Envisioning how his restaurant — Big Ed’s BBQ — will change when it moves from its current Waukegan location a few hundred yards south and becomes more than five times larger, Ed Nero believes it will better be able to serve customers and the community.
By 2025, those who feast on the free Thanksgiving dinner Big Ed’s offers each year to people in the community will be treated to a sit-down meal in a dining room.
When a member of the U.S. military who first experienced Big Ed’s ribs, chicken or tips serving at Naval Station Great Lakes calls for a delivery to their new assignment, Nero will no longer have to say no. He will be able to ship his food nationwide.
The bar now located along a wall in the restaurant with six bar stools will be in a room bigger than the current restaurant, complete with live music and table service.
Instead of one small kitchen where everything is done, Nero said there will be three kitchens, with each meeting a different purpose.
With his two sons now working with him in the restaurant, Nero envisions a business his children will operate one day, and perhaps eventually grandchildren.
Nero officially purchased the Milan Banquet Hall in Waukegan on May 7, and plans a gut renovation starting July 1 that will convert the building into a restaurant offering a bundle of services.
“This is very humbling that someone from the South Side of Chicago, who grew up in a home with seven siblings, is able to do this,” Nero said. “This is a legacy for my children, who will be the next generation of entrepreneurs.”
People like Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education President Brandon Ewing said the new facility will do even more for the community than can be done at the current location.
“I’m a big fan of Big Ed’s, and I’m very excited for him,” Ewing said. “This is a great testament for a business that supports the community.”
Originally, Nero said he planned to open his new, enlarged eatery on land he owns on Green Bay Road, between Grand and Sunset avenues. He needed approval of his plans from the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Awaiting a decision from IDOT, he said he got nervous when an answer was not forthcoming and the lease on his current restaurant was going to end in less than a year. He started looking, and was able to buy Milan.
Nero said the renovation will turn the banquet hall into an 18,000-square-foot facility — Big Ed’s is now 3,500 square feet — with a large dining room, a separate bar with dining tables, three kitchens and a private party room.
Hoping to open the new Big Ed’s in February, Nero said traditionally he closes in January, giving his staff a paid vacation at that time. He plans to put the finishing touches on the new restaurant then. He cautions it is an aggressive schedule.
When customers now enter the restaurant, they place their order at the counter, are given a number and the meal is delivered to their table. Nero said the procedure will be the same in the new main dining room, but the wait staff will take and deliver both food and drink orders in the bar. The new bar will be larger than the existing building.
“Not everybody is able to stand in line and wait,” Nero said. “Now people who want it or need it can get table service. Now people are taking orders online while customers wait at the restaurant to order their meal. We won’t have to do that anymore.”
Along with the kitchens serving different purposes, Nero said a space will be devoted to phone and online orders. He does not have the capacity or space to do that now. He knows there is also a market for shipping his food around the country.
“We get calls from people who were stationed at the base,” Nero said. “They say they can’t find anything as good where they are. We’ll be able to ship them their order. We get 15 calls like that a month.”
Each Thanksgiving, Nero said he provides free meals to community members from noon to 4 p.m. Last year, the line was four miles long and 850 were served. When the new facility opens, recipients of those meals will be able to have a sit-down meal.
Mike Reed, the chairman of the Waukegan Chamber of Commerce, said Big Ed’s is a staple of the community. The enlarged restaurant shows his business acumen and service to the community. Thanksgiving will be special there next year.
“A lot of people don’t have a place to go for Thanksgiving,” Reed said. “This will be a nice, warm big room, with a family feel for them at Thanksgiving.”
Both Paco (Little Ed) Nero, 26, and Isaiah Nero, 25 — the owner’s sons — share in their father’s excitement about the enlarged restaurant and what it offers. They both grew up in and around the restaurant, and look forward to their future in the business.
