Executive Airspace Podcast takes off with host John Traub of Stratos Jets for a special on-location conversation with Dan Marguerite, owner of Backyard BBQ in Wilmette, IL. In this full episode, Dan shares the past, present, and future of one of the North Shore’s most beloved barbecue destinations, while cooking up incredible meats from Second City Prime and revealing the mindset, discipline, and community focus behind his success.
Eight friends heading out on a golf trip, a private charter, and a meal of brisket, pulled pork, and freshly grilled steak. That sounds like a good way to begin a trip.
For this episode of the Executive Air Space Podcast, we left the studio and visited the Backyard Barbecue Store, a family-run Chicago-area business built around outdoor cooking, customer education, events, and community. I sat down with owner Dan and his son-in-law, Josh Davenport, to discuss how the store began, why grilling continues to grow, and what it takes to expand a family business without losing the service that made it successful.
Before he ever sold a single grill, Dan spent about 20 years trading stocks, until the grind wore him down and his wife nudged him toward something new. A family road trip led him to a barbecue store in Atlanta, and something clicked. Grilling had always run in his blood, thanks in part to a close family friend who happened to invent the Weber kettle, and Dan had even hauled a little Weber grill along with him to college. That spark of an idea turned into real conversations with people inside the grill industry, including folks at Weber itself, and nearly 24 years ago, the Backyard Barbecue Store opened its doors.
Not everyone was convinced this idea would work. Skeptics wondered how a business built around outdoor cooking could survive a brutal Chicago winter, or who would realistically spend thousands of dollars on a grill. But Dan had his wife, his family, and a tight circle of friends in his corner. One of those friends suggested turning old Weber kettle lids into hanging lights for the store, a small touch that's still there today. That friend passed away shortly after, and now every time Dan flips those lights on, he's reminded of him.
As it turned out, Dan's timing couldn't have been better. Grilling was about to explode in popularity, with chefs cooking outdoors on TV and homeowners starting to treat their patios like an extra room of the house. Outdoor kitchens grew from a niche curiosity into a real driver of the business, and today the store carries everything from classic Weber kettles to full outdoor kitchen setups with cabinetry, refrigeration, and pizza ovens. Through it all, the goal has stayed the same: figure out how someone actually cooks, then help them find the right equipment for it.
The business started small, literally across the street from where it sits now. About a decade ago, Dan bought an old car wash and turned it into a much bigger showroom, complete with a bar, dining space, and room for private events. Over time, that space grew into something much more than a store. Now it hosts Friday happy hours, Saturday lunches, football season Sunday meals, cooking classes, and private parties, evolving piece by piece as customers showed Dan and his team what they wanted next.
Nobody walking through the door is expected to already know exactly what they need. Instead, the team starts with simple questions: how do you cook, how many people are you feeding, charcoal or gas, freestanding grill or full outdoor kitchen? Customers get to see grills fully assembled rather than guessing from a photo online, and after buying one, they can come back for a class to learn how to use it properly. If something breaks down the line, the store services it too, because the relationship doesn't end at the register.
Even with every high-end grill imaginable at his fingertips, Dan still gravitates toward the classics he grew up with, Weber kettles and Big Green Eggs. The Big Green Egg wins out for long, slow cooks thanks to how efficiently it uses charcoal, but the Weber kettle carries something the others can't match: memory. It takes him right back to cooking with his father, whose instructions rarely went beyond "fire up the grill." For anyone just starting out, Dan keeps his advice simple: get a charcoal chimney, use good charcoal, and never cook without an instant-read thermometer. He trusts that thermometer so much he brings it with him on vacation.
For this visit, Dan cooked strip steaks from Second City Prime using a reverse-sear method, bringing the meat up slowly before finishing it with a hot sear. Once off the grill, the steaks rested for about 10 minutes, giving the juices time to settle before slicing, a step he applies just as faithfully to burgers, tenderloin, and prime rib. His philosophy is straightforward: you can always throw a steak back on for another minute, but you can't undo overcooking it. And even though he's not usually a mushroom guy, the dried mushroom seasoning he used that day complemented the beef perfectly, proof of his broader belief that good meat doesn't need to be drowned in flavor.
Food has become a real pillar of the business, with a catering menu built around comforting barbecue staples like brisket, pulled pork, cornbread, and coleslaw, usually ordered about a week ahead so the kitchen can prep properly. The store also hosts private events for groups of 40 to 48 people, complete with menu options, music, and full bar access. During football season, Sunday lunches featuring thinly sliced smoked prime rib have become a beloved tradition, and between the happy hours and weekend lunches, it's the kind of place where the staff know their regulars by name.
Josh joined the family business after a career in health and safety and while finishing up his MBA, seeing a chance to put his education to work somewhere personal. Since coming on board, he's helped modernize everything from the website to the ordering and delivery systems, a shift Dan jokes about often, considering he was still running a fax machine when Josh arrived. Together, they balance decades of hands-on product knowledge with a fresh eye toward new systems and where the business can grow next.
Looking ahead, a second Chicago-area location feels like a natural next step, with broader Midwest expansion as a longer-term possibility. But growing too fast or too far comes with real risk, since service is the heart of what makes this business work. Selling someone a grill is easy. Being there to maintain it and answer questions months later from hundreds of miles away is a lot harder. The store already supports customers with second homes in Michigan and Wisconsin, proof that people will follow good service, but Dan and Josh aren't in a rush to stretch the brand thin. The showroom itself, with its rows of grills and vintage Weber kettles, is part of the magic, and that's not something you can just recreate anywhere.
Right now, outdoor cabinetry is one of the biggest trends the store is seeing, letting customers customize everything from finishes to countertops to appliances for a setup that feels personal rather than off the shelf. Pizza ovens remain popular too, since they can be added to an existing patio without a full renovation. Infrared burners are also becoming more common in grills, prized for their efficient heat and consistent sear, though as with any new technology, part of the job is simply teaching customers how it works and whether it fits their style of cooking.
At the end of the day, the Backyard Barbecue Store is about a lot more than grills sitting on a showroom floor. It's about helping people plan, learn, cook, celebrate, and come back again and again, whether for a class, a happy hour, or a big family event. Nearly 24 years in, the formula hasn't really changed: know the product inside and out, really listen to the customer, and never stop taking care of the relationship. As Dan puts it, at the Backyard Barbecue Store, cooking out is always in.
The Executive Air Space Agency is an independent Stratos Jets franchise providing private aviation advisory and charter brokerage services. Through Stratos Jets, established in 2006, clients have access to a nationwide network of vetted charter operators and Risk-Managed Private Aviation™ standards.
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