G&N Snack Shop

Anyone ever been to this place? I'm just surprised that it's still open, same name & everything, because it was there back in the 60's, across the street from my old grammar school. It was the only hamburger place around until Burger King opened up sometime in the early 70's.

Just wondering what the story is.

G&N Snack Shop
5100 West North Avenue
Chicago

Hey Liz. You sure ask a lot of questions. This would be a perfect opportunity for you to visit the place and report back on a new find for LTH.

I lived a few blocks north about 20 years ago.

Back then it was just a standard grill. I had an average breakfast or two there.

The crown on the sign always reminded me of gangs.

stevez wrote:Hey Liz. You sure ask a lot of questions. This would be a perfect opportunity for you to visit the place and report back on a new find for LTH.

Hint taken ;>

Well, I can't find anyone that will go with me & I don't think I should go alone, just me & the kid...so....maybe I'll find another place to post about. FWIW I did do a post about cooking goulash.

I went to the Des Plaines Dairy Queen today - quite a fancy DQ compared to the one in Park Ridge....but I had no camera.

I'll keep trying

Liz in Norwood Park wrote:I went to the Des Plaines Dairy Queen today - quite a fancy DQ compared to the one in Park Ridge....but I had no camera.

Liz,

No camera necessary, I'd love to hear about what made the DQ so "fancy", what you had to eat, if you had a burger, dipped sprinkle cone or maybe even a famous Dairy Queen Blizzard.

Enjoy,
Gary

Well...it was mighty fancy!

First off, it looks like it was housed in something that was a pancake house or some other type of restaurant before it was a DQ. All the DQ's I've ever seen have been flat roof & square. This one had a peaked roof, was quite large, and had a drive-thru! This is not something I have encountered before. To be fair, the only DQ's I have ever visited were the ones at Irving/Austin & Park Ridge. Both of these had the same square box, flat roof shape & the menus were limited & it was walk in service. The Park Ridge one looks like something straight out of the 50's.

This DQ had several more menu offerings - 2 kinds of panini/melt type sandwiches, and a lot of other things, although I have to say I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention because it was 2:30PM & I had my daughter with me who was kind of cranky/hungry /bored because she had been at work with me all day (thank GOD Easter vaction ends today & school starts monday). ANyway, the most startling thing to me was that there were 2 tables of children, unaccompanied, at this DQ. I'm talking 2 7-8 year old girls & 2 10-11 year old boys. Alone. So I'm thinking Des Plaines must be some sort of Utopia where kids actually walk to the DQ by themselves...or who knows, maybe their parents were working behind the counter, although the counter help all seemed rather young.

We ordered the kids special for her, which is a great deal - You get a hot dog/cheeseburger/chicken nuggets choice plus an order of fries, and a choice of fountain drink/chocolate milk/arctic blast (slushie) & a soft-serve cone dipped in flavored coating (butterscotch, cherry, chocolate) for something like $3.00. Darn! You also get a toy, which we forgot to ask for & they did not offer. Just realized that.

I had a cheeseburger, which was $1.69 and I ordered it with everything. I never had ordered a cheeseburger before & so I didn't know that everything means ketchup, mustard & pickle. It kind of reminded me of the 1930's burger thread. It came wrapped in waxy paper & it was greasy good. The bun was slightly steamed from the wrapping, I'm guessing, and it tasted very good.

The girl ordered the hot dog & fries & sprite (too cold for an Arctic Slush she decided) - she loves their hot dogs - at age 7 she knows what Vienna means.

The cone was the best though. And since we were taking our order to go, she got to eat dessert first while waiting for the food to cook. The cone is soft serve & then dipped in buterscotch coating that forms a shell - the portion was bigger than Park Ridge DQ and also the hotdog came in a little box ("Its a house for the hot dog!" the girl cried joyfully) not in a wrapper, like we get in Park Ridge.

We will definitely go back. We got 2 cheeseburgers (I was bringing one back for a coworker) and a kids meal & the total was $6.13.

We preceeded the DQ experience with a trip to Fuller's car wash across the street from DQ. It was also a great deal as you get an automated car wash & free unlimited vacuuming for $3.00. All day, everyday day.

So in summary:

Fullers car wash & vacuum: $3

DQ lunch for 3: $6.13

Getting a clean car & lunch for under $10: Priceless.

EDIT: Wheeee! My first food review! I'm feeling kind of special

Liz in Norwood Park wrote:Well, I can't find anyone that will go with me & I don't think I should go alone, just me & the kid...so....maybe I'll find another place to post about.

Next time, post to the events board.

Well, that would make sense except I wasn't even sure if it was safe to venture there, quite frankly. And this from someone who lived in the 60639 zip code from 1959 (actually then it was 60659) til 2001.

I just was thinking about burgers & stuff & G&N came into mind so I googled it & sure enough its still there.

G&N was kinda seedy way back in the 60's so I have no idea how it is now...it was a spur of the moment kind of post tripping down memory lane (geez at least I didn't post an asking post about Rocky's candy store next door - "anyone get banana Beich's 2 for a penny??" or Ice Cubes for 5 cents each?)
Not sure G&N is worthy of an "event".

Liz

Where the heck is there a DQ in Des Plaines? I live in DP and for the life of me cannot figure out where it is. Maybe my powers of observation are slipping, but I have no recollection of ever seeing a DQ in our town.

Enlightenment please.

Buddy

Maybe here:

1165 Elmhurst Rd
Des Plaines, IL 60016
(847) 290-1200

Cannot say I have seen it, but have not looked for it either.

Algonquin Road & ....Elmhurst Maybe?

Theres a Mr Beef directly across the street.

EDIT:And a Pancake House right next door

You must be a former St. Peter Canisius schoolkid. My best friend's mom took up almost permanent residence at G & N's in the '70's. I travelled back to the old church for a while last year until they closed it in June. I used to park on North Ave. in front of the restaurant, but didn't eat there. It looks pretty much the same, if not better, than it did way back when.

I would recommend visiting in the daytime.

YIKES.

Yes, SPC was my school. '73 Grad.

I am saddened to hear that the church has closed. Do you know the reason why?

I am saddened to hear that the church has closed. Do you know the reason why?

Yes, they would collect about $600 week and need $6000 for expenses. The Archdiocese shut them down. The parishoners could not have been warmer and friendlier.

I am a '77 graduate.

Sad.

Liz in Norwood Park wrote:Well, that would make sense except I wasn't even sure if it was safe to venture there, quite frankly. And this from someone who lived in the 60639 zip code from 1959 (actually then it was 60659) til 2001.

I just was thinking about burgers & stuff & G&N came into mind so I googled it & sure enough its still there.

G&N was kinda seedy way back in the 60's so I have no idea how it is now...it was a spur of the moment kind of post tripping down memory lane (geez at least I didn't post an asking post about Rocky's candy store next door - "anyone get banana Beich's 2 for a penny??" or Ice Cubes for 5 cents each?)
Not sure G&N is worthy of an "event".

Liz

I live in Oak Park and often travel North Ave on my way to city eateries and G&N hasn't changed that much since the 70's. Dusty, dirty in a somewhat bad neighborhood.

It sure would not be a place for a full blown event but for a quick investigative run it would be fine. There are many diamonds in the rough out there.

Who knows? They might have some awesome burgers! Perhaps a great grits and eggs breakfast?

I would be willing to take one for the team sometime on a weekend perhaps on that cusp between breakfast and lunch.

Liz in Norwood Park wrote:I had a cheeseburger, which was $1.69 and I ordered it with everything. I never had ordered a cheeseburger before & so I didn't know that everything means ketchup, mustard & pickle. It kind of reminded me of the 1930's burger thread. It came wrapped in waxy paper & it was greasy good. The bun was slightly steamed from the wrapping, I'm guessing, and it tasted very good.

I am a sucker for a cheap burger deal and I have been eyeing DQ's latest commercials where they tout 2 cheeseburgers for $2.22 and two doubles for $3.33. The burgers sure look good (don't they always) in the ad's and with your review it sounds right up my alley.

The closest one is downtown and I am along that way often. ... or maybe the one at Irving and Central?

I have to stop and give it a try.

Dairy Queen‎
222 S Riverside Plaza
Chicago

Dairy Queen‎
5636 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago