Weber Grill on Meacham Road.

In the past few years, there has been in Schaumburg a development of restaurants ambitiously upscale but with modest achievements: Sal & Calvao, ZED 451, Davis' Fishmarket and Pete Miller's. While they oversold their respective brands, they fell short in the execution process. Weber Grill on Meacham Road is now making a similar mistake.

On Friday, I decided to try this restaurant for the first time. As I arrived at about 03:40 PM, there was no host at the entrance but two cooks, one of the seated at the counter, who were busy talking. It is only when I approached them and asked them if they were closed that, one of them went to get a hostess. She came chewing her lunch. But no-one greeted me.

The server, David, came and started reciting the specials as if he was on fire. And so I ordered an Iced Tea ($2.50), a side Caesar Salad ($6.50) and a BBQ Beef Brisket Sandwich with Mashed Potatoes ($10.95). The side salad was not your typical 4oz romaine lettuce in that it was twice larger than custom. The beef brisket was great in a uniquely sweet BBQ sauce, after removing the fried onions on top. I pushed them to the side because they were chewy and cold and, took away from the brisket. The garlic mashed potatoes were disappointing because of a blend taste and a glossy appearance. The portion size was, just as with the salad, over sized where 4 ounces would have been plenty.

And of course I mentioned some of this to the server but the manager, who was in the dining room, was never contacted nor did he ever come. Yet I was the only guest in the dining room. Finally for dessert, I ordered one scoop of ice cream to offset the overwhelming taste of the BBQ sauce; just one scoop. And I heard the server talking to the cook about it, but the cook refused to scoop only one scoop. I got two scoops instead which ended up being wasted because I was not hungry for them.

In all, beverage included, I estimate the whole meal to have weighted about 50 oz, or a little over 3 pounds. Who eats 3 Lbs of food for lunch? While the over portioning is designed to inflate the guest check average, the wasted food is upsetting in difficult economic times. For a comparable lunch, the following competitors would have been a better option:

1. Outback Steakhouse: offers 6 sandwiches priced from $8.49 to $9.79, with an average

at $8.94;

2. Rosebud: offers 3 sandwiches from $8.95 to $9.95, with an average at $9.62;

3. TGI Friday's: has 13 sandwiches on the menu between $7.19 and $11.39, with an

average at $8.28;

4. Applebee's: features 17 sandwiches from $6.99 to $9.99 averaging $8.08;

5. and Houlihan's: has 13 sandwiches from $7.95 and $8.50 with an average at $8.30.

With 11 sandwiches at an average price at $11.19, Weber Grill offers fewer options than most restaurants in the area at the highest price, after Ted Montana, even though they did not raise their prices in the last year.

While visiting the three most popular restaurant reviews websites, Metromix, Yahoo and Yelp, I found out that since 2006:

- 5 people rated this restaurant a 1;
- 5 people rated this restaurant a 2;
- 8 people rated this restaurant a 3;
- 9 people rated this restaurant a 4;
- and 10 people rated this restaurant a 5 out of a maximum 5.

Although most people rated a 5, 70% of them were in 2006 and 2007, and only one rating for 2009. On the other hand, 80% of those who voted a 1 were in the last 2 years. The average grade from all three websites is a 3 out of 5, a good mark but not in measure with their higher pricing ambition.

In all, the service and food taste are in dissonance with a certain decorative elegance. Furthermore, the menu only offers one type of cooking technique with unsophisticated accompaniments and sauces. I have had similar BBQ Beef Brisket sandwiches at Fox and Hound or at Pa and Ma restaurants in Tennessee for $6.

Restaurant operators, in general, need to understand that although they can attract some customers to walk in once with brand image or with novelties, if they don't put in value and efforts, guests won't come back. At this visit, I spent $28.14 (all included) but it was definitely not worth $18.

Weber Grill has already closed down its first two restaurants: the Palatine location opened in 1983 and, the Wheeling location opened in 1988. And do you remember those four restaurants I mentioned in my introduction? They are all closed down. If this Schaumburg location doesn't want to share the same fate, management would need to work on service (this is a service industry after all), plate presentation and pricing strategy. Overall, this restaurant at this time deserved a 2 1/2 out of a 5 because it was clean, the noise kept to a minimum and I had a great BBQ Beef Brisket Sandwich.


The location is at 1010 N. Meacham Road, Schaumburg, IL 60173. (847) 413-0800. Their main offices are at 200 East Daniels Road in Palatine, IL 60067. (224) 836-2731 (fax).


Sources:

http://chicago.metromix.com/restaurants/contemporary/weber-grill-restaurant-schaumburg/reader-review/146351/view#d6d2f0facef1f96fddae87b557d92372
http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=35148150&csz=Schaumburg%2C+IL&sortreviews=1&from=10#reviews
http://www.yelp.com/biz/weber-grill-restaurant-schaumburg
http://www.webergrillrestaurant.com/
http://www.herzog-camping.de/Transfer/ebay/bilder/logo_weber_4ct.jpg