Big Ed's BBQ — Restaurant in Waukegan

I just moved to gurnee. I drove by on my way to Walmart, I saw a restaurant that had no parking in the middle of the day! And it read big Ed’s bbq! I was like damn they must be good told my wife let’s try it!!!

So we called up to place an order, the lady said please come in no phone orders now. I said you know what that’s fine. Almost said forget it let’s get pizza! And man am I glad we said let’s just go!

We get there. We ordered fried pickles, burnt ends with fries, and beans! Next order was brisket with Mac and cheese, greens, and yams!!!! Next order was chicken tender with fries.

So we finally got our food and we live 7 minutes away, and played out side for 30 minutes before eating. So basically this is a review off of 37 min old food.

First dish, the burnt ends, and fries and beans and cornbread was mine. I sink my teeth into the cornbread and almost cried. I said to my self no way I can enjoy this food with out the rest of you. Mind you we didn’t heat the food up but it was still warm. So I can only imagine how the food taste when it’s hot.

Finally my family sat down and we eat

Here’s my meal the corn bread was 10/10 Taste home made, fresh, sweet, and perfect corn bread. My burnt ends 10/10 best burnt ends I’ve had in 38 years!!! Perfect tender, not chewy, beautifully smoked tasting and it was unbelievable! I used the Memphis style bbq sauce on it and just threw it all over my ends and my fries!!! The fries 8/10 hand made fries seasoned so good taste so good, I can tell when they are fresh it’s so crispy man I loved them!!! The baked beans, I was not ready for that!!!!!! Chunks of the tender brisket in their mannnnnnnnnnn!!! Beans 10/10 I’ll even eat them cold my god!

Over all on the meaaal 9/10 and only cause we waited 36 mins to eat it!

My wife had brisket yams, and greens and Mac!!!! Of course I tried em all!!! Brisket I tried every sauce on them and every sauce and even with out sauce banging!!!!! I made a brisket sandwich and it was bangingggg!!! 10/10

Mac and cheese 9/10 and I don’t even like Mac and cheese but this one was tasty!!

Yams!!!!!! Taste like how my mama used to Make ‘em!

The greens made me cry cause they taste like how my aunt who passed made em. Perfectly seasoned to the point u don’t even need to put hot sauce on it!

Over all experience 9/10 I got to try it as soon as we get, might even dine in. Because I’m 100 percent sure that I will give y’all 10/10

Thank you from the Anderson brothers...

Wow. This place is incredible. I'm sad we didn't discover Big Ed's sooner, but so happy it's on our list of faves now.

We ate in a bit later on a Sunday of the 4th of July holiday weekend, so they were understandably out of some items. One of the owners apologized about this to us and urged us to come back, but no apology needed! If you are selling out, that means you're doing it right!

And they are indeed doing it RIGHT. We both got a half slab of ribs. When you order, they prepare the food right in front of you and I could tell the ribs were going to be amazing when he cut each rib like it was a slab of butter. The ribs were tender, meaty, smoky, and had a great slight, but perfect crisp char on the outside. We also ordered a fried catfish fillet and even as a person who doesn't love catfish, I loved their version! The batter was very tasty and cut down the gaminess that catfish is known for (without completely taking away that taste if you are a person that likes that flavor).

For sides we got mac n cheese (best mac n cheese I've ever had), beans (sweet and smokey, so good), and mashed potatoes (flavorful even without any gravy or topping). Each meal comes with a cornbread muffin and omg... I'm a cornbread lover and was blown away by this muffin. It had a crispy top that I've never seen before and the muffin was a sweet, moist cornbread just how I like it.

Customer service is incredible and several of the owners were working while we were there. I was sitting at our table waiting for my boyfriend to get his drink when one of the owners walked up and asked what I'd like. She then went and filled my cup for me. She didn't have to, but it's little stuff like that that shows customers that the owners truly value their customers and respect their business.

They have a great assortment of sauces on the table. My favorite was the Original, but you truly can't go wrong with any of them. Looking forward to our next visit to try some others items such as the brisket, burnt ends, rib tips, and greens! Bottom line, this place...

For years, we have been frequent patrons of Big Ed's. Having been born/raised in Kansas City, it is a big deal for me to say that Ed's has some of the best BBQ in Chicago. I have lived in Chicago 30 plus years, and I have found some ok BBQ, but Ed's is outstanding. As I am sure the rest of your customers felt the same way, we were very excited when we found out that Ed's was going to open a new, much larger restaurant, roughly 4 times the size of the first one. This past saturday night, we drove the 30 miles to try out the new facility. I started calling your restaurant at 11am saturday to make sure the new place was open-I called many times throughout the day, and not once could I get a live person to answer. That was very disappointing. Having seen some of the online posts from customers that indicated it was open, we went to Ed's. We got there and were we ever disappointed. Many cars were circling the parking lot only to find out it was closed because you ran out of food after lunch. The only indication Ed's was closed was a small sign on the window. There was no message on your website, nor was there a message indicating the same when calling the restaurant. This just seems like poor planning. You knew for probably a year that the larger restaurant was going to open, and with a restaurant 4 times the size of the old restaurant, you knew more food would be purchased. I am not sure where the disconnect was on your side, but I don't believe that should have happened. In the future, how do we know ahead of driving 30 minutes each way that there might not be any food left? I get that it was the first week open and things do happen, but this one seems like a big miss on your end. We will come to Ed's again in the future, only if there is a way for us to know you have available food and are open. I think your customers are owed a reasonable explanation as to what happened saturday. Ed's has built such a good reputation through the years, and I hope you make the necessary changes to stay the course for years to...