Zero stars if I could. Revamping of the bar area and new ownership had not helped this placed at all. Tables were half full and short on staff. On e we were seated, it took 10 minutes to get water, 15 minutes to get out order and when it finally came my ice cream had a roach in it. My kids were upset when I told them we had to leave. Waitress was no where to be found! I walked out, put kids in the car w/spouse and asked for the owner. Waitress thought I skipped out on the check...she never even came back to give me one. The owner was apologetic, but I will never go back, nor can recommended it to anyone. It's a shame, because I use to love it as a kid.
Review Source:We stopped in early in the week late one night. I had one of the dream meals which included a cup of chili, an all beef dog, fries and a drink. All were good...not great, but good. The prices were very inexpensive. The beer that day was 2 bucks! The chili which was highly touted was decent, but nothing more than that IMHO. The service was good, the place was reasonably clean, and as I said the food was decent. I would return if I am in the area. If you want a satisfying, inexpensive meal, with good service this is a good bet. Ice cream was good too!
Review Source:I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I kind of happened to pop in this place all of a sudden and it was on of the best places I have had chili at, it may be the best as far as appearance is concerned, but they make up for it with the chili. The service was good, I like the fact I was able to pick between Turkey and Beef Chili, and it was very filling for the price. I seen a few negative remarks on here, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I found it to be a great place to happen to stop in for a meeting. The server was a Latina, she was very courteous, and she was very sweet, great experience, not 5 stars, but it was well worth the visit. I didn't try the ice cream, I guess I will save that for next time :)
Review Source:I have never been to a place of such ignorance! We ordered food to go/for pick up for my work. I picked up the food over $20 worth including a quart of chili..... I realized he had put no extra cups and NO SPOONS OR NAPKINS in the bag.... I went back in to ask for utensils to eat our food with, where I was told (by who I believe is the owner) Â ' WE DON'T GIVE AWAY THINGS FOR Â FREE HERE" Â Ok I can MAYBE Â see if he didn't want to give me extra cups for us to pour the chili into, Â but Spoons?!?!?! I am ordering from a business! we could come back and order everyday if we wanted to!!
Are you kidding me??? I'm not some stranger off the street. I am a customer, who just bought your food!!! You don't give people a plastic spoon to eat your food with?? Napkins aside! (which he still doesn't give you!) How could you not give us plastic spoons???
IT GETS BETTER... He wanted to charge me $0.05 per spoon!!! Are you that hard up for money that you need to charge your customers .05 cents per spoon and a couple extra cups and napkins?!?!
Overall the food has a general bad taste in your mouth when you know that you paid an ignorant person when there are so many other great business owners busting their butts everyday to stay open and they would never treat a customer like that.
In my opinion I don't know how this place stays open aside from the fact it has name recognition and a couple locations. unfortunately for them bad word of mouth travels much faster, and I will never recommend this place and make it a point to share my terrible experience.
Ok, so maybe it's the new management that is making the food suck? I dunno. The prices are cheap (that's why I go here) & some of the food I ordered last night was good, but my zucchini strips were drenched in grease, as well as my eggplant sandwich. Gross.
The fried raviolis were amazing; no grease. The buffalo shrimp po-boy that my boyfriend got was also amazing. Also, no grease.
I ordered a peanut butter shake for dessert & that was delicious! But what's with the greasy food these days? Better luck next time, I'm hoping.
I love this place. Â Not only is the service nice. Â The food is excellent. Â I find it very hard to find chili w/o beans anywhere. Â This is the place to get it. Â Though I find it odd it costs more to have no beans versus w/ beans. Â Meh, no matter. Â Plus, the chocolate/peanut butter shake is delicious. Â I bought the chili pasta and it's delicious. Â Looks like they do a lot of catering so you can by different size containers of chili if you want.
Review Source:I know the locals love this place but I just don't understand why.
I've had the chili and it reminds me of the chili we had in CPS grades K-12, which didn't kill us but was nothing to write home about. Take that chili and add more water and that's Lindy's. What's funny is a friend brought over a to-go bucket of Lindy's chili which was actually pretty decent. So I wonder if they get lazy at the actual restaurant.
Service was okay.
The ice cream sundaes are outright gross in my opinion. My ice cream had fragments of ice in it and had an uneven consistency. Maybe freezer-frost issues? I don't know. The whipped cream was the grocery store can, so it can't really be reviewed, can it? I mean, a lot of ice cream shops make their own whipped cream because it isn't too difficult. And the hot fudge was not hot and it was just chocolate syrup. Maybe hershey's? No matter what it was, the sundae contained the ingredients of basic crap I can find in the grocery store. Gertie's has no right to call it their own if nothing in it is homemade and all they are doing is assembling it for me, poorly at that.
I'll stick to making my own chili at home and Margie's for a real sundae.
***UPDATE***
Lindy's has new owners. Sort of. The people who own it now also own the Lindy's Chili in Bridgeview, on 79th and Harlem (who knew, I thought they were all owned by the same people...)
In case you've never been to one or both locations, let me first tell you that the Bridgeview location looks like a fine dining restaurant compared to the Archer location. So when the new owners took over, I expected the place to be totally revamped. That didn't exactly happen...they did touch up the paint, and (yikes) added a bunch of stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling. So yeah, it kinda seems like you're eating inside of one of those crane games. Weirds me out.
Anyways, the food and drink menu is what changed. Last time I went into Lindy's before the ownership change, my buddy tries ordering a gin and tonic, and they responded with "we don't have tonic water here". Total shot-and-a-beer place. Well now they actually have mixers, and they have a wider variety of beers. They had abita beers for mardi gras, and have foster's on tap too. As well as Twisted Tea, long islands, margaritas, and hurricanes. They also have the "new orleans original" bananas foster (who knew part 2) and still have the mardi gras menu, plus a lent menu (juuuust a little bit bizarre). It definitely adds options to the menu, although I don't think I am ordering fish tacos from Lindy's anytime soon. Fish fry, maybe...
We just came for ice cream, and unfortunately, our server was inept and botched my entire order. A green river phospate is straight up green river made with syrup and seltzer (I find it more potently flavored than the bottled kind). A FLOAT has ice cream. Well, she brings me a float...and charges me the $3.29 for it. Twice as much as the phosphate that I have ordered. Since I don't like spit in my food, I let it go, just didn't eat the ice cream...which has chunks of strawberries in it...eew. Ah, divey places. Can't expect much more. I get a marshmallow sundae, which I order "plain. No nuts, no whip cream, no cherry". Guess what comes on my sundae? The works. Once again, I deal and scrape it off. Hardly any topping, and the sundaes seem to have shrunk in size. Brian orders a peanut butter sundae (bc he is gross) and they put straight-up peanut butter on there...which he didn't seem to be too fond of (this is his fault though...not sure what he expected. Better than a fake substance). So I did what I do from now on, and took the difference in price that I was overcharged on my phosphate off her tip. So yep, I left her $1. I'm probably never eating in-house again, but I've had too many service fails lately, and it's the only way they learn as far as I am concerned. Sorry, it just annoys me. I have too many friends that need jobs, and to see incompetents like this one at work is a shame.
So why four stars? I still love the ice cream (they have more flavors now too) and it's an original, that is for sure. Plus on Saturdays they have $1 coors drafts. Best deal anywhere on a Saturday night.
What happened to my favorite dive chili bar? Â
Last couple times we came here, our chili was mega watered down. Â It's more a brothy soup than chili. Â And last night when I stopped in to get a bowl to go, my bowl was the size of a small cup. Â Seriously? Â I used to get a bigger container. Â still small but HOLY COW! Â This would not have filled up my four year old niece. Â I'd rather pay a few bucks more for my "BOWL" of chili than come home to find out I shoulda ordered two of them to make a meal. Â
I know there are new owners, and I dunno if this is a result of that, though I am assuming so. Â My hubs and I had hoped they might do some updating and renovating and turn it into the kinda joint we could come watch a ball game, drink a beer and eat our lunch/dinner which is something our neighborhood is so, SO sorely lacking. Â Looks like that isn't gonna happen. Â And if this is the kind of quality I can expect from the food, I'll just drive the 10 minutes to the South Loop or Pilsen, where I CAN get that.
Ugh.
Came here tonight with my guy. Waitress was wiping down the tables and chairs and the place a stench to it. Place looked a bit dirty.
Ordered a Miller Lite on tap and he got Modelo. He ordered the cheeseburger special and I just got a burger with fries. Both of us were not impressed with our meal. Burger had no taste to it and it was dripping with oil. The fries were hard. Had to drench it with ketchup to eat it.
This was the most disappointing meal I have had in years. Â I had been looking forward to going to this restaurant for a long time. Â I was near one this past Saturday and sat down with some friends. Â We ordered Chili fries, Chili Mac, and 2 "soon to be famous" Italian Beefs, one "cheesy" located at the very top of the menu.
When ordering the waitress asked if the beef was the one with marinara sauce. Â After I said, No, beefs do not have marinara sauce. She said she must have been confused with the meatball sandwich. Â Strange, but fine. Â She came back a few minutes later and asked what kind of cheese I wanted on my beef though it says on the menu "cheddar cheese sauce". Â I asked for cheddar. Â We received our Chili fries which were really good. Â However, the tv was tuned into the Kardashians, and they were visiting someplace that had John Wayne Gacy's brain and it was disgusting. Â We asked her to please change the channel, which she did after a few minutes. Â
The waitress brought out our food, a "cheesy Italian beef" with guess what? Marinara sauce all over it. Â The Italian beef was gray and boiled. Â I thought about just taking it, but I just couldn't do it. Â We sent it back. Â She then came back with another beef that had American cheese slices melted on it. Â I asked, "is this Cheddar" and she said, "Hmm, I think it is." Â I tried to eat some of it but my deeply rooted love for Chicago Italian beef was dying inside. Â Meanwhile, Lindy's little ant friends were crawling across my Boyfriends Chili Mac plate.
This was the last straw. Â We sent both of our boiled, absolutely bland, and one plastic cheese covered beefs back to the waitress. Â She apologized and said she would give us a full refund, but we said that we would pay for the chili (regardless of ants it was tasty) and the drinks and fries. Â She offered us some ice cream, which we accepted, and was delicious.
However, one thing the waitress told us while apologizing, I believe that all yelpers should take to heart- "You know what? Â I only order the chili and the ice cream here, I never, NEVER order anything else..."
Wish I'd known that before I ordered.
This is a staple of the southside. In my opinion, it represents the neighborhood, southwest locale, and memories of my childhood. Yeah, its old and a little run down inside, but its full of personality and never lets you down. I do miss the original Gertie's on Kedzie...I still remember walking in from the summer heat to a cool breeze and the smell of ice cream!
I have no complaints about this place! There's always a place to sit, food is served quickly and hot, waitresses are attentive but not naggy, and the ice cream is the best you'll ever have. I'm happy they have turkey chili on the menu, and I've had their fish sandwich many times. Oh, and the onion rings are just about the best you'll get from anywhere. The prices have gotten a little high over the years, but what can you do?
Back to the ice cream - its the exact same stuff you would get at the original location on Kedzie. And everything is customizable - you can substitute chocolate ice cream for vanilla, combine toppings, etc. My usual is a hot fudge marshmallow sundae without the nuts. It will make you bust a gut, but you only live once!
When it comes to chili there is only one restaurant in town that is worth the drive. Â Lindy's Chili on Archer is hands down the best chili in Chicago. Â Lindy's has a meat and a meatless chili. Â Chili extras are also available, such as shredded cheese, sour cream, crackers, diced onions. Â Also, available at Lindy's are chili cheese fries and chili cheese dogs.
If you choose to eat in, you will enjoy a no-frills experience. Â And by no frills I mean no frills. Â Not even hot water in the bathroom sinks.
There is also a tiny bar often patronized by south siders who are constantly yelling at whatever game is on the tube.
On our last trip to Lindy's we got a root beer float that was so good, because it was made with Gertie's ice cream.
If you're craving chili, head to Lindy's.
If you are planning on coming here for a meal I highly suggest that you hide the bathroom scale for when you get back home. Â God, what is wrong with me?! Â I come in for a cup of chili and walk out with a belly full of onion rings, patty melts, turtle fudge sundaes, and yah some pretty hearty chili. Â I don't even know why I am admitting to my gluttony for the entire internet to read. Â I was bad, but the food was good. Â Maybe not so much the patty melt, that was just ok. Â Maybe next time I will opt that out. Â Also I do need to mention that the onion rings were exquisite. Â You can bite into them without fear of the whole ring sliding out and slapping you in the face. Â How do they do that? Â Is David Copperfield working some magic in the kitchen? Â
Service was ok considering we were in a chili shanty. Â The girl got all huffy because we wanted to order a dessert after she closed our tab without even asking. Â Plus there is a charge for all the toppings (cheese, onion and sour cream) so keep that in mind when ordering. Â Or just bring your own??????
Oh I wanted to like this place so much but I was sadly disappointed. I went here today with some friends for lunch. We order mac and cheese, some chili, fries, a burger, a grilled cheese and a ham and cheese sandwich. First off the mac and cheese was horrible. It was watery as the noodles were probably soaked in water and not drained properly when it was added to the melted cheese. The sandwiches and burger were meh. My friends complained that the cheese on their sandwiches were too salty. The fries were disgusting. They were tasteless and drenched in oil. My order of fries looked rather old compared to my friend's but both were equally bland and greasy so I guess I shouldn't be jealous. Now I don't understand what makes their chili famous. Can someone please tell me? The best chili I had was at some ski resort in Wisconsin. It probably came from a can too!
So for desert we ended up ordering some ice cream. I shared a hot fudge sundae with a friend. We ordered it to go and the lady put the sundae in a pop cup. It was messy and rather annoying as the hot fudge was separate. The ice cream was pretty good. My friend order a scoop of chocolate ice cream which tasted kinda funky.
Dear Lindy's,
I love you so much. Â I love you and I don't want to tell anyone about you, but I just can't help it. Â I get this way with boys and apparently favorite secret holes in the wall. Â
Chili is amazing and you can get it in a cup, bowl, or crock. Â Beans? Â No Beans? Â No problem. Â Add some cheese, onions, or sour cream. Â The onion is super strong and meets my onion breath needs. Â This chili is good. Â I forgot to mention you can buy it in a bucket for party needs or a 55 gallon drum (for around $2,300) if you're planning to start a militia in Wyoming or something. Â
You can add chili to any of their sandwiches, both on the sandwiches or as a side, in order to create a dream meal. Â Just stick with the chili though, it blows the other goods out of the water. Â
By sticking with straight up chili goodness, you can save room for the ice cream. Â I suggest the Sweet Sixteen Sundae. Â The description says "never been kissed" but the whipped cream and toppings on that monster made me feel more than a little bit dirty. Â
Chili, ice cream, and waitstaff straight out of the cast of Gummo. Â I need this like I need brick of solid gold thrown straight through the windshield of my car.
Haven't been there in years, but noticed the addition of Gertie's. Â They used to be on 59th and Kedzie by the Colony and I remember their "tummy buster". Â One of those if you can eat it all (by yourself - no help) you don't have to pay for it. Â Never did that one, but did others. Â Fond memories.
Now on to Lindy's. Â Went to De La Salle HS and passed the place every day on the bus. Â It was good back then and I assume based on the reviews I've read here, it still is.
I went to the other location on Archer last night. My girlfriend and I both love chili so when we were looking for a place to eat while we waited for her roommate to arrive at the summit amtrak station we both agreed on trying a place claiming to have chicago's favorite chili since 1924!
It did not disappoint one bit.
We ordered onion rings as an appetizer well before we put in our main order. I wouldnt say were mad when our chili and then Jackis salad arrived before them, we were just really excited for those onion rings we had been thinking about since the begining of our three hour drive from Indiana.
The chili was great, the italian dressing on the salad was great, the onion rings were great, and my burger was your standard 1/4 lb. burger. I was in the mood for a big thick burger, but this one with cheddar cheese hit the spot with its heaping, lettuce, tomato, onion, and slightly unusual pickles (way better than the ones McDonalds uses).
The only thing that could have made this any better would have been to cap it off with one of Gerties amazing ice cream treats, but after being on vacation all weekend and certainly eating like it, we had to resist. Til next time Lindy and Gerties.
Ice cream and chili - 2 great tastes that taste great together!
For a meal, silly! Â
If you're not sure what you want to eat, but you're in something that resembles a bad mood, chili and ice cream will make that bad mood disappear quickly. Â The service is like the decor - no nonsense. Â The results are great a fantastic price.
I don't know who Lindy or Gertie were, but I'm sure glad they opened up a chili and ice cream parlor!
My favorite Lindys and Gerties location, and the teenage waitress Kelly is the best!
They offer alot of comfort Chicago food but also have a "Dream Lite" section on the menu for the health conscious. lol
Beer specials are always fantastic especially when served on a mug for the price, and the ice cream melts in your mouth- literally. Although they have seasonal flavors like the Pumpkin during fall, the vanilla chocolate and strawberry are terrific.
Love Lindy's. 95cent Miller High Life draft, 3.00 pitchers, chili, and ice cream.  Good service( especially the woman behind the bar, and the teenage waitress with the glasses).  My old lady and I fequent here quite often(she has an ice cream treat while I get loaded). romantic  So here it is 5 highlife drafts,1 order chili cheese fries less than$6.50
Review Source:All I had here was a milkshake because I wanted to try "the best milkshake in Chicago" before I go vegan.
So yeah, it is the best milkshake in Chicago ;-). So thick and rich, I actually saved half of it and put in the freezer for an ice creamy treat the next day. Â A little pricey for a shake and it takes awhile to make, but it's worth the wait. Â If only they had veggie chilli!
I'm conflicted about Lindey's Chili...is it 3 stars, is it 5 stars???
I've been to the McKinley Park Lindy's twice now and in the same week. Â I think that speaks to a higher star count. Â
I walked in and immediately noticed that it was grungy, had some crackers and napkins on the floors under a couple of tables, etc. Â I worried, why would friends suggest we meet here for dinner??? Â Then everything became clear when the really nice waitress came over and announced the 95 cent beers and the $3.00 pitchers. Â I immediately forgot the muss I had initially noticed and enjoyed the classic Lindy's chili deal. Â The chili mac was super classic - for a couple bucks you get the chili of grade school nostalgia with the really fine grind of beef and elbow macaroni, you've got your cold beer for under a buck, you can also order a child's size Sundae...and your bill will be $9.00 total. Â Nice service, good place to meet up with friends - especially if you are on a budget, and the eggnog ice cream was a real treat. Â
That's how I ended back there three days later, introducing another friend to inexpensive eats and cheap beers.
Sometimes in the winter, when we get our one or two yearly snows, I dream about Lindy's Chili. Â It's that good.
I visit for work at a plant near here, and we ALWAYS have lunch at Lindy's, even if we're only there for one day. Â We've even had multiple lunches there in the same week.
Here are some of the things I love: Â the chili, the fact that you can buy chili by the drum, the tamales, the RC cola with cherry, the REAL caramel in the shake, the strawberry shake, the full glass of whipped cream that comes with your giant milkshake order, the way the waitress seems to love you and be annoyed with you all the time, the way they treat you like family, and many other things.
I always go to their food booth when they're at the Taste of Chicago, but this time I decided to go to the actual location. Â We were sooo hungry and had a taste for chili. Â Everything on their menu sounded so good. Â After deciding between the Chili Cavatappi (pasta with chili) and the Chili Extravaganza (tamales with chili and nachos), I decided to go with the latter. Â They serve the Extravaganza with Tom Tom Tamales. Â The tamales were far from authentic and had some kind of unidentifiable filling in them....not sure if they were beans or ground meat, but whatever it was, I thought it was pretty good. Â The chili was delicious!
The ice cream creations are gigantic! Â Other customers ordered ice cream and I was amazed. Â I just had a root beer float, which I loved. Â I will definitely return if I'm around the area....I'm already thinking about getting the chili cheese nachos!
Mmm that was some good chili.
I had an RC (yes! RC!) and my beau had a Lite ($1.50 draft).
We sat and ate and watched Miracle on 34th Street. There were lots of well-behaved families - meaning there wasn't an annoying whiny kid in the joint. Our waitress was really sweet, too.
We saved the ice cream for our next visit.
This place doesn't disappoint. Â Damn good chili!
This place has been a South Side institution for years, all the way back to 1901 when it was on 55th & California. Â They decided to combine two great things and put them under one roof. Â Lindy's and Gertie's was born! Â Check out the local celebs on the wall who've been here, including Mayor Daley and Harry Caray.
Get yourself a $1.50 beer in a frosty mug, order up some of that famous chili, then treat yourself to a ice cream sundae.
Everyone in the place is respectful and quiet, even though it's a family restaurant. Â It's also very diverse: white, black, Hispanic, everyone's just here for the chili.
This place has a pretty mean bowl of chili. Â Of course this is what they are well known for. Â I personally like it with some sour cream, cheese, and onions. Â They also serve hot dogs and burgers, which are only fairly decent. Â Stay away from the french fries, unless you like mushy, raw potatoes. Â But the most redeeming quality of this restaurant, is while you are waiting for your order, indulge yourself with a Corona in a frosty mug while sitting at the bar. Â (For some reason, it tastes better in a frosty mug- don't ask me why.)
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