Ken Tone's Drive-In (East Pilsen)

Here's another in the continuing series on South Side Beef.

Ken Tone's was recently mentioned in another thread. I was in the neighborhood the other Saturday so I stopped by for an Italian beef. Maybe I caught them at a bad time but I found it very disappointing. It was 11am so it's possible they weren't set up yet for sandwiches (they open at 6am and seem to do a good breakfast business). The meat had the ruffled edges and rubbery texture that suggested it had been microwaved. In support of this theory the sandwich was so hot I could barely touch it for several minutes. The chunky cauliflower-rich giardiniera and bread were fine but standard. The sandwich wasn't dumpster material but I sure wouldn't go out of my way for another like it.

If I'm in the area again I might give Ken Tone's another try. They have a more extensive menu than many similar fast food places. Things like grilled whitefish sandwiches and homemade soup. It's an agreeable place to sit (plenty of free newspapers around) and they even have some outside picnic tables. There's probably a reason it's been around for over 35 years.

That stretch of 18th in East Pilsen is rather pleasant and interesting. On Saturday morning there was a nice mix of people on the street: laborers coming back from the corner tavern with their morning six pack, artists emerging from their studios, and new arrivals coming out of their just-built condos to walk the setter or fire up the Mini.

Ken Tone's Drive-In
551 W 18th St (just west of Canal, midway between the River and Expressway)
Chicago
312-226-4404
Mon-Fri 6am-5pm, Sat 6am-4pm

Thanks for the report. I've been looking at Ken Tone's and wondering about it. It's within a stone's throw of a couple of good eating places. Just around the corner on Canal is the great Richman Chinese Market. We didn't stop at the market when we were at that corner last Saturday, though, because we were headed to GranitePro, just down the block on Clinton. When we walked onto the lot a couple of the guys were manning a big Viking grill. They asked whether we wanted burgers or dogs. We asked for burgers. We went in and met a salesman. As we were starting to look at the samples, the cook showed up again to see how we wanted the burgers done. Medium rare. We picked out our granite before the burgers were even done (great salesman, not fussy customers after all the kitchen decisions we've been making the last few years). Got our burgers, big juicy burgers, perfectly cooked, on a hostess bun with only ketchup and mustard. Terrific. They explained that in the summer they grill every Saturday, so if you're in the area, or in the market for granite, give it a try.

I have driven by this place 4000 times and finaly made it in yesterday. The menu is quite exstensive including a "healthy" menu with a white chili which is a chicken chili & fresh made juices like celery and carrot. I showed up around 2pm and a fairly good sized croud was still eating. I ordered two dogs with fries and a Gyros. I noticed they had an up charge for hot peppers but assumed it was for other menu items. I ordered my dogs with the works and it did not come with sport peppers. How do you charge extra for sport peppers? I only wanted two or three, thats it. I can get a #10 can of the things for under $7. The unripened tomato and soggy pickle I get must cost more than three tiny peppers. Anyway, the fries we standard at best as was the gyros. If I ever stop by again it will be to try there white chili and a carrot juice.

It's the kind of place that you want to like more than you do-very average. Kind of a The BLT is safe, the soups taste very foodservicey, hotdogs are not really very good, although I understand that the salad is pretty good. Once when I asked for carrot juice they insisted on mixing it with orange juice. Maybe the breakfast stuff is better...

It's in the neighborhood, so I've stopped in there a few times for a quick bite. Pretty uninspired fast food, but it's a step up from MacD's or Burger King which is damning with faint praise indeed. The best thing I've had there is the grilled Italian sausage - served with a good D'Amato bread and a pretty tasty red sauce. Everything else I've tried (breakfast sandwich, tacos, hot dogs, burgers, fries) is pretty meh. But it's pretty popular, always busy no matter what time day - I attribute that more to the big parking lot and location close to the expressway than to the food. And you definitely gotta love those free Sun Times floating around.

Some coworkers and The NAV MAN made another KEN TONES run for lunch today. Its on west 18th and Canal. Pretty close to the mill for us so although this was not my first rodeo I still had a fluttering of excitement/apprehension when the flank strap was tightened on my Combo w/hot peppers. As always the Gastrosino crew delivered the goods with care.

Solid Combo, bad fries, KEN TONES.

KEN TONES
WEST 18th and CANAL