Outdoor chef develops own sauce
Bill Mehilos is hoping summer will help heat up sales at his new business.
The Roselle man launched Head's Red BBQ in November. "Winter isn't the best time to sell this product," he said.
The idea for the sauce developed while Mehilos, 50, was competing in area barbecue competitions. He formed a cooking team with two other area cooks and they called themselves the Chi-Town Smokers.
In order to set their food apart from the other teams, Mehilos developed his own sauce. He felt the commercial sauces were too sweet. "I came up with a good combination of a slightly sweet, yet tangy flavor," Mehilos said. He added that barbecue flavors are regional. "Mine leans toward the Kansas City style," he said.
The gourmet-style sauce, which he calls Head's Red BBQ, has been a hit, garnering top honors in barbecue competitions including Grand Champions in Racine, Wis., in 2006.
The avid griller, who said he focuses more on authentic grilling, or smoking, as opposed to direct heat grilling, decided it was "time to take the recipe from the kitchen to the store shelf."
He worked with a packer in Union, Ill., where the sauce is bottled. The sauce is now making its way to store shelves while Mehilos does product demonstrations. Selling for between $4.99 and $6.50 a bottle, the sauce is available at Casey's Foods in Naperville, Roselle Market and The Little Gourmet in Roselle. It can also be purchased online at Hawgeyes BBQ at hawgeyebbq.com.
Mehilos and his wife, Elaine, have two children; Kim, 20, and Bill, 17. Mehilos works full-time in IT at CVS Caremark.
He grew interested in grilling when he was a teenager. He now uses three different smokers and continues to enter competitions, always utilizing his own sauce.
For more information, check out www.headsredbbq.com.
Now open: Los Volcanes, a new Mexican Restaurant located at 120 N. Genesee St. in Waukegan, is holding a ribbon cutting and open house at 3 p.m. today.
Owner Caleb Morales said he named his restaurant to celebrate the volcano that was a prominent landform outside of the City of Puebla, his family's former home in Mexico. Sharing Mexican culture and traditional foods are goals for Caleb and his sister Ruth, who is also a partner in the business.
Back in business: Angelo D'Angelo, owner of Angelo's Tailoring and Alterations, 121 S. Cook St., has reopened his Barrington store.
"I had to close my shop for a while to overcome my illness and emergency major surgery, but I am better now and my shop is now open for business again," he said.
D'Angelo has won recognition as a master tailor from the National Designers and Tailors Association.
New home: Handyman Services by Inside Out, in its fifth year of business, has a new home. The business is at 1125 Paramount Pkwy., Unit H, next door to its sister company, Inside Out Painting in Batavia. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is set for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. June 17.
The business serves residential and commercial clients within the Fox Valley area.
Sports car show: The Porsche Club of America Chicago Region will sponsor a Porsche Club Concours June 15 in Long Grove. Between 30 to 50 shining Porsches, from vintage to new models, will be on display from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Towner Green on Old McHenry Road. This is the fourth year that the club has chosen Long Grove for one of its area competitions.
Visitors are welcome to see the cars.