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Here’s the rub
Real Urban Barbecue chef/owner Jeff Shapiro and his crew at their new Vernon Hills restaurant prepare 700 slabs of St. Louis-style ribs for the Vernon Hills Ribfest. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 7, 2012 6:05AM
Jeff Shapiro has taken his award winning recipes, which he developed in the back yard of his Highland Park home using a wood-fired ceramic cooker, and in just two years has opened two popular barbecue restaurants.
Each Real Urban Barbecue, the original in his hometown and the second in Vernon Hills, cranks out as much as 2,400 pounds of meat per day.
“When we come down the street the pigs start running the other way,” said Shapiro, the chef and owner.
After he perfected the rub, he found the perfect name: RUB.
“You dry rub your ribs, you dry rub your meat, and thus Real Urban BBQ was born,” he said.
