Interview with Eddie on Big Ed’s BBQ and Thanksgiving

Hi, this is Eddie from Big Ed's BBQ in Waukegan,

Illinois, and you are listening to the Geekcast

Radio Network. Sucker. Gentlemen, let's broaden

our minds. Lawrence? Yes, I do. Hello and welcome

to Geekcast Radio. This is episode 195. Well,

it really is 195 .5, but it's gonna be 195 because

we're gonna move 195 to be 195 .5 because that

bloody UK person. Anyway, Terry Smith's Music

Talks episode will happen on December 3rd. This

episode will be released November 14th. on geekcastradio

.com and today I have the immense pleasure of

welcoming one of Illinois's most famous people.

He has a very interesting story that I feel everyone

needs to hear. This is the third or fourth time

I've done an in -person interview thing and I

hope everybody listening to this likes barbecue.

Hell, I hope most of you love barbecue because

today on the show I have with me Big Ed from

Big Ed's barbecue in Waukegan, Illinois. What's

happening? What's going on, man? Barbecue. Barbecue.

That's it. That's right. 15 hours. Oh, yeah.

Low and slow. Low and slow. Yes. So my lovely

wife, Karen, and I have been to your restaurant

a few times. Thank you. Thank you. We love it.

Good. And you posted, I don't know, at this point

it's a couple weeks ago, whatever it is. I think

it was November 4th, I could be wrong. I don't

know. About what you guys are going to be doing

for Thanksgiving at Big Ed's Barbecue in Waukegan,

Illinois. And we'll give all the information

of where people can find the restaurant. If you

come to Illinois or if you're listening to this

and you live in Illinois, hopefully you know

where it is. If you don't, you suck. That's right.

Oh, and feel free if you have a need to drop

any, we are an explicit podcast. That's the one

thing I said to Steve, I said, you know, 11 years

ago. No, no, no. I said to him, I said, I do

not make podcasts for children. If I want to

say fuck, I'm going to say fuck. Oh boy. Not

saying you have to, just letting you know. Fiddle

faddle. That's right. With some TV guy in there

too. I am loaded with it. So, you posted about

your all's annual Thanksgiving thing that you've

been doing for the past four years and that was

one of the main reasons why I wanted to have

you on because I wanted to get the word out about

that. Before we get to that though, what is the

story of Big Ed? I know I've read the story on

the website and I've kind of got some of it committed

to memory about being a disabled veteran since

88. That is correct. You know going into barbecue

tell the people all about your barbecue journey,

sir. Well, I I'm the youngest of seven and Growing

up the youngest of seven. My father told me that

you have to learn how to cook at an early age

Especially if you are married because if you

don't learn how to cook when your wife is mad

at you You could starve to death, or you could

spend all of your money on fast food. So I started

cooking at a very early age. I went into the

military right out of high school because I had

no idea what I wanted to do with my future. And

while in the military, I was a mechanic working

in an aviation unit. And they called down to

the motor pool and said, hey, anybody want to

go joyride? We got to put some time on a Huey.

I said, shit, I'll go. My first time up we crashed

About a hundred feet at 80 miles an hour. That

was my first and last time on a helicopter so

I was I was deemed damaged goods and I received

a medical discharge and then Again, I when I

got out I went to Evanston Hospital and I worked

in the kitchen because again, it was always about

food and You know, from that, I stayed in the

corporate life and, uh, one particular job or

my last job that I had in corporate America.

I was working for, um, the healthcare industry.

I won't say the name. They suck. Um, I basically,

I was managing an IT department and their help

desk. And I hired a lady to do reporting. They

made her my boss. And then she fired me. Why'd

you hate when that happens? And at the time,

I didn't realize it, but it was kind of a blessing

in disguise. Because here I am after years and

years of working, I found myself unemployed.

And I would just be home cooking every day, everything

while my wife worked. And it was really cool

to watch her go to work while I had steak and

eggs for breakfast. And it was the best. And

I would always barbecue. I always love barbecue.

I cook damn to everything, but I love barbecue.

And my neighbor at the time, he would ask me.

One time he had asked me if my oven was broken

because I was always Sorry, that's the dinner

bell He asked me if my oven was broken because

I was always barbecuing and the whole neighborhood

would actually reek of hickory And actually on

our shirts one of our shirts it says what's that

smell I actually have had a neighbor at the time

He would always come down to the house and he

would go. What's that smell? What's that smell

and One of my one of my neighbors was Jason McKee

who fullback for the Chicago Bears and again

Chicago Bear player in the offseason and there's

always the smell of food in the air naturally

we struck up a bond and became very close friends

and he asked me if I wanted to Cater his charity

event. I'm like shit. Yeah, you know I'm unemployed.

I got nothing to do. He said, it doesn't pay

anything that you get to meet a lot of the guys.

And I said, all right, cool. And I did the event.

I was starstruck because, you know, I'm a huge

Bears fan and to see the guys and be shoulder

to shoulder with them and they're loving the

food that I made, you know, it kind of kind of

blew my mind. Yeah. And about two weeks after

that, you know, I'm at home and My phone rings.

This is before smartphones. Mm -hmm. I actually

had to look at the caller ID And it said Devin

Hester. Oh, wow, and I said nah, that's And I

answered and it was him and sure shit he said

I had your food and You know, would you be interested

in catering my birthday party that's coming up?

I'm like Yeah, and You know, I did his party.

A couple weeks after that, I got another Bear

player. Hey, I had your food at Devin's. And

it just kind of gave me the courage to just kind

of jump out there. And, you know, we emptied

out our savings account and borrowed against

credit cards and did everything and found a place

in North Chicago. And we opened up and it was

real slow. It was really slow when we first started.

Three months into it someone from the bank comes

in and says hey don't pay your landlord anymore

He defaulted on the loan pay us. We own it now.

Oh Shit, yeah, that was my whole reaction remember

Empty my savings account 401k all of that and

now it's right now We're trying to make them

go and opening the restaurant and keep in mind

I've always cooked in restaurants and worked

in them, but I never own my own and So we had

that and again, it was dead. No, no one told

me that at the time North Chicago was probably

the poorest town in Lake County So, you know

struggling my partners I got three business partners

Katie Rhonda and my wife Kim My business partner

Rhonda in the beginning. She used to cash her

payroll checks To help us make payroll at the

restaurant for years Wow So, we get a call one

day from Steve Dylinski. Calls me on my cell

phone. And I'm like, the hungry hound? He said,

yeah, I heard about your place and I got so many

people and they said I should check it out. So

I'm going to come up and do a feature on you.

I was like, hell yeah. So he came and he kind

of put us on the map a little bit. There was

a, there was a, it was a blogger at the time

who wrote a review that I think got Steve Delinsky's

attention. And man, this guy wrote this, this,

he wrote this article and he literally just called

out all of the other barbecue restaurants. He

was like, you, you have, we have a winner. That

was the name of his, that was the title. for

his article it said we have a winner and he just

went to destroy all of these other barbecue places

and saying they suck they got nothing on this

and this and big heads is that and i'm like i

thought it was cool at the time until i realized

that the barbecue community they didn't like

that yeah so the people who were already talking

about barbecue had some issue with this guy saying

that I was better than their places. And I had,

man, I had barbecue people coming out of the

woodwork. They were, they were, and they were

harsh. They were really, really harsh. And the

best part about it though, from all of that was

one day I'm in the restaurant and this little

short, older white guy, heavyset, comes in and

says, hi, I'm sweet baby Ray. I read about you

on the internet. I was like, get the fuck out

of here. You that's we bet any black And he says,

you know every and then he starts, you know passing

out these little stuffed animal pigs with sweet

baby ray catering on and I was like I can't believe

that I'm here with sweet, you know, and You know,

we just we struck up a friendship and my wife

thinks that he had a man crush on me or something

because we just You know, the first time we decided

to take a day off, because we were going nonstop

seven days a week, I told him, we're going to

come up to your restaurant and eat. He said,

no, you're going to come to the house and I'm

going to cook for you. Oh, wow. Sweet Baby Ray

is going to cook for me. Huh. Huh. So we did.

And the food was great. And he didn't make barbecue.

I think he made tenderloin. But we just we just

the best of friends. And he He gave me my first

smoker. Oh, wow. Because when I started, I started

cooking on an aquarium, which is kind of, you

know, the standard in Chicago. And so, yeah,

he gave me my first smoker. He brought it up.

You know, we were in our downtown Waukegan location

at the time. And he said, why don't you put a

smoker in that back doorway? And I said, man,

I don't have a $30 ,000 smoker. He said, tell

you what, I got one in my warehouse. You can

have it. I'll pay to install it, and when you

get rich and famous, you pay me back. I haven't

paid him back yet. Oh, come on. Yeah. But, you

know, and we just, you know what I mean? We've

been, you know, on a lot of different shows and

voted best this and best that, and we just, we

work really hard at it. My son works there. I've

got a couple good people that's been working

with me for years, and barbeque's tough. It's

a tough business, man, you know. A lot of hours.

It's a tough meat to crack. Yes, it is. Yes,

it is. And it's one of those things where Karen

and I, she, she knows about Check, Please. Oh

yeah. PBS. And they had featured you guys. And

that's how I cause I'm not from Chicago. Right.

Right. I'm from Boston originally, and I've been

living in Louisville, Kentucky for 25 years.

I've been here for two years now. So Like barbecue,

you know, I've loved barbecue and then kind of

thing and barbecue loves you bad. I'm like Okay,

sure. We'll go. We'll go check it out. And First

thing she points out to me was nothing about

barbecue on your menu. It was like hey, look

at this They have a burger challenge. I wonder

if if what's his name Adam Richmond ever ever

did it. I don't think he did No, he didn't do

it, but it would give him the smackdown Just

saying. So here's the funny thing. My co -creator,

Steven C. Phillips, formerly of Michigan, now

lives in Colorado. I told him about that you

were coming here to do the show. And I told him,

I said I was going to joke with you and joke

with Katie about, oh, wouldn't it be great if

I could do the burger challenge at home in my

own house? No, no, no. I know. But it's one of

those things where my wife looked at me. Karen's

like, no. Why are we paying $120 a month to go

to Lake Forest Health Club if you're gonna eat

that burger challenge? I said, no, I know it's

a it's a whatever it's a this it's a that But

I'm like that would be so cool because that way

we wouldn't have to carry the leftovers home

We could just put them in the fridge downstairs,

but it seems like seems like I could do that

But you do know about if you don't do it Yeah,

you don't yeah pleaded Yeah, it's on the weenie

wall. It's the weenie wall. Yes. So tell people

about this. Well, you know, it's it's it's the

it's the Sheriff Matthew burger challenge. Yeah.

And again, it's funny. There was a guy we got

to the point to where when we first started doing

this, we started it in North Chicago and we used

to just do a triple cheeseburger, which we thought

was insane by itself. You know, and there were

some kids that came in and, you know, You know,

we got to jaw jacking and shooting the shit,

and you know, and they was like, this isn't big

enough. I was like, all right. I said, what's

your name, son? What's your name? He said, I'm

Kyle. I said, okay, Kyle, you come back on Saturday.

I'll make you a double triple. You eat it, I'll

put you, now take it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

yeah, yeah. I'm thinking, I'm never gonna see

this kid again in my life. So I'm in the office

on Saturday. Sure as hell. This kid is here,

Kyle. Kyle's here. So I come out, he's got four

of his friends with him. He pulls his shirt off

and he's got a t -shirt that says the Mr. Kyle

challenge written on the t -shirt. Oh wow. And

so he... His friends, you know, they couldn't

do it. So I made four of these things and Kyle

ate it and I think it took him like 23 minutes.

And just to be a smart ass, he ate a piece of

cake when he finished, you know, took, you know,

so I was true to my word. I took the picture

and put it on the wall and it snowballed from

there and. You know, we just got to the point

to where we were like, you know that everybody

was 20 minutes 17 minutes and then it was this

and he had people literally like Killing themselves

trying to beat the next person's time. I said,

okay. All right, so So finally we said, okay,

let's make it a little bit more interesting We'll

put a time limit on it. And if you finish it

in 10 minutes is free because the last person

before we did that was at about 11 minutes and

30 seconds. And right before we were ready to,

we were printing up the menu, we were changing

the menu boards in the restaurant and this one

guy came in and he was like 10 minutes and 50.

So we said we'll just go ahead and make it a

10. We'll make it that. Yeah. And I swear to

God, we were two days before getting the boards

reprinted and this one kid came in and he called

himself the sheriff. I'm the sheriff. I'm thinking,

okay, sheriff. You know, I come out, we bring

the burger out. It was on a Friday. There was

live music. The place was packed. I'm like, I'm

just gonna go in here and get ready to start

writing my insults. There's no way your little

ass is gonna do it. And sure enough, I'm in the

office. and in between the music and then you

hear people just upward like they're at a game

they're cheering and they're rooting and I'm

like what is and then the then the guy on the

microphone starts saying he's getting there he's

about to turn this like and I turn the cameras

on I come out and I'm like Holy shit, he's about

to do it in ten minutes and he did it nine minutes

and 58 seconds only beat the challenge and I

I had to go back and change the board to the

sheriff Yeah, and nobody's come nobody's come

close. So we if you don't do it, we just roast

you really bad. No, it's not that Some of the

stuff I wish I could say I Just don't But it's

fun. I've seen some of the stuff. It's all in

good fun. I mean, come on. I've had people say,

I can't believe you're this mean. I don't know

why people would ever come to your restaurant.

I mean, I'm like... That's not being mean. That's

just joking around with people. For those listening,

Steve Megatron. Was at my wedding in December

of 2017 December 6 2017 he's a little skinny

dude on the left there to me Or well on the right.

It's him over here. Okay. Okay. I told him about

this challenge He's like I could do that. That's

nothing. Yeah, I mean look at this guy. He's

you know, it's really skinny as hell Yeah, usually

the small guys they can put it away, but I'm

just saying Tell them just don't do it Just don't

do it because you know so the burger challenge.

Yeah is Something you guys are famous for yeah

The burger challenge folks is not just the burger.

It's also a pound of fries. Yeah and the drink

yeah So it's like eating a meatloaf In ten minutes

don't do it just don't Don't do people ask me

all the time. Did you do it? No. I may look stupid,

but I'm smarter than I look. There's no way I'm

going to eat that much food in 10 minutes. No.

Stupid. The second time we went to the restaurant,

the only reason why, and I said this a second

ago, the only reason why I would do it is I don't

care. I mean, it's 25 bucks if you don't do it

and you get put on the weenie wall for pay. You

know, 25 bucks? I've spent more at other restaurants

on burgers that are probably, you know. Get the

burger and enjoy it. It's actually a very good

burger. But 10 minutes? I am talking about your

ass and all of your family members if I can.

Yeah. So. The Thanksgiving thing you've been

doing this for four years tell people about what

you guys do as at the restaurant for Big Ed's

barbecue for Thanksgiving So it's it is a free

Thanksgiving meal when we first started We opened

it up. We basically wanted to Feed those who

are less fortunate who didn't have a place to

go or you know, and when we did it the first

time we noticed that There were so many different

scenarios as to why people Needed a meal. There

was a guy that came and he had just lost his

job. So He basically, you know brought his family

and he kind of when it was over he said thanks

for letting me come and have a good meal with

some dignity so Then we started realizing that

you know, there are people who were forced to

work First responders are working, you know,

right? Everything doesn't shut down because it's

Thanksgiving right with you know things being

what they are now so we just decided that we

were gonna open it up and Anyone that just wanted

to have a good meal. We're close to the Navy

base There are people who are can't get home

to be with their families. So it's basically

a free Thanksgiving meal with all of the trimmings

and a lot of volunteers, a lot of other people

that donate. There's a restaurant in McHenry,

Epic Deli, people that we know and love. They

always donate cheesecakes. They make, man, some

color. Cheesecakes. I almost don't want to put

them out. Just saying. You just want to keep

them at home for yourself. I got it. I got it.

So it's a wonderful, wonderful time where we

all get together and we allow people to come

and just have a meal. And it's a lot of networking

where people get together and talk and meet each

other and connections. And people who live in

Lake County, there's a couple of people who who

can't come to the restaurant that, you know,

are kind of bedridden or homebound. We deliver

to the people in Lake County that are, you know.

So I got a message on Facebook a couple of days

ago where a lady reached out and said. My mom

is you know, I forget how old and she had it

last year And all she talks about is how she

still talks about how good her meal was that

you provided last year She had a stroke this

year and she still as she's recovering is making

sure that we bring Wow that meal so that'll be

one that I'll deliver myself and go and spend

some time with her and so it's it's that it's

yeah It's that feeling of community and camaraderie

and giving back. Yes, you're in the restaurant

business to make money, but it's also more than

that because you're a family business. You're

not McDonald's or whatever. You know, and don't

get me wrong, McDonald's does some good stuff,

even though their CEO doesn't. Oops. Sorry. He

did some good stuff. That's what I got. Giggity,

giggity, giggity. Oh, boy. Yeah, that's a topic

for another show. But, you know, family, local

community, like I said, you're not a chain. You've

got the Waukegan restaurant. You still have the

North Chicago. Well, no, it's it's just the the

walkie in the Fountain Square location and you

know, it's kind of like what I was saying before

When we first open man, we were struggling. We

almost lost it twice We almost you know, I mean

we just we weren't making enough money to pay

our bills to pay our taxes And for us to still

be here 11 years later It's kind of like our

way to say thank you to the community that has

continued to support us because you know Where

we are now, man, we're surrounded by Fortune

500 restaurants and businesses in general. And

they come to see us by choice. You know, they

stand in those long lines and happily order their

food. So it's, you know, we're very fortunate.

And I think that it's important that we give

back, you know, to the community. And we have

leftovers. We feed first responders. Police fire

we call up all of the different areas and and

call them and say hey, can you send someone over?

I haven't got a speeding ticket in so long This

is pretty pretty freakin awesome just saying

well, you know you feed the police not it's not

it's not what it was meant for Just for the record

just saying we you know I mean, but some of my

employees have gotten out of speeding violations

because They were either in Big Ed's attire and,

uh, yeah. So, but no, they work around the clock.

They, they, you know, they put the lies on the

line for us. And it's again, it's giving back

to the community that's given so much to you

over the last 11 years. We don't do, we don't

do leftovers. You know, we don't reheat it. So

we, if we have stuff leftover, we, we got to

do something with it. So we just figured we'd

do that. You know, especially with, you know,

you, the sookie, you know, Think of any of the

first responders. Police, fire, EMS. Most of

those people are 24 hour people. May not always

be the same officers or firemen or ambulance

workers or EMS. Those three services never shut

down absolutely and like when we have the really

bad snowstorm We do that for the streets and

sanitation workers, you know, I think is it last

year a couple years ago man when we were just

the snow was just brutal and and all we were

thinking about these men and women are They're

running. Yeah, they're running. So, you know,

we took them some food and you know, we I think

I think what separates us from the chain is that

we are hands on in the community. You know, so

the chain restaurant that is in our area, the

person who either owns it, they're not there.

You know what I mean? So we kind of, you know,

we're deeply rooted and deeply connected. You

know, we hire from the community, all of those

different things. So it's, it's, it's very important

to us to make sure that we give. back as much

as possible and you know I think that's why we

continue to be successful because we just were

just firm believers in just putting people first

it's it's more about people than profit always

has been so we'll continue to do it I wish I

wish we could have started it Earlier, but you

know now that we've now that we're doing it.

You're established you can continue to do it.

Yeah Well, yeah, yeah, it's the best. Yeah, it's

absolutely there's nothing better than being

able to Give back to those that come into your

restaurant on a daily basis or a weekly basis

Whatever kind of thing and then you know at the

end of the year or whatever it is with its Thanksgiving

or Christmas or it like you said if something

happens heaven forbid right a snowstorm happens

or A hurricane or whatever kind of devastation

you can think of, it's like, well, let's open

it up to everybody. Absolutely. You know, like

you said, if people can't come, we'll find a

way to get it to them. We'll get it to you. Absolutely.

You know, kind of thing. For those who are local

here in Illinois, where can the people find you

in person? Where is the restaurant, phone number,

all that good stuff? We are located at 4030 North

Point Boulevard in Waukegan's Fountain Square

for the loyal locals, it's the old Lakers mall

we are right behind the Walmart Auto Center and

Yeah, we've been there for about five years our

website is www .bigedsllc .com and our phone

number is 847 -473 -5333 Also, I live there get

there a little laughter After four every morning.

Well, you know, if you smoke things for 15 hours,

don't call me Don't do not call at 435 o 'clock

in the morning to talk about barbecue Just don't

be used that happened a lot. Really? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah So like now we get people that'll call to

Reserved food for later. Oh, so I don't answer

the phone in the morning because they know I'm

there Yeah, or people do you know they're knocking

on the door? I'm in there hiding like are you

kidding me? Really? Who the hell wants to eat

at 7 in the morning? It's Barbie Yeah, oh dude.

Trust me. No seriously when we've I think we

brought leftovers home the first time I read

the restaurant the next morning I had the rest

of my pulled pork sandwich for breakfast at seven

o 'clock in the morning. If you're at home. Well,

right, yeah, but I'm saying like... Don't come

trying to get it at seven o 'clock in the morning.

Come on, man. That is just... You're asking for

trouble. Seven o 'clock. Yeah, I'll have some

rib tips, please, and some cornbread muffins.

Okay. And would you like a seatbelt for your

toilet? Oh man. Yeah. No thank you. No thank

you. It's so funny. The menu. Yes. It's the most...

Interesting description for a menu I've ever

seen. How did you come up with this? Because

as we said in the very beginning of this, folks,

it's not wings. It's wangs. It's wangs. And it's

rangs for the onion rings. So did you write all

of this stuff or did somebody else? Well, you

know, I did. And again, when your job is to inhale

smoke, not... Not the other small Because I can't

I can't do that I think I think I and my partners

are probably the only people in the world that

are not getting high every day so just saying

when you breathe in Hickory for a living has

a tendency to scramble your brain just you know,

just a little bit and You know, we you know,

we were very laid -back, you know, we We were

kind of twisted in that way. And like, for instance,

we have the plain ass salad. I was going to bring

that up. It came about because when I was trying

to figure out what we were putting on the menu

and I was writing things down and my wife says

to me, well, you know, you need to have a plain

salad. Just like I said, I'm not putting that

on the menu. Nobody's going to eat a plain ass

salad like that. and she said they will you need

a plain ass salad and I was like and we kept

going back and forth I said alright I'm gonna

put it on the menu just like that plain ass salad

just like that and it's one of our biggest salads

so the plain ass salad folks it's $5 .99 that

is tomato and cucumber that's it for those who

are really trying to watch their weight or just

be plain boring yeah that's what it is and there's

a lot of plain boring people that order the plain

ass salad you know i i don't know i'm just i

don't know i'm twisted i can't help it i see

the world differently but that's good though

because if we all saw the world in the same light

yeah We'd all be robots and Will Smith would

be our overlord or some weird thing in the future.

I'd take that. So it's wings, rings, and it's

not sandwiches, it's sammiches. Yeah, so first

of all, if you make it right, it's a sammich,

dammit. That's what we put on the shirt. It's

sammich, dammit. Because I don't know about you,

I don't want to have a sand witch. Yeah. That

sounds like something, you know, you get downtown

at a brothel. I'm just, give me, you gotta go

to Pat, and we won't, we won't make it most of

the time. If you come in our place and you say,

yes, I'll have a brisket sandwich and we'll go,

nope. We don't sell, we, you know. It's like

no sandwich for you. Yeah, we, yeah, we've been

given that reference a lot, just saying. But

we, it's really funny when we get the people

from out of town. Cause we are close to the net

and there's a Navy graduation on this every Friday.

So we get people that come in and they'll get

on all proper and they're all of a sandwich and

we'll go, nah, sorry. And they'll step back and

they'll go, excuse me. Oh. we don't sell sandwiches

here and then they look at the board like i see

it it's right there and the people who know they're

behind them go say sandwich say sandwich yeah

so i mean yeah i mean if you make it right it's

this that's me growing up man let me get a sandwich

that's awesome sorry that's my hood influence

hey you know you know and you're right i mean

it sounds like you you know sandwich sounds like

yeah you're gonna Sounds like a bad date. Yeah,

I was gonna say, it sounds like you're gonna

have a bad date with a witch dressed up as Sandman

or something. It's a bad date. Man, I went on

a blind date. Man, she was a total sandwich.

Just saying. Just saying. Sandwich. Nah, it's

a sandwich. I am so cutting that part out of

this and using it in the future because that's

just hilarious. Just saying. So you have this

other one that I want to talk about because it's

actually what I will be having for dinner tonight,

minus the mustard, uh, onions and pickles. Oh

my god, you cut out the best part. No, that's

the worst part for me. I cut out all the gassy

parts. Oh man. Hey man, the gas is not really

your problem. It's everybody else's thing to

deal with. Just saying. Sadly, I don't go out

much and my wife and I are the only ones here.

Man, that's true love. That's true love that's

when you know that's that's when you know when

you can have a bowl of chili and Wash it down

with a glass of milk and she won't leave She

may go to another area of the house She's still

there when you wake up exactly she won't leave

so the after work burger Yes a pound of meat

with all the trimmings eat this go back to work

and get fired for sleeping now you understand

true story see the cool thing about this is I

work from home. See? So I can just go to bed,

and I won't get fired. This is just right for

you. I can change the menu if you like. I know.

And put you on there and say, this is not for

you, Mike. I'm just saying. I can change that.

Just saying. That's funny. Yeah. Unless you work

from home. Don't get this. Can do that so funny.

I'm just saying it is it's a lot. It's a lot

to eat on your lunch break and You try to down

that puppy, and yeah, you got the meat sweats

man. It's good. It's a good burger. It's a really

good burger Yeah boy all right, so I think that's

gonna do it for us Is there anything else you

would like to say anything you want to pimp out

anything you want to? You know well in part on

my audience now. This is this is my first podcast

interview, so I'm very psyched so If I if I do

more of them, you'll always be my first so you

know this is pretty cool I'm happy that people

want to Listen and that I get an opportunity

to share our story and talk about what we do

in the restaurant Definitely want to give a shout

out to my my crew because again, in order for

me to be here with you, they're working their

asses off. So it's my wife, Kim, my partner Ron

to Katie, my son Eddie. He's little Eddie, although

he's bigger than me. Yeah, he is. Yeah, but I

always remind him that I hit harder. So I got

to say shout out to everybody. My dishwasher,

Paulie, he has been with me almost since the

very beginning. he speaks very little English

but he speaks enough just to talk enough shit

to drive everybody crazy he's loyal I love him

Jeffrey Kyle Britney who we also call Brenda

I don't know why Hillary Lamar Lamar's new Frankie

try not to forget anybody they'll be mad anything

you shout out you shout remember them Quentin

who's been with me almost since the beginning

he's the one that we call Q Dizzle who else am

I missing oh oh don't let you know once they

hear this I can suck it just you know I'm very

happy to be here I want to thank everybody that

again has continued to support us We have a very

loyal following and I hope they'll tune in and

listen. I'll actually be on Channel 5 November

the 19th doing a little cooking segment and talking

about the free Thanksgiving meal. Cool. Yeah,

man. Let's look them up five days before that.

I mean, we're not as famous as Channel 5 in Chicago,

but... You're on your way. Now, with this...

No, I'm just kidding. Let's hope with this. This

right here? Over the top! Yeah, man. Come on!

What's that smell? Emmy? Emmy? No. No. I think

that was those onions I had. I'm like, oh shit.

It's a real treat. Thank you. Thank you for having

me on. Thank you so much for being here. Thank

you for everything you're doing for the community

and all that. November is a time to be thankful,

folks. All year long, really. All your life,

you're supposed to be thankful. But it seems

to me that everybody pulls out the 30 days of

what I'm thankful for, obviously, in November

for Thanksgiving and whatever else. I'm one of

those people that at my age, I'll be 40 in February,

but at my age, I'm over Halloween. I'm not a

horror person. I'll eat the candy, if that's

about it. I'll buy the candy to give the candy

out, and then I'll turn my light off. It was

the funniest thing. I read an article recently

where it says, tips for parents with trick -or

-treaters. Only go to houses where the porch

lights are on. And I told Karen, I'm like, Porch

light's going off, bye bye. Yeah, we're doomed.

We're doomed. Because it used to be that. You

just, you go and I don't give a damn if your

light's out. I'm gonna keep ringing your doorbell

and knocking until I get some candy. If not,

you're getting some dog poop in your door. I'll

give you the candy if you bring that burger challenge.

Alright. Alright, so for me, Halloween is Halloween.

It is what it is. but then people immediately

go to christmas and i'm like hello yeah there's

one in there yeah there's a certain order to

things and i'm sorry halloween comes before christmas

and so does thanksgiving right you know i mean

it's all about it's all it's all about the retail

the retail you know what i mean because this

and i think that's why it's really important

for us to just not worry about making money but

it's really about just giving and you know and

family and absolutely unity so you know y 'all

can skip over if you want to we gonna slow the

shit down and we gonna eat some turkey everybody's

you know fat and happy like me You dig. Oh you

dig. I'm much fatter than you You got get a long

way to go there. Nobody likes bones, but a dog

and they bury So eat up bury the dead they stink

up the joy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right You can

find us on geek cast radio comm on Twitter at

geek cast radio I am at TF2 and Mike you guys

are on Twitter, right? I don't know. I don't

got time for this shit. I'm working and that

right mark. I'm working Unleash the barbecue

geek in you and we will catch you next time here

on GeekCast Radio when I talk with Terry Smith

of Music Talks Podcast. Catch you next time,

folks.