Ada's Famous Deli

Ada's is my go-to lunch spot in the Loop.  (Actually, I alternate between Ada's & Gold Coast Dogs up the street in the parking garage, but Ada's seems healthier.)

My usual: chicken noodle soup, either a corned beef or pastrami on rye, dill pickle, latke (hot potato pancake) with applesauce, slaw and a can of Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray (probably the only soda pop on earth that tastes like celery).

The place is huge: a bar area that fronts Wabash seems popular with Loop workers after 5:00, a long take out deli counter with all kinds of fascinating things to buy, a narrow seating area along the waiting line and a large square dining room at the back.  The servers all seem to have Russian accents.

When I was a kid in the 1960's, Ada's was a little hole-in-the-wall deli at Kedzie and Montrose in Albany Park, next door to Kaufman's bagel bakery.  They seem to have done all right over the years, to have relocated to the Loop.

This place is truly awful.  I have given it a couple of tries because I work right across the street and it seems like it has gotten increasingly worse.  Today my boyfriend and I went on our lunch break and for being a downtown location, you would expect good things from a Jewish deli.  My guy got the "special" chicken melt with soup and fries, is sort of a  no brainer but there wasn't really one good thing about it.  Let me break it down.  The "world famous chicken soup" they are known for is pretty much just broth with white rice....and that's it.  I didn't spot 1 piece of chicken, and I had several spoonfuls.  The sandwich itself was on a soggy English muffin and was barely warm let alone hot. The chicken salad mixture was sort of tough and mostly mayo.  It had a heavy coating of hard cheese over top.  The fries were room temp and soggy.  The slaw was out of a bag and about a half of a teaspoon size serving.  I had the greek salad which had NO flavor, mainly iceburg lettuce and the most disgusting feta cheese I have ever had.  Our server was sloppy and chewing gum and although the restaurant was almost completely empty, the bus boy was the one checking on us and asking if we need anything.  After our check was brought to us, he never returned and I had to find someone at the front of the restaurant to run my card.  Needless to say I will never be returning back to that place again.

I've eaten at Ada's twice and the food is amazing. There Manhattan and Ruben are delicious. Some of my co-workers got the cabbage soup, and they loved it. One of them isn't even a big cabbage fan.
It's a sit down Jewish deli style restaurant. The day I went there was right before Christmas and it was not that crowded. I've heard it does get crowded at times. The sandwiches are huge, I didn't even finish mine, plus with the fries it is worth the money. They have daily specials and soup specials, which I have heard good things about.
But if you are in the loop and want something not super fast food, try Ada's Jewish Deli.