Jay's Beef

The tables were filthy - all of them. There was no soap or towels in the restrooms (where do the employees wash their hands?!)

Before realizing any of this, we ordered two Italian Beefs, a large fries, and two drinks. Drinks come in small, medium, and large and there are no refills.

The order was filled quickly and I carried it to our table where I found my wife washing it down. The table was the cleanest she could find and that's not saying much. There was a roll of paper towels on the table -she took a bunch into the restroom to get them wet to clean it before we ate.

The fries were actually very good - crisp. The sandwiches were large. When they ask if you want hot or sweet peppers know they do not use Giardinara, they use green peppers which have been cooked in some sort of hot spices, and yellow/orange peppers (which we didn't get) for their sweet peppers.

By comparison, it wasn't bad but I've had much better elsewhere. It was when I went into the restroom before we left and realized there was no soap at all, I was disgusted by the entire experience.

Although I'm reviewing Jay's today the last time I was there was in March, pre covid.

And coincidentally I got sicker than crap 1 day later. Not because of the food though so I'm still a fan of Jay's when I'm staying at a hotel near the Airport. It's worth the uber ride.

The beef is tender, enough. The gravy is spiced pretty well and the bread is the way it should be. It hold up to being dipped and their sweet peppers are on point.

The fries are tender and crispy with just the right amount of grease to hold the salt.

If you're staying nearby and don't have a car it's a very acceptable beef.

I heard that this location just closed down and that's a shame because I've been eating here for over twenty years. Great beef sandwiches!
I understand that the Chicago and Harwood Heights locations are still open for business. Make the trip to one of those two locations. It's worth the travel, same great beef sandwiches.

This is a great, local joint in Schiller Park. All the locals know to come here for good service, and solid, greasy food. I had the burger, my wife, the hot dog. The fries are golden, crispy brown and had a good mix of softer and super crunchy fries. The burger was not especially thick, but had good flamed taste. Worth checking out if you're in the area! Won't look pretty, but it'll be sure to please he taste buds!

This was one of the places I had marked for an Italian Beef sandwich if I was in the area.
Found myself nearby, so swung over to check this place out.
Inside was a bit on the scruffy side. I guess this place has been around a long time without an update in it's looks.
Ordered an Italian Beef with hot peppers. The sandwich itself had a very large amount of beef. The fellow preparing the sandwich in front of me put on a miniscule amount of hot peppers. I had to tell him to put on more so they would not get lost in the sandwich.
As for the sandwich itself.......I've had better. The beef was just OK at best. There was a lot of it which in this case was not a plus. The hot pepper mix was pretty lame. It added neither heat nor flavor to the sandwich. Another thing is that the sandwich was not cheap. The most expensive Italian Beef so far in my quest to try out every place.

I'll take a pass on returning.

Cheers to all

23 seats. One 1995 vintage TV and Italian beef sammiches. Was it beyond compare? I don't know, but the restaurant genre is ubiquitous in Chicago Land. I will definitely try more, but would go out of my way for Jay's version. Finding one of the cozy sandwich dives cloned on every other corner, it should not be difficult to find comparison.

Filthy. Guy making food had a glove on. Good start. But used the same hand to work the cash, handle money. Then wiped the same hand with the same dish rag he was using to clean his counter. Yum.

Walked out before ordering.

I don't really rate these joints on their service just strictly the product that they're selling. Jays gets 3 stars from moe as far as their beef goes. I thought it was pretty cool that you can literally see your beef being made right in front of you, but the end product wasn't very satisfying. Not the worst beef I've tried but definitely no where near as close to the best. I felt that the beef itself lacked flavor and spices. I did not have an issue with the giardiniera but the bread did split in half immediately. For me that's one of the most important things is for the bread to hold a dipped beef without any problems. I will likely give this place another chance event thought there are so many options in that area.

Ample grub. Italian Beef was tender, but still on the dry side even though I asked for it to be dipped. Hot Dog was as expected and Fries done just right-- not too greasy.

Fast professional service. A family who pays attention to the details. Delicious food at a great price. Make sure you ask for hot peppers on your juicy beef.