Pron of Annual Northern Illinois Brethren Mid Winter Gathering, 2014 Edition!!!
 

We Northern Illinois Brethren met at Real Urban BBQ located in Vernon Hills, Il.

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...pse6d61d60.jpg

I was impressed with the décor and ambiance. Very casual and rustic. The service is cafeteria style, which allows you to pick and choose as you are guided throughout the line. First comes meat, then side, dessert and drink.

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4267e3e3.jpg

I love the BBQ Bar concept. If you so choose, you can sit and eat while watching food prep in front of the dual smokers.

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...ps48d990d7.jpg

A mound of brisket!

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8d9fb974.jpg

A mound of shoulder!

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...ps314ab46e.jpg

Our deal included three meats, two sides and a pop. I chose burnt-ends, pork and chicken. And it was fresh to order - pulled in front of me. Gotta love that!

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0e6f9084.jpg


Here's how it went down. No skimping here. The BBQ was delicious.

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...psf4117f37.jpg

Beans.

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7e861313.jpg

Mac.

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...ps90aed6e1.jpg

The company - a room full of Brethren!

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4d075226.jpg

Then we were invited to take a tour. Here's a partial shot of the meat locker.

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...ps825c5351.jpg

The Pitmaster.

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...psf1112f6a.jpg

The twin smokers.

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/...ps460aa686.jpg


I will definitely be going back there. The BBQ was fresh, the restaurant was very clean and the service was next to none.

All in all, aside from the weather, it was fantastic day seeing familiar faces. I look forward to this gathering every year! A big thanks to Ron L for organizing.

Oh, and, after much debate :decision:as to whether the wife would kill me, or not - I ended up picking up a drum from oifmarine2003. Boy, she's gonna be mad. I gotta stop hanging out with Gbane.

Those are some nice pics of a good time.

Thanks I was just going to ask if anybody took pics. I forgot to:sad:
Yes the amount of food was wow. I weighed our doggy bag and it's 2.4lbs

Thanks, Tom!

I forgot to take any food pictures! :doh:

I think everyone had a great time. I know that everyone I talked to enjoyed the food. Jeff (jpouchman) was a great host and the team at Real Urban BBQ did a great job! Seeing 60 briskets and 40 butts getting rubbed down was pretty cool!

The best part, however, was getting to see old friends and meet some new ones!

My picture of the pile-o-briskets...

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psxs2iej1o.jpg

My picture os the pile-o-butts...

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psdrvlzewf.jpg

The serving line...

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps4xcuo7cb.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps7aqcpgqn.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psarqlwjxm.jpg

The crowd...

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...pslpylf9ko.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psrqkhlz8u.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psrvbjck6k.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps6aqc88fv.jpg

The Boston Creme Whoopie Pie that I brought home for my wife...

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psfwexo2oy.jpg

The food was great! :hungry: I had burnt ends, turkey and pulled pork and they were all terrific. Beans and corn were good too.

Like Arnold said "We'll be back!" or sumpin like that.

Thanks for the pictures Tom. It made my wife happy because it's almost like a pictorial for her to put faces to the names I talk about. Great again to see everyone.

We need names with those faces folks!
The food looks great and the place looks really nice.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps6aqc88fv.jpg

That's me on the right with the blue sweater and SWMBO (Cindy) next to me. I'm not sure why she was scowling because she was happy to be there. I saw that Ron was taking a picture so I tried to put on a happy face. :biggrin1:

It looks like SWMBO is concentrating on what the guy across the table is saying.

OK...

Here's an attempt at names. I know I've missed some. Please don't be offended. My memory isn't what it used to be :) Please add to the thread and I can update the pictures.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ps962cfe68.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psd52f3e5b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...psd4a6113b.jpg

Thanks for the pics and it is nice to see some of the faces I talk to so much.

Glad to hear it was a good time and the food was also so good.
It seems way cool of them to give you a tour and the Pit Master taking the time to chat with you all.

great pictures Tom and Ron. nice place and good solid bbq done right. Everyone was so nice and Jenn and I had a great time.

The guy with the derby is Matt Walsh, his son is sitting to his left. Not sure what his Brethren handle is though.

There were two Matts, so i wasn't sure which one that was, but after looking at the list it must be ITBFQ.

Yup! That's me! Me and my son sure had a good time yesterday. Good food and great company!