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Categories: Sandwiches, Food
200 S. Des Plaines AveMon-Thu. 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Fri-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 a.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
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Who needs $5 foot longs when you have Submarine Tender?!!?!?!?!? I recently moved to the area and I must admit I have eaten here quite a bit. I can eat a turkey sub every single day and not get tired of it. Between the mayo and the cheese I lose my mind! I bought a party pan of mini subs and took them to an event...people went CRAZY!
My other favorites are the pizza puffs and the gyros. YUMMMMMMM!
The staff is really friendly, the parking lot sucks, the late night crowd is kind of off the chain but it's all in good fun.
P.S. If you like men in uniform...this is definitely the place to be.
I think I'll try a shake today. :-)
Oh yeah B.G. Fries, I can't believe its taken me this long to discover them. Sub T has definitely set some standards in creativity when it comes to taken an ordinary french fry to new heights. I love the char-crunch polish sausage with grilled onions, a little southside action in good ol' Forest Park. Sub T does have a late night munchy hour on the weekends until 4AM, now there is not excuse not to visit with late hours like this. Since I am a new customer I will update this review with one of their famous subs next. Stay tuned...
Sub T is the reason I cannot eat at sandwich chains. I've been coming here since it opened, many, many years ago.
In over a decade, I have torn myself away from my usual "Sub T" sub order and had a Gyro maybe 2 or 3 times, but my go-to is the original "Sub T." It's their version of an Italian Sub, but it's so much better than your average Italian. I love their food, and everything that my friends and family has tried (Turkey Sub, Pattie Melt, Pizza Puff, Cheese Sub) has been well-received!
I love shredded lettuce, which they use, and I'm a HUGE fan of cheese. The cheese on their subs are all pre-sliced to exactly fit the bread, but sometimes I wish the cheese was just a little bigger so I could eat more of it! So good.
I'm a fan of the BG fries - I think you either love them or hate them.
Their chocolate shakes make me soooooooooooo happy. They're thick, rich and delicious, but not so thick that you can't suck it through the straw. Perfect!
I could eat a Sub T 4 days a week and not get sick of it.
When I lived out East my parents would pick me up from the airport and go right to Sub Tender. I missed it, but I'm glad I'm back and have the luxury of enjoying it whenever I want!
Late night rendezvous...
Their parking lot is a bit tight so if passengers in your car had a couple of drinks, make sure they open the car doors carefully.
The Good: Pretty much everything. I would say my taste buds were tricked into enjoying the food so much since I'm usually in a drunken state whenever I eat there, but I go there sober too. Highly suggest the BG fries if you're not a health nut. They can be made too salty at times but you could ask for another batch if that's the case. Subs are always good no matter what you grab. Even the pizza puff is good, and I haven't had 1 of those since high school. Gyros are huge and stacked. The burgers are average to above average depending on what you get. The key there is the subs though. I like the roast beef and pastrami combo, but everyone has a different favorite. Patrons usually grab to go as well so seating is never really a problem.
The Bad: Never order a sandwich "hot." They heat them in the microwave for a bit, and it makes the sandwich worse. Sure the cheese is melted, but the bread becomes tougher. There have been many a times in an inebriated state I would think "A hot sandwich would be sooo good right now." Then after taking 2 bites, the rest of the sandwiches is either all over my clothes or on th wax paper since I would be wrestling with the bread like a dog and its chew toy. Also, cops always grab grub here too so if you're a belligerent drunk and underage stay away.
The Ugly: No bathrooms! I mean I'm a guy so I don't mind peeing in the grassy alley to the restaurant's side, but I'm sure it will be a problem for the ladies. Also since everyone and their mama goes here after barring around Forest Park, you're going to lines so try to come a little earlier than everyone else to beat the rush. With all those bar patrons coming by you should get a fine fill of drunks. With those drunks you can get either the too loud too happy drunks or fights. Either one is a type I don't really care for when I'm eating. The people there are normally really friendly but this is just a warning of what could be confronted there...
Other than that...great place with good eats
Sub Tender is the food I think about when I get homesick, or when I come home after a late night and think "Damn, I wish Minneapolis had Sub Tender." Nothing beats a sub, fries and lemonade at 1am. Part of my love of ST might be that it reminds me of home and the good ol' days. As my boyfriend (who did not have the luxury of growing up in the area) says, 'It's just a sandwich." Maybe, but where else can you get a decent sub at 2am?
There's no way I'd give this place less than 5 stars, but damn if I haven't nearly destroyed my car in that horrible little parking lot.
Greatest sub ever. I often debate what I would give up for a certain food... You know to help me determine how much I REALLY like something. For instance, would I trade my dog for a sub tender? No question.
I'm still debating on whether or not my first born will be on the table here to get a sub tender. We're a few years away from kids, but I'll keep you posted...
I dream about their cheese fries; I compare all others to this place and haven't found many that are as good or better.
I love this place, it's only a few blocks from my parents house so I stop by frequently for some cheese fries or for a sub. The cheese fries are super cheap and come in this big paper cone-like contraption, a steal for the price. They are cheesy perfection.
I will say the subs are just ok, they'll do in a pinch, but they're nothing to write home about. I guess I'm spoiled by the perfection that is Alpine Subs just across town. Sub Tender is much more than subs and fries, they have a little bit of everything: gyros, burgers, dogs, shakes, fish sandwiches and more. The staff, I assume they're all family, have been here for ages and work like a well oiled machine.
Bottom line: If you're looking for some good fast food give this place a try, there's a little something for everyone; unless of course you're looking for a salad then you're SOL...
TIP: They're known for their BG (butter-garlic) fries, lots of people rave about them although I'm really not a fan.
Here are your instructions...
1.Go late at night after some drinking
2. Order a Regular Cheese Sub with lettuce, tomato, mayo
3. Bring the sandwich home
4. Devour Sub
5. Go to sleep
As far as a sub place goes, this is my all time favorite. Cheese Fries yum, pickles yum....order my best friends favorite:
King Size Roast Beef with x x oil and easy onion. - i opt for small, but you should get the king size, so you can save some for later when you're back in lincoln park and you're craving more.
OMG. I totally drive here from taylor street once every few weeks to grab lunch for the office. YUM. *(oh yea, and 325 for a sub - cant go wrong)
Throughout Junior and Senior year of High School, Submarine Tender was our local hang out spot: On weekends my friends and I would go there late night, order sandwiches and shoot the shit for 2 hours. This continued into summers during college when we all came back home. We liked it so much that we even got our picture taken there - if you walk in you can still see it hanging on the wall on the right side of the counter. To this day, it's sub sandwiches are hard to beat by anybody in the Chicagoland area and any trip back requires a stop at Sub-T.
A few of the favorites over the years:
The Depth Charge
The Pastrami
The Pizza Puff
Sub-T is what it is: A place to go late night to get some good quick food. You order it, you sit down, you eat. After a night at the Madison street bars it's the only Worthwile place in town.
I don't expect everyone to understand the five star rating, but to me, a place with so much history can get no less.
It is what it is--greasy grub, open late. Yum. FP's answer to the taco/burrito. We don't have tacos, we have Sub T.
While you're waiting in line, be sure to check out the sticker machine by the wall--last time we were there it had 'Virgin Mary with Bling' stickers. No joke.
Park on the street if you can, because the parking lot is an outstanding place to get a door ding.
BG FRIES.
Open late. Good location. Cheap! I've never eaten here in my right mind, so I don't know if I'd recommend it in any other condition. It must be a trip to work here. I give major props to the employees for putting up with hordes of drunken customers.
King turkey and cheese sub. BG FRIES. SubT is perfection with one minor flaw - RC Cola. Really?
BG FRIES!
Man I hate to be the lone dissenter here but...
I had my first experience at "Sub Tender" a couple weeks ago.
**Just a side note, 2 and a half years ago, at the ripe old age of 22 or 23 or something, I gave up drinking so maybe I can no longer appreciate drunken food binges anymore...**
I had a turkey sub with those infamous garlic butter fries. The sub was good enough, I ate the whole thing at like 12:30am. The fries were good too. HOWEVER...
I don't know if this was a direct result of dining there or just a vicious coincidence but the next 4 days I was completely sick with the stomach ache from hell and some pretty unforgiving diarrhea.
My best friend ate there for the first time just a few days before me (he also ordered the buttery garlic fries) and had a similar digestive episode. Hmm...
I did enjoy the little toy vending machine that dispensed the miniature rubbery plastic monkeys though I paid for 3 and only got 1.
Greasy and fantastic. Butter garlic fries are great! Be prepared to smell like garlic for 3 days! I used to get these all the time in high school. I would go home and go to bed. The next morning the whole house would smell like garlic just from me breathing!
Could stand to be cleaner, but with all that grease I don't see how its possible!
How i've found myself at subt's 3 years later again? Dunno but da point is they got me coming back. I remember those drunk college nights starving headin back to da dorms and da only place being open at 3/4 in da morning is SubT's. There turkey subs with their delicious cheese fries and jus showing my college id to get a free pop. O it was great! I've been back a cpl times recently and I wasn't drunk and u know what? Da food is still good!!
If Yelp ever does an event in Forest Park, say at Doc Ryan's, then the late night food stop will be here. This is the low-down:
There are probably better places to get a sub in the area, but when it's 3 AM and you've had a few too many and your Designated Driver has had just about enough of your drunkenness and for dragging him out to Forest Park, you need to grab him a bite at Sub T's. This may not make sense, but a 3 AM, this is the best food in the world. If you like garlic, be sure to get the butter and garlic fries, just don't come looking for me when it takes 2 toothbrushes to get the taste out of your mouth the next morning.
A good place for the late drunks, but don't order any hot sandwiches. They're always hot in some places, cold in others. Others seem to not notice it, but it usually is 3am and they're drunk.
You GOTTA get the butter & garlic fries though. They're bad for you, but taste great!
I don't even know what I order here. All I know is I probably slur something and they try to decipher what I said. I always enjoy it and the next morning my pants are always a little tighter. No where else is open as late and is as good. Great way to end a forgettable night. PS-They are really nice too.
My favorite thing about the subs is the cheese. It tastes like cheese sauce, but it's in the form of a slice; it melts in your mouth. The slices are very unique, they are the length of the sandwich. So if you order a foot long, (king?), the slice of cheese is a long narrow 12 inch slice of cheese. It defies food science.
The subs are a step above Mr. Sub, but in that same style. The GB fries are good during the day, and knee-buckling when you get them late night. Also, family owned and operated, which I love.
I had the gyro here and it was huge, yummy and cheap. The butter garlic fries were also pretty good. Although, the gyro alone was more than I could eat. You really don't need the fries too.
OK after quite a few drinks this is the place for late night greasy grub! My friend who grew up on BG (butter n garlic) fries said we have to come here! It was a great late night fix! They are open until 4 am on the weekend. I do have to warn you, you will need lots of gum and mouthwash after this place, but it's well worth it!!
I have to be honest. I've only gotten the gyros there. And I LOVE them. They are really big and really good. Great sauce. I also get an order of fries (and then order extra sauce for dipping purposes). Great, great, great.....when you need something bad, this is something good.
For those of us who live in the area, I can tell you from experience, Sub Tender IS the only place to go to after a hard night of drinking on Madison Street. There are alot of choices to make, from gyros to sub sandwiches. And while the butter and garlic fries are really something (they really are), the cheese fries are just as good. I love this place, especially when you are hungry late night, and even if you haven't been drinking. It's open pretty late (I'm not sure because I've closed many a bar and they seem to still be open after the fact) and the food is decent. Definitely the place to go if you happen to drive this direction to bar hop.
Maybe it's because I'm from Oak Park and it's the best late-night greasy joint in the area. Maybe it's because they have everything a little drunkie could want at 1 in the morning. Let's see - garlic butter fries, cheese fries, onion rings, gyros, subs, pizza puffs, must I go on? Maybe it's because the guys behind the counter always know what I want (king turkey everything!). Maybe it's because it's always a menagerie of every walk of life every time I go in there. I don't know. But I love me some Submarine Tender. Thanks.
This is a great little greasy spot with all the usual Vienna beef goods, the service, at least during lunch has been really nice and easy going. They also have about ten or more subs you can choose from and when you get the largest size sandwich, it's no joke. There gyros, burgers, mozzarella sticks, pizza puffs, and fries all had there usual deep fried goodness. I plan on trying everything they got, so far they are yet to disappoint.
Great late night eating (or even hungover lunch) in the Forest Park area. Pretty much the only place to go after bar close on Madison St. Subs are the traditional varied meats with tons of oil. The garlic butter fries are to die for, but make sure you don't have a hot date that night! Open til 4am!
This is one of the only places to get food really late in the Oak Park/River Forest/Forest Park triangle. I do have to disagree with Pat G's tip not to order any hot sandwiches; this place does the greasy beef stuff as well as anyone else in the area. If you're around here and it's 3am, this is definitely the place to be. Go for the cheese fries, they're mountainous and delicious.
i looove the subs. even tho they changed the bread, it's still way better than subway, or any crappy corporate place like that. and you can't beat the bg {butter garlic} fries!
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