In addition to the vendors you mention via that link, OSH Park[1] is great option for hobbyists (or very small-volume production). This is the same source listed in OP. It's a board pooling group that puts many small-run orders on the same panel to economize on setup costs. OSH Park uses high-quality US manufacturers to produce the boards (with tight tolerances, silkscreen, soldermask, gold-flashed pads, etc.) I believe they used to use Amitron outside Chicago, but I'm not sure if that's still the case. I've had probably 300 boards made by them, and they've all been great.

In open source designs you can usually spot OSH Park boards by the distinctive purple color. Seeed Studio and the other Asian budget board houses are a decent economy option if you can get away with looser tolerances. OSH Park is nice for compact designs because the gold-flashed pads are better for surface-mount parts, since they aren't raised like traditional solder-painted pads. Unlike most quickturn PCB fabs they don't bury you with options; the standard options give you everything you need (ENIG, double mask+silk screen, either 2/4 layer, etc.). The OSH Park ordering wizard is a case study in how PCB orders should be done (upload and a couple clicks, with a graphical preview), and for the quality the price can't be beat. Because orders are pooled and then separated before shipping out, it is slower.

You can use the free and open KiCad[2] software (again, what was used in OP; tutorials[3,4]) to do schematic capture and board layout, have it generate some gerber and drill files, and then order the boards for a few bucks from OSH Park. KiCad won't do simulations like Altium or some of the other commercial packages, but if you just want to take a schematic and make a board it works fine. Definitely learn its hotkeys.

1. https://oshpark.com/

2. http://kicad-pcb.org/

3. http://teholabs.com/knowledge/kicad.html

4. http://store.curiousinventor.com/guides/kicad/