Big Jacks - Round Lake Park

Never judge a book by it's cover? There ought be a similar quote: never judge a restaurant by its storefront.

Tonight I ate at Big Jacks for dinner, once again. No, they're not new to me, but perhaps they're new to many of you, so here is a quick write up about the Northern Suburbs best hot dog & Italian beef joint.

I discovered Big Jacks about a year ago while doing some contract work at the Baxter Labs Round Lake campus. For awhile there, I drove past it daily, always noticing the big signs and pictures of hot dogs & burgers against the fence where the parking lot is. But for some odd reason, I just didn't quite feel inspired or lured enough by the signage to go in.

From the outside it's not that this ultra neat corner building is ugly or dilapidated, in fact, it's quite the opposite! It just looked so "clean" and "well maintained", I was sure it couldn't possibly be a serious hot dog place. But yet there it was, sitting on that Northeast corner of Hainesville Rd & Washington, and as I drove past a little voice kept nagging me that I should give it a shot.

Then in May of last year, I posted a bunch of my hot dog tasting results from around all of Northern Lake County to both my blog and on Chowhound. In it, I profiled about 30 Hot dog joints, but before I could finish and post my results I knew one in particular was missing; Big Jacks. So for the sake of completeness I had to go, I needed to be fair and I need to taste that hot dog to complete my findings. I had no idea that I had saved the best for last.

After work I went for dinner. I ordered up the standard hot dog, it's a Red Hot Chicago 8:1 steamed to perfection, done Chicago style correctly with remarkably fresh ingredients. But the real treat is that wrapped inside the paper with the hot dog are perfect hand cut french fries steaming that hot dog!! As a hard core Gene & Jude's fan, I was in heaven!

So I start up a conversation with the co-owner Mike, asking him what else is good and how long they've been around etc. He says he's a serious beef guy and that he thinks they serve a killer beef, that I ought to give it try, he then hands me a Dixie cup of beef and juice to taste.

All I can say is: WOW!

Mike tells me all about some of his favorite beef joints in the city, and he's certainly traveled the city and hit enough to do a beef-off, I also find out he had moved up here to run this place after living on the near Westside for most of his life.

Back to the beef, the beef is fresh roasted in house, and sliced nice and thin, with a nice spicing that's light, but really flavorful, its perfect. The sausage is stuffed in house too, and it has a nice spicy taste, not too hot, but definitely not mild either. The Gardiniere is hand cut fresh, made with fresh crispy veggies suspended in a perfect olive oil.

I have to say, I been to many of the top tier beef joints in the city, and these guys can hold their own against any of them. This is by far the best beef you will eat in Lake County, period. It's on my all time favorite beef list too, ranking about 2nd or 3rd, after Al's #1 on Taylor and maybe Johny's in Elmwood (the AH Johnny's just isn't as good).

Over the past year, I've become a serious regular, and I think I've met everyone in the family, as they rotate and take turns running the front, I've found the staff to always be friendly, and they keep things running real smooth. But most importantly, the consistency is always at the same great level.

So if your serious about beef, or just want a solid hot dog with some of the best hand cut fries in Lake County, be sure to hit Big Jacks, you wont leave disappointed.

Big Jacks
507 N Hainesville Rd
Round Lake Park, IL 60073
847-548-5225

It's nice to see a write up of a place in our neck of the woods.

i've passed it several times when i'm in the area but i'm usually not in the mood to eat. might give it a try now... between this and Big Ed's, abf005 has put a lot on my far north to try list.

dudefella wrote: between this and Big Ed's, abf005 has put a lot on my far north to try list.

Sounds great, please let us know how you like them when you make it up there.

I've been living up here for over 12 years now, turning over allot of rocks looking for good eats! I'll keep posting the few new & good ones as I have time.