Hot Grill Restaurant

had a patty melt, so did my friend. he took a sub sandwich to go. the food was good. the service was good. but this is definitely a hole in the wall diner!!!

This place is in the hood.  Nestled in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood on the city's south side, this is a restaurant for truckers and factory workers.  The people here are a little rough around the edges but cool overall.  I ordered a classic Chicago style Maxwell polish, and it reminded me of home.  Dirt-cheap prices for a good hot greasy meal. Although for the dirt-cheap prices, you also get a dirty a$$ restroom. O well, what are you going to do?

I happen to love greasy-spoon diners.  This one is situated in a heavy industrial area on South Cicero Avenue between a gas station and a  major trucking facility, across the street from a CITGO oil depot, and just north of Interstate 55.  It's a dilapidated sky blue, red and white building with a red and gold sign out front that says "24 Hour Hot Grill Subs".  If I was making a movie and I was looking for a broken down truck stop diner just off the highway barely outside Chicago... well this would be the place!

So I've been driving by this joint for almost a year, and I have been wanting to try it for lunch forever, but every time I go by it, I'm in a hurry, so I keep passing it by.

Finally I go in and check out the menu... about a dozen different subs, all the old standards... "Regular: $3.99 King $5.99".  Sweet older woman with more than a couple lifetimes worth of experience written on her face comes over to take my order... "I'll have a king-size roast beef and turkey sub".  "Hot or cold?" she asks.  I think she means peppers, so I say "both".  But she means: do you want the sub toasted or cold?  I say cold and I order a lemonade to go with it and I wait for 5 minutes and she comes back with a sandwich that is not a millimeter shy of a foot long.  It's enormous!  I pay my $5.99 and grab my lemonade and go to my delivery van.  Open this thing up and it's big enough for 3 people!  AND it's on the most delicious Italian-style sub roll I've ever had... garlicky bread baked golden brown, soft and delicious.  Obviously from a very good local bakery.  And fresh!  The roast beef is fine, especially considering the price; and now I have a new favorite place to go for subs every time I head south on Cicero to grab the Stevenson.  Without a doubt one of the best subs in Chicago.
If I was going downstate to go camping, I'd stop here to pick up two or three of those King Size subs... it'd be enough food to last two people until you get to Carbondale!

Now, the turkey subs are just so-so... the meat isn't that hot at all.  The roast beef is decent... the corned beef is OK too.  Haven't tried too many others, but I'm planning to.  The thing is, the size of these subs for the price!  Awesome! Can't wait to try the steak and eggs here.  Open 24 hours, check it out!  I'm hoping that if more people go here, then they'll be able to afford to improve the quality a bit and if so, this could definitely be the best sub shop in Chicagoland!