Real Urban Barbecue specializes in authentic wood-fired BBQ. Their menu features slow-smoked items like their famous burnt ends, award-winning ribs, pulled pork, turkey, brisket and chicken, all slowly rotated on Cookshack smokers capable of smoking 1,600 pounds of meat daily. Real Urban Barbecue also offers sandwiches, fresh salads, traditional comfort sides and an extensive amount of baked good options homemade at the Real Urban Bakery.
Real Urban Barbecue’s signature dish is their melt-in-your-mouth burnt ends, which owner Jeff Shapiro is often credited for being the first to bring to Chicago. RUB’s burnt ends have been named an “Essential Barbecue Bite” by the Chicago Tribune, who described them as “so flavor dense, they deform space and time so that light cannot escape.” This well-deserved praise is why Real Urban Barbecue’s Highland Park location slow-smokes more than 145,000 pounds of meat annually!
Since opening, Real Urban Barbecue has become one of Chicagoland’s top dining destinations for award-winning barbecue. RUB has been named to Chicago Magazine’s “Hot List” and has been named “Best BBQ” by the readers of Chicago Magazine, Make it Better Magazine, Daily Herald and Highland Park Patch. Jeff Shapiro and the RUB team were awarded “First Place People’s Choice” at the Windy City BBQ Classic and have placed in both the Judges and People’s Choice categories at Ribfest Chicago for the past four years.
In addition, Real Urban Barbecue has been featured on the Food Network’s Eating America with Anthony Anderson, is the official BBQ of Northwestern University and is consistently recognized for their charitable initiatives through partnerships such as their work with the USO of Illinois.
Real Urban Barbecue is located at 610 Central Ave, Highland Park, 224-770-4227, www.realurbanbbq.com
