Big Ed’s BBQ is now more than five times larger than it was at its former location a few hundred yards north on Lakehurst Road, and its workforce is three times larger since the Waukegan eatery moved into a former banquet hall Ed Nero and his partners purchased in May.
New workers received real-life, on-the-job training preparing meals and serving them to less than 100 “friends and family” at a soft opening Saturday, as longtime customers talked about the food and new location.
Jeremy Bloom, a longtime customer who works in the area, said he likes the new surroundings and the food is as good as ever. He came once with a friend from work 10 years ago and was hooked on the cuisine.
“This is tremendous,” he said. “It’s such an upgrade. It fully fits the needs. The food is still the best barbeque I’ve ever had.”
Big Ed’s opened the new location for lunch and dinner Tuesday in the fully renovated former Milan Banquet Hall in Waukegan with the ability to serve 125 diners at one time, far more than could fit at the former location.
“This is so rewarding,” Nero, the founder and owner of Big Ed’s, said. “It’s so rewarding to be able to do all this in our 17-year run. A lot of people helped to make this happen;”
Greeting people at the door, where there were a lot of hugs during the soft opening, was Isiah Nero, one of Ed’s sons who works full-time at the restaurant. Busy in the kitchen overseeing food preparation was Paco “Little Ed” Nero. It is a family business, but no longer a small one.
Though Bloom is a veteran customer, he brought a newcomer to try the food, Keri Skozcen. She said she ordered both the brisket and ribs She was taken aback by the quality of the food.
“There was a lot of flavor, and you didn’t need any sauce,” she said. “The meat just fell off the bone.”
“It was very tender,” added Brian Davis, another diner.
In the old restaurant, both carryout customers and people dining at tables got in the same line to order food. Now a server will take orders in the dining room and bring food to the table. Before entering the dining room, there is a desk for phone orders and carryout.
With the dining room fully operational, Nero said this is only the beginning. By late spring, the bar will be ready to open with a capacity of 92 customers. There is a stage where live entertainment will be featured. There are five televisions. The full menu, plus a little more is offered.
Before the move, all the food was prepared in one kitchen. Now there are three. Ed Nero said one is for preparation, for getting items like the meat well-smoked and ready for final preparation. A second is for the dining room, and the third will be for the bar and carryout.
Along with the bar and dining, Nero said there is a party room for private events. It, too, will be ready in late spring.
Expanding as he has, Nero said the former workforce of 10 is now 32, with eight more added when the bar is ready. Briana McCullough is one of the newcomers. She said she is a hostess, server and cashier.
“This feels like a real good place to work,” McCullough said.
The new 18,000-square-foot facility is more than five times the size of the old location. When he began preparing meals in 2006 as a caterer, things started to change quickly for Nero.
Providing food for a charity event at the behest of former Chicago Bears fullback Jason McKie, Nero said he was told there was no pay but he would meet a lot of people. One of those was NFL Hall of Fame kick-returner Devon Hester.
Hester called soon after the charity event. Nero catered a birthday party for Hester, and everything started to move quickly as he opened the restaurant the following year. Now Nero has a business he hopes to become a legacy for his family.
“When I was growing up, I never thought anything like this would happen,” he said. “Now my sons are working with me, and one day this will be theirs.”
Big Ed’s will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. It will be closed on Mondays.
