Tommy's Grill: Biscuits & Gravy [Pictures]

LTH,

Attempted to meet JimInLoganSquare last week at Tommy's Grill, which advertises "ISCUITSG GRAVY", no luck they are closed on Sundays, we ended up having a very nice breakfast atEdna's.

I still had iscuits [sic] on my mind so when The Goat King suggested a late breakfast Friday, on his way to pick up the guest of honor for his annual pig roast at Grant Park Packing, Tommy's was the logical choice.

Tommy's Grill


Perseverance paid as Tommy's B & G, or Concrete as The Goat King calls them, were really quite good. We both got the special, B & G, two eggs and sausage. I had both patty (spicy) and link (mild) and The Goat King turkey sausage.

Tommy's Grill Biscuits and Gravy



Everything being served looked good, and pretty much every second person was having catfish or perch, which were daily specials.

Tommy's Grill Special's 9.1.06


Tommy himself was friendly, prices very reasonable, joint was clean as a whistle and the place had an overall comfortable feel. I even ran into someone I knew, Bryan, Robert Adams nephew. Bryan said a must have taco in the general area is Raymond's, a block or two East of California on 22nd st, for carne asada. He also said he likes the corned beef plate at Moon's Sandwich Shop

Tommy's Grill


I'll be back, and quite soon.

Enjoy,
Gary

Tommy's Grill
456 N Damen Ave
Chicago, IL
312-421-3915
5am - 2:30pm
Closed Sunday

Moon's Sandwich Shop
16 S Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60612
312-226-5094

Edna's Restaurant
3175 West Madison Street
Chicago, IL 60612
773-638-7079

Perseverance paid as Tommy's B & G, or Concrete as The Goat King calls them, were really quite good. We both got the special, B & G, two eggs and sausage. I had both patty (spicy) and link (mild) and The Goat King turkey sausage.

Turkey Sausage? The Goat King?

Well, I just guess I'm going to have to come over for an early breakfast before the Beefathon!

Bruce wrote:Well, I just guess I'm going to have to come over for an early breakfast before the Beefathon!

Bruce,

Considering both he and I ate way too much piggy meat, not to mention crisp skin, the next day turkey sausage may have been the right call.

Goat King '06 Pig




Enjoy,
Gary

Mrs. JiLS and I enjoyed breakfast at Tommy's Grill this morning. Naturally enough, I ordered the biscuits and gravy, plus two over easy and bacon. Mrs. JiLS went for the "2-2-2-2" (two eggs, two slices bacon, two pieces of sausage and two large pancakes), plus an order of hash browns. Mrs. JiLS and I both were much impressed by the soup bowl full of butter, with an upright knife stuck therein, that was presented with her meal. That, plus the sparkling cleanliness of the place, truly sold Mrs. JiLS on Tommy's, despite it's "characterful" neighborhood.

The low-down on the biscuits and gravy is as follows. The biscuits were decent, tasted fresh and while not truly remarkable, were a lot better than most of what you find served hereabouts. The gravy was an honest effort, with enough sausage to at least enter the left end of the bell curve of acceptable sausage content and enough flavor that it could be rescued with a bit of black pepper (or, as Gary shows above, some Pete's hot sauce). So, not bad at all. (Edgebrook Diner is still the one and only place in Chicago I've found that gets the gravy right.) Decent coffee. Plus, they threw in complimentary orange juice, and the total bill was about $14, including tax. Try getting out of Bongo Room for $14 for two (and if you don't mind being laughed at, try asking them for complimentary orange juice, too; maybe if you are Jack White's manicurist, you would get it).

Most country gravy served at the "Greek" places that dominate the Chicago market is just a flavorless white goo with a few flecks of sausage simulacrum floating forlornly about. And the biscuits are ridiculous, pieces of steamed brickbat, tasting three days stale, served with contempt and the thought that, smothered in enough of the Le Page's white library paste, nobody would notice. Well ... Not so, buddy! Anyway, it's not like Tony's gets it entirely right, but they at least don't get it entirely wrong, either. One interesting feature of the presentation is that they slice the biscuit and set both halves, open face down, on the griddle with some butter to heat them up. The results were so-so, compared to a freshly baked biscuit taken directly from the oven and placed on your plate, it's obviously not the same. But, it beat the heck out of the way many places, including, e.g., Edgebrook Diner, abuse their biscuits, which is to make one monster batch and put them all in a metal box over a steam table. I've said it before and will gladly bore any who wish to listen with my analysis that biscuits are really analogous to a souffle; they have a definite half life, they need to be served and enjoyed straight out of the oven, or else they will harden up, lose their flavor and basically fail to be real biscuits; or, at least, really worthwhile biscuits. (Although the frozen biscuits from Southern Foods in Kenosha somehow manage to survive that process at least marginally well; so there can be no absolutes, here.)

One last thing to note: Tommy's had a nice big pot of slow-cooked grits on the stove, which Tommy stirred up once or twice while we were there. I didn't have the appetite for B&G plus grits, so I can't answer to the quality; but superficially, at least, they looked pretty good. (I also noted they kept a stash of instant grits on hand for those who might order them outside breakfast hours; in itself a good sign, I suppose.)