supper club kinda vibes of which I'm a HUGE fan of and I was like well I need to check this out! It's also like a 3 min drive from my home so win win. First time I went with my friend during the week, great experience everything was great! My parents aren't easy to please but I was confident and brought them on over this Saturday and another home run. We ordered the mozzarella appetizer and also the breaded shrimp appetizer, both were good. Entrees included a burger, shish kabob, prime rib sandwich, and the 18 oz prime rib. Everything was fabulous. The prime rib is perfect, red skin mashed are amazing. Beverages were a little bit of everything, mom loves black coffee but she will do cream and sugar if it's not great, they brought a large mug and she loved it, didn't even need the cream and sugar. The others got fountain drinks (Coke products which are preferred) and free refills which kept coming and was appreciated. I had a Maker's old fashioned, it was classic WI supper club style. I'll now devote an entire paragraph to the wine pours. First visit, I had a glass of the Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir, and was shocked at the pour, very very decent! Ordered the same at my second visit and maybe slightly less shocked but still, great pour! Granted this isn't the Courtyard by Marriott Westbury NY (if you are on TikTok you know what I mean), but this is a hearty pour and basically just all sorts of fabulous. You cannot go wrong with a glass of wine here! Dessert tray comes out after dinner, nice selection to choose from, both times we got a turtle cheesecake which can really do no wrong. Mom got the Dubai style cake, and the guys got vanilla ice cream. They don't make the desserts in house but they are solid options, very very good. Some environmental notes: they have the grill inside for steaks etc, so you do leave smelling a bit like the grill, not off putting to myself much, and I'm very sensitive and have allergies etc. Restrooms were spotless both times, super clean. I don't recall any music but nice conversations hum going on during the busy Saturday night service so had a pleasant volume etc. The building is older, but everything is in really nice shape/condition. You can come casual in jeans and a hoody or a bit more dressed up and feel comfortable either way. I noticed lots of local folks who recognized others in passing and stopped to say hi to each other, really gave it a nice community feel. Long story short, a nice hidden gem local place with a WI supper club feel and a nice sense of community. Solid menu and nicely executed dishes and drinks. Nice service and competitive pricing as well. Highly recommend if you live in town and never tried it, but visitors to Gurnee will feel welcome too!

This place has amazing Korean chicken wings! They are made to order so don't expect food right…read moreaway. The wings are super tender with a perfectly crispy coating. My go-to flavors are the Cheesking and the Mala Spicy--both are packed with flavor. For me, the real standout for me was the tteokbokki. The sauce is incredible--it has a mild sweetness from tamarind that really elevates the whole dish and keeps you coming back for more. I'd honestly come back just for that sauce! I had to order one to go. The chef even came out after our meal to check in and offered candy to all the kids. Such a thoughtful touch--great hospitality all around. Definitely come support them when you're craving wings!

Worst customer service couldn't give me the food because they didn't have change and they made me…read morewait

Big Jeff has the most infectious, good energy! Please have him working the window more often. He…read moretook the time to chat with us about the food and even gave us mini ducks, which was such a fun touch. 10/10 as always, but he was definitely the cherry on top.

Excellent ribs and fried chicken, with a huge menu of southern bbq mains and sides…read more Friendly staff, also have a drive thru. You can smell the bbq from the parking lot which is how you know you're in a legit bbq spot. Inside they had lots of paper towels around, another pro move. Great music playing too.

Haven't been here since the old Puerto Rican ladies had it and I don't know why. I was missing out…read more Staff was great. Started off with chips and salsa. Chips were "meh", but the salsa was outstanding! Had to go with the main "Quesobirria Taco" plate and some brisket. OMG. Both of these are top notch items and I'm now disappointed I didn't get here years ago. Refried beans were 9/10 too. Capped it off with mini-pitchers of soda and really had a great meal. Pricing is fair and overall experience was great. We're going to parlay lunch here with a visit to the butcher next door - every week.

I've been here twice now. This time I chose one of the specials, Birria Tamales. Oh my gosh!!!!! 3…read morebeef Birria and cheese tamales with a side consommé. Plus some pico and guacamole on the side to help with the pure decadence of the tamales. The family that runs the restaurant is so nice. The owner came out with a mug of noodle soup to try. It is a pleasant but small dining room. Cannot wait to go back.