MBK wrote:the turkey plate looks outstanding. i'm sure the stuffing and gravey were delicious but... why would your torture yourself with that ancient mayan hot sauce?

'cause when I stopped at Lincolnwood Produce to refresh my stash they were out of Green Habanero.

Interestingly, El Yucateco lists Kutbil-Ik as 11,600 on the Scoville Scale and Green Habanero as 9,000.

Enjoy,
Gary

In case anyone is reading and can drop everything suddenly, I have a burger craving and am headed to Patty's for a 12:30 lunch. Company is welcome.

Stopped by last week for my maiden voyage and had a great meal and some fun conversation.


Flame is a good thing!


I started my meal with a cup of Chicken Rice soup and substituted mac-n-cheese for the fries.


Juicy, fresh with a nice char. Veggies nice and fresh. A dash of salt and pepper and I was in burger heaven.


Hey! I recognize that sandwich. Brought to you courtesy of the LTH Calendar.

On the way back to the car the art studio down the street had some interesting art on display outside...





Great place! Thanks!

By happy accident, I was sitting at the counter with a Patty's regular today, and she mis-heard my order as "I'll have what he's having" (not Patty's fault in the least, I mumbled.) In this way, I not only discovered a new delight at Patty's, but was privy to the entire process of making a ham, egg and cheese sandwich with a side of old potatoes.

First, large slabs of ham were carved off the leg at the end of the counter: a monstrous hunk of meat, well-charred on the outside and vibrant pink within. It was then thrown on the griddle with two well-done fried eggs (next time over easy for me) and some onions. The house-made buns were hand-sliced and spread with butter, and joined their future companions on the griddle for a thorough toasting. Then potatoes were seasoned, tossed into the deep fryer, and finished on the griddle with more onions. At the last minute, the sandwich ingredients were carefully stacked and joined by a slab of cheese, the whole thing carefully sliced at an angle, and arranged on a plate with the potatoes - a pork, egg and potato ballet.

As if I needed another reason to go to Patty's...

Mhays wrote: I not only discovered a new delight at Patty's, but was privy to the entire process of making a ham, egg and cheese sandwich with a side of old potatoes.

The Patty's breakfast sandwich is a thing of beauty. I usually get mine with bacon, but there's certainly nothing wrong with that great ham she serves (not to mention the home made roll).

Patty's Breakfast Sandwich

Reporting LIVE!!! from Patty's: Vacation dates for the sisters are as follows:
Closed Sunday Feb 15th Thru Friday Feb 20th 2009

ronnie_suburban wrote:

HungryZ wrote:I'm embarressed to say that I've never been to Patty's. I lived in Skokie for 20 years until 2003 and honestly thought they were closed. How late are they open and is she on vacation yet? I was thinking about stopping by and doing a write up for both my website and NBCChicago.com. My heart still resides in Skokie, and I would hate to see another place on Main st close.

I don't think she's on vacation yet. They're open until 2:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday. On Sunday, they are open until 1:00 pm. Best to arrive no less than 30 minutes before they close, just in case, because they will close up early if it's really slow. Also best to call first regarding potential upcoming vacactions.

=R=

Patty’s Diner
3358 Main St.
Skokie, IL 60076
847 675-4274

Edited to correct information about hours

After reading about Patty's here, I called them today Sunday to see of they were open. An older woman (Patty, I'm guessing) said they were going to close for about a week. She said they "might" re-open. I said, "Well, I hope you do--I'll be there." And she said, "I hope so, too. I don't know."

Sheesh. And what a lame fool I am for living 15 minutes away and never noticing the place. Would love to join any future lunch or breakfast dates, assuming they're still open . . .

Linda

We ventured up today for breakfast and arrived at about 10am. The counter was relatively full, the tables about half. The vacation sign is on the door...I think it starts the 15th of this month.

The garbage omelet was superb! Loaded with bacon, ham, sausage, onions, cheese, mushrooms and peppers, it gave every bite a different flavor combination. I opted for the old potatoes as a subsitute and a biscuit 'n gravy for the toast. Rounding out this feast was a side of perfect ham.

Also sampled the bacon, egg and cheese on the homemade roll...another home run! The bacon - 4 slices folded over really added flavor. We also tired the corned beef hash and full order of B&G.

I texted friends in the area, and sad to say, they were not familiar with Patty's. They are now!

As wonderful as the old potatoes are -- and they are -- try them with the sausage gravy poured on top.

Had them as a side to a Ham-Egg-Cheese sandwich and when I was done with the plate, they didn't have to wash it. What a great combo.

I was at Patty's about a month ago and they were packed! They even ran out of hamburgers.

Just had lunch at Patty's Diner and had the special, sloppy joes with fries and chicken rice soup. Everything was top notch from the soup to the fries but I have one complaint.
I love diners and greasy spoons as much as anyone, but while sitting at the counter across from the grill, I found the cleanliness extremely lacking. From their utensils to their pots and pans, some of these had not been given a thorough cleaning in years.
I hope that during the upcoming "closed for vacation" period, they spend some serious elbow grease giving the place a good scrubbing. I dont expect anything new, but the place was filthy and that is the areas available for everyone to see, I wonder what lies behind the scenes.

I'm starting to think that Patty is jiving us about going out of business. Most reports lately seem to indicate that they are very busy.

Cogito wrote:I'm starting to think that Patty is jiving us about going out of business. Most reports lately seem to indicate that they are very busy.

Godda love the LTH effect.

Maybe a little boost for the vacation fund?

Either way a worthy cause.

HI,

I was there yesterday around 12:30. It was not a hopping place with less than ten customers. Patty and her sister were quite friendly.

While I consider the ladies to be glass half empty people, they do seem to be suffering a decline in business like many others. If their customer base is cutting corners, then they are likely eating at home because their prices are pretty modest.

They will be closing the Sunday for vacation and open again by Friday. Less than a week's vacation, though I hope it recharges their batteries.

Regards,

Patty's was chugging along at a nice little clip today with a mostly full counter at 9:30 this morning. Food, as usual, rocked. Ham Hash was prepared just to the point of crispness with a perfect amount of seasoning. Eggs fried up were a study in simple perfection and the coffee was great.

Patty even gave me a free paper.

I had my first experience at Pattys today, and I thank all of you LTH'ers for the tip. I'm not in Skokie much, but i had a sales meeting with a client scheduled there for 10:00 today. While arranging the appointment, I mentioned my eagerness to visit Patty while in Skokie, and of course I invited him. He suggested moving the meeting a bit later to allow lunch, and I had no problem with that! I warned him that all I knew was it was a basic diner with no pretensions. Based on some of your enthusiastic earlier posts, I didn't know if we'd walk into an empty joint or have a problem getting quick seating, but it turned out that we were about the only people in the place, at about 11:45. So I hosted 3 folks there. I told the waitress that I had heard about them from LTH, and she was surprised it wasn't from the Reader's recomendations. Is LTH so obscure?

Anyway, two of us had ham 'n eggs.. The eggs were perfect (scrambled, over easy) and the ham was perfect, along with your recomended old potatoes ("why aren't they on the menu?") The next order was for a turkey sammich, and the waitress responded "thats not a special. how about the Club, with bacon?" Done. The third question was "whats a burger pink in the middle?". The waitress just hollered the same question to Patty, response was "medium".

All enjoyed and devoured thier meals. I was the only one not to finish everything, and I got a bit of a scolding! I wish right now that I took the leftover ham home! I also got a kick out of the scribbled note on the register, explaining that prices had gone up due to food costs. If there is a definition of "unpretentious", it would include a picture of Patty's!

I share all of your concerns about Patty's survival. However, any of you who have been there know that the lack of signage and obscure location make it a "you gotta know about it" place.

I'm amused that I held a business lunch there, but with the right people, you can't go wrong. I encourage all of my fellow salespeople in crime to do the same. One warning though. As I suspected, bring cash! They can't spell "credit card"!

Hi,

LTH isn't obscure at that establishment and certainly not to Patty. It was the waitress who may have been the unaware. Patty knows LTH via Josephine put her on the internet foodie map with The Reader taking its lead from here.

By ordering old potatoes and never having been there in your life, I can guarantee Patty knew you were, "One of those internet people." Old potatoes may not be on the menu, but it is the secret handshake and calling card of a LTH internet reader.

I'm glad you enjoyed your experience.

Regards,