Steve’s Place

I was in the area because I was paying my Chicago corruption fee to the court house off Superior. Saw that this place had breakfast burritos recommended so I hit a bacon breakfast burrito and it was delicious!

OMG THIS PLACE TURNED THE WORST DAY IMAGINABLE INTO GOLD.
I keep seeing this place on my way to work and I haven’t stopped there yet, UNTIL TODAY, and I was in heaven. Hole in the wall cheap, quick food. Ordered a falafel and fries, food came quick and was totally delicious. The best part, however, is that every table has FOUR different kinds of hot sauce on them. FOUR!!! I was in habanero heaven it was absolutely perfect.
I can’t wait to pop in here more often to pig out without the typical bougie River North judgement. PERFECT!

Good food, weird place.
This is classic, greasy fried food. It’s good because they’ve been around a while, and you can tell. Some of the newspaper clippings on the wall are recent. If I’d scanned every single one, I bet I could’ve found one from the Richard J. Daley era, there were so many. Also Caesar kept getting misspelled Ceaser (« – or– cremy ceaser») on the menu.
But I had the chicken tenders, and they were delicious. Straight-​up, U.S. Foodservice style, but still cooked pretty dang good. Likewise, the fries were crinkly (I believe) and with a little salt went well with the crispy, but moist, chicken. And even though I describe the place as greasy, the food wasn’t as greasy as it could have been.
And I got all that and a can of soda for $ 7, more or less. It’s a steal, and I hope they’ll be around for a few more years.

Pretty good on the go food. Service is pretty fast. Fries aren’t the best but this is your typical greasy diner.

I love Steve’s. This is my guilty pleasure right near my office. A hole-​in-​the-​wall diner with a very personable staff.
I come in here a lot to pick up a breakfast sandwich in the mornings when I don’t have time to eat something at home. They know my order when I walk in and I always enjoy talking with the staff while I’m waiting.
I’ve also been in a couple times for delicious soft-​serve milkshakes (again…guilty pleasure), and I love their salads too.
From what I can tell, everything is very reasonably priced and they have a wide selection of items.

Went here on a whim, because I am a big fan of places like this. The hole in the wall restaurants like this are USUALLY good. This time? Epic fail. I ordered a burger and fries. The fries were nicely seasoned, and didn’t really require ketchup. The burger however? Well, it tasted bland, and more like a breakfast sausage patty than a burger. I am not really even sure how fresh it was.
I would honestly say for the price, that this place isn’t worth it. I would rather lick the handrail at the el station 50 ft away.

I wandered around River North during lunch two days ago looking for something that was both close to my office and within my price range. I love places like Gene & Jude’s, so this one immediately drew me in.
I had the BLT on rye with fries and it was delicious (especially for $ 5). The fries are decent, nothing spectacular, but the sandwich was so good. I also loved the political cartoons covering the wall and the complimentary Sun Times issues.
The place was very Chicago-​y without being as expensive/​overrated as nearby places (SushiSamba…).
I’d go again, especially when I’m in a hurry to find a quick lunch.

Food was good, the prices were right…

I’ve been going to Steve’s for a couple years now for only one thing: breakfast burritos. I order it with Chorizo and Chulula hot sauce. They’re only $ 5, so a great deal! This is one of the hidden little breakfast secrets in the area. It’s a fairly sizeable burrito with egg, hash browns, peppers, and your choice of meat. I’m not even sure it’s on the regular menu. Great breakfast — very filling — great value. This is hard to beat!

Stand back, here comes the grease fountain.
Steves is good once a month, bad if more. I actually got addicted to this place. I would recommend the gyro sandwiches and if you want something healthier, there’s a BLT with your name on it.
Über cheap though, grab your heart-​attack-​on-​a-​platter and jump to it. mmmmmmmmmmm

Did I show up at the same place as all these «Great» reviews? This is a typical burger/​gyros place by the El stop on Chicago Ave that has a slightly higher opinion of the value of their food than they should. The Gyros Platter, with fries and a drink came to nearly $ 10. It was a fairly lame excuse for a gyros and there weren’t that many of the very average fries. Extra charge for drink refill and they hand you ONE thin paper napkin for a gyros sandwich. I ask for more, they hand you ONE more. For God’s sake man, you just overcharged me for a small gyros sandwich and now you’re skimping on the cheapest item in your inventory.
Keep walking… you can do much better elsewhere.

You know when you’re listening to Mariah Carey secretly at your desk and your headphones accidentally unplug from your computer… and for a good minute everyone around you is staring at you… they’ve discovered your guilty pleasure. This restaurant brings much pleasure… but you leave feeling really guilty afterwards.
The food pricing is awesome. You really can’t get a better deal than their meal deals. I’ve been there about 3 times… twice i’ve gotten the Gyro which was pretty dang good… but super greasy for sure. I LOVE their french fries. I love fries period but they have those thick… yellow colored middle school cafeteria fries that are crispy on the outside and perfect on the inside. The burgers are decent enough… the Hot dogs though… noway.
This is NOT a good place to get a hot dog. It’s not terrible but nothing worth the same price you could pay for a gyro or grinder etc…
Lunch is crazy. There is limited seating so be prepared.
Overall…it’s pretty yummy if you are feeling up for the foodcoma that will
shortly follow. Your stomach will hate you.

Friendly service. Disappointing burger.

I got a gyro here and it was pretty tasty. Fries weren’t bad, but man, after such greasy food I felt gross afterwards. My friends boyfriend got a burger and said that, while it was delicious, it left him feeling blah afterwards as well. I think this would be great for hangover food, unless I’m missing something. I will say the prices were great though.
And another thing, be sure to beat the lunch rush. We waited for awhile, and there are no numbers, they just call out your order, so it can get a bit confusing!

The best fried egg sandwich ever, and delicious turkey cheeseburgers. Super friendly – they even remember how I like my egg sandwich and what soda I drink when I forget. The girl at the register is the best.
If you work in the area, forget about Brett’s for a tuna melt; the tuna melt at Steve’s is fantastic.

Yeah, It is a greasy spoon that serves dinner food. But damn is it good! Fast, good food for not much money.
The menu is pretty diverse as far as dinner food goes. You can get all the normal stuff (fried eggs and sandwiches) as well as Chicago classics (Dogs and italian beef). Most of the classics are available as combos (adds fries and 16oz soda).
The one downside are the fries. They do not have a lot of flavor. Tasteless fries is enough for me to drop a star from the rating.

I will warn you pre-​emptively that Steve’s place can be a devastating experience. This is not the kind of food that you just nonchalantly eat. These grinders are the sandwich world’s neutron bomb — the damage they wreak on humans and soft targets is truly incredible.
I’ve been getting grinders — this is the new favorite place on Mondays at the client office, when what’s generally brought in for lunch is really not so good. So far I’ve had the mozzarella gyro grinder (just like it sounds), the Mediterranean (good, with olives, peppers, onions, feta, cuke sauce, and chicken) and, the coup de grace, the Monterrey. Ham, bacon, grilled chicken, peppers, onions, tomatoes, ranch dressing, and melted cheese. Holy crap. Suffice it to say, everything is tasty, and at $ 7 or less for a huge sandwich that I usually can’t finish, this is a steal.
I must close by pointing out that the bread is they use for grinders is buttered. I mean, if it wasn’t, one would have trouble getting it down. When you get down to it, the cream based dressing and greasy meats really don’t provide enough lubrication. Without that butter, I might have to dunk the sandwich in a glass of water, like Kobayashi in a hot dog eating competition. If buttering the bread on a sandwich like this isn’t a case of gilding the lilly, nothing is.

Love love love Steve’s. Worked around the corner for two years and it was always my go-​to place when I couldn’t think of a damn thing to do for lunch. Not really one for burgers or stuff like that, I LOVED their salads — big, with lots of grilled chicken, and always a stuffed grape leaf and boiled egg.
Good food, reasonable prices. Can be crowded.

Steve’s puts the greasy in greasy spoon.
Okay, so this place is kind of gross. But that doesn’t stop me from stopping in — sometimes you just need some down and dirty greasy food in your belly.
Here are the sandwiches I heartily endorse, if you are in a bad way: the fried egg sandwich, the patty melt and any of the grinders. A former co-​worker liked the gyros. I sometimes get an ice cream cone while I am waiting for my order. The pre-​made salads are okay and quick, but nearby Brett’s Kitchen has better pre-​made salads, and Delicious and Galleria both have pretty good salad bars!
Our office has had a bit of trouble in the past with ordering over the phone and not getting what we ordered, and have had occasional issues with rudeness from the staff.
The restaurant itself is a must visit just to see all of the crazy tchotchke around the place, and the totally inexplicable framed artwork on the walls (including a picture of homeless people on the street, an internet print out of a conspiracy theory about how ⁹⁄₁₁ predictions are hidden in U.S. currency, and a sign that says «I’ll tax the air you breath»).

I don’t know if it is because it is a block away from my work, or because they pump their gyros full of crackziki, but I would eat at Steve’s probably twice a week on average.
Then I ‘suddenly’ realized that I had gained 30 pounds since moving to Chicago, and stopped going. Now I bring my own lunch to work.
Anyway, excellent gyros — salty and greasy. The fries are good as well — salty and greasy. (Notice a theme?)
Their other items are kind of ‘meh’ (the pork chop sandwich is sub-‘meh’… as in gross).
I’ve never found the crowd to be «questionable», though Steve’s can get crowd-​ed at lunch (between 11:30 and 2).