Real Urban BBQ to Open in Skokie

SKOKIE, IL — One of the most popular restaurants in Chicago’s north suburbs will open its fourth location before next spring in Skokie.

Real Urban Barbecue is eyeing an April 1 opening at 5222 W. Touhy Ave., owner/founder Jeff Shapiro said.

What started five years ago as what Shapiro described as “a little barbecue joint” at the site of a former hot dog stand has become a favorite in all of their markets, with locations in Highland Park, Vernon Hills and Oak Brook.

“It’s very exciting,” Shapiro said of the new Skokie location. “We’ve got a great spot near the Edens Expressway and will be in front of 40,000 to 50,000 cars a day.”

The idea to open in Skokie came from one of Shapiro’s business partners. Initially, there was talk about taking over a portion of the new business center that will replace the iconic Jack’s Restaurant that closed last year.

“But we needed to make sure we had enough parking spaces to fit the business and (the village) wanted us to have more of a Subway-style space that was really small,” said Shapiro. “So we found a larger space right across from Jack’s near the Pep Boys and Holiday Inn.”

Also on Patch: Jack's Restaurant Closes After 50 Years in Skokie

Real Urban BBQ’s roots are in Highland Park, where Shapiro was born and raised. Soon after its opening on Central Avenue, lines were out the door. Some visitors who would frequent the place from out of town simply referred to it as “Highland Pork.”

It was a bit puzzling at first.

“People thought, ‘So here’s this Jewish guy selling pork out of a spot in highly Jewish Highland Park’... But we were experiencing a ridiculously high volume of business and success that first year,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro then opened Real Urban BBQ's largest space in Vernon Hills and a spot popular for lunch calls in Oak Brook.

Vernon Hills also proved to be “an instant success,” Shapiro said.

“We didn’t have a sign for the first six weeks, but on the first day the lines were out the door,” he said, crediting the popularity to the location’s proximity to large corporations like CDW, Grainger, Aon Hewitt, Baxter International and Brunswick. “It was like that every day...one of those crazy things where we did not need a sign on the door.”

The spot in Oak Brook, a village with less full-time residents but more commuters, sees its busiest times in the middle of the day.

While Real Urban BBQ hasn’t expanded into the city of Chicago with a brick-and-mortar restaurant just yet, the food has already become a favorite on the Chicago sports scene.

“We fed the Cubs all season...a great year to be affiliated with them for sure. We were in the locker room for the pennant winner,” said Shapiro. “We had the Stanley Cup in one of our restaurants last year and filled it with barbecue sauce.”

They also feed the Chicago Bears on a regular basis at Halas Hall in Lake Forest and have a stand outside Ryan Field in Evanston for every home Northwestern University football game.

A popular Chicago sports personality on WSCR “The Score” is on board as an investor of the business as well.

But despite the popularity, Shapiro is keeping the expansion plan to “one spot at a time,” with the full focus on Skokie at the moment.

To help with consistency at all of the sites, most of Real Urban BBQ’s ingredients for success are made in batches at a site in Buffalo Grove, which was once the site of Smithfield Pork. One administrative officer controls operations at the site to help “maintain consistency,” according to Shapiro.

“Because of the volume that needs to be produced, it helps us make things in large batches.”

But each site has its own smoker.

“We use wood pellets, which are actually a renewable source. They burn very clean and it’s a very neat operation. We put the wood pellets in a firebox, put in the time and temperature and then can almost set it and forget it,” Shapiro said.

The meat is cooked at 180 degrees for the first 10 hours, then at 300 degrees until it's ready.

“We do that at all of our restaurants, so the meat is no different from place to place,” Shapiro said. “It’s a really good quality meat that’s consistent at all our stores.”

Shapiro says Skokie is the perfect spot to expand because it brings the barbecue option back to the residents of Skokie and Lincolnwood, something they haven’t had since the closing of Bones, a Lettuce Entertain You spot that closed several years ago.

“Bones was a great barbecue place, and we know that barbecue is really big in the Skokie, Niles, Lincolnwood area. We are excited to bring that brand to that area and fill the void.”

Shapiro says Real Urban BBQ is still in the permit process with the village, but once those hurdles are cleared construction will start on a 4,000-square-foot building that will seat about 90 inside and 30 outside.

Expect the restaurant to be open primarily from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.

“People are already asking when we will open, and others are counting the days,” Shapiro said. “It’s good to have that feedback already. Building a good buzz makes all the difference on whether something will be successful or not.”

Photos courtesy of Real Urban Barbecue