J.R.'s son, who has bar and restaurant experience, has come into the business, changes are bound to happen. Hope there are no 'fashion rolls' in Moon's future.

Panther in the Den wrote:

Cogito wrote:I saw Moon's new sign today. It says "breakfast, lunch, & dinner." I thought they closed down after lunch?

Open til 6.

Wow, that sure makes for a leisurely dinner.

stevez wrote:I had a recent cameraless breakfast at Moon's and I'd like to report that they now have a spiffy new sign on the front of the building so it doesn't look quite as abandoned as it does in this picture.

Moon's, 4.10.11

Got to try Moon's for the first time this past Sunday. Wet and miserable outside, warm and hospitable inside. Had a great, straightforward breakfast of eggs over easy, sausage, and grits with a couple pads of butter melting into them. Great way to start the day, and I'm glad I finally got over there to try it.

Love,
John

Today, coming back from the Green Line, I ran into loquacious eccentric, man of many ideas, short order cook and all-around good guy, Henry James...biking down my street.

David Hammond wrote:loquacious eccentric, man of many ideas, short order cook and all-around good guy, Henry James

stevez: You're eating corned beef and grits, eh? I never would have thought of that one.

Henry James: If you've worked here long enough, you've tried just about every combination there is.

2 eggs, grits and a "side" of corned beef has always been my go-to order. No one's ever blinked when I asked for it. All the best on one plate. I knew I liked that dude.

Quiet here on the thread. I promised Mr. X that we would go out for breakfast today so we hopped in the car to Moon's. Love the theater that comes with dining there. The phone was ringing constantly with take-out and delivery orders. Constant flow of people in and out for those take-out orders. Staff behind the counter in constant motion. Grill man Henry James was joined by a grill woman and neither side of the grill was ever empty. Mr. X went with the jumpstart (mentioned above) and I had two eggs over easy, ham and french toast. That was some of the best french toast I've had in years. Perfectly custardy. I didn't have room for the grits, but they looked great. Nice way to start our Sunday.

Amen. I was there yesterday and breakfast was as good as ever. Two scrambled easy with cheese was my order.

stevez wrote:Amen. I was there yesterday and breakfast was as good as ever. Two scrambled easy with cheese was my order.

I had the pleasure of Mr. Z's company. My breakfast, grits, over easy, sausage and a smile!

Moon's



Moon's Sandwich Shop, count me a fan!

Been more than three years since a post in the Moon's thread. Happy to report Moon's is reassuringly resistant to changes in the surrounding area. Lots of corned beef pics in this thread, deservedly so, last few visits grits have spoken to me, and they say Eat Me!



Moon's Sandwich Shop, Count me a Fan!

I'm starting to make a habit of visiting forum favorites wayyyy after they first turn up. As a corned beef lover I'd been meaning to stop by for years but I was never in the neighborhood at lunchtime. Took a day off work to run errands and found myself on the near west side so I stopped in at Moon's for an early lunch.


I wish I had come sooner. This is the best corned beef sandwich I've had in Chicago. Better than the Berghoff, Perry's, better than Manny's for sure. It's even better than Shapiro's in Indy where I grew up! The beyond generous serving is piled 3-4 inches high and it comes out of the steamer right before service so the fat is perfectly melted and the meat is juicy. Just the right amount of fat for me too. The fantastic dill pickle tastes like it's house made and the crunchy tang is perfect for cutting the savory beef:



The hash browns on the other hand, were a small letdown. They were made from scratch (good!) but a bit overly starchy and underseasoned (bad).


Service was friendly and non pretentious, it just is what it is: an old school Black neighborhood hang out joint with a ton of history. Big new fan of Moon's here, I'll be back for more.

The recent images of Moon's made me remember about 10 years back-
I'd turned on a buddy- Marc Hauser- to Moon's.
he LOVED it, so much- he went back about 4x inna row.
Sadly Marc died last week- quite young- 66 I think......
and so-
in Marc's memory (https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/marc- ... ies-at-66/) and honor- here's some of what Marc captured there......
RIP buddy- I know you're telling' some great stories where ever you wound up!
MR CORNBEEF > by R. Kramer, on Flickr
and
THE COOK- @Moon's Sandwich Shop-Chicago's West Side by R. Kramer, on Flickr
and
FAVE WAITRESS by R. Kramer, on Flickr
and
This-is-THEIR-Politics by R. Kramer, on Flickr
and
Moon's Sandwich Shop- Western @ Madison-Chicago's WestSide by R. Kramer, on Flickr
and
Moon's Sandwich Shop, West Side of Chicago by R. Kramer, on Flickr

eating while walking wrote:The hash browns on the other hand, were a small letdown. They were made from scratch (good!) but a bit overly starchy and underseasoned (bad).

I adore Moon's, love the corned beef, love the ambiance, love the food. That said, I never order the hash browns mainly because Moon's serves tip-top grits. I am not a fan of cheesy, loaded grits, give me plain well cooked grits with a couple of pats of butter and shake of salt and I'm a happy fellow. Moon's is one of the few places that serves their grits without embellishment.

I was at Moon's just a few weeks ago, three over easy, grits, toast and coffee. No meat as I was on my way to cook a few hundred pounds of standing rib roast.

Hombre de Acero, great pictures, really capture the essence of Moon's.

Moon's Sandwich Shop, Count me a Fan!!

Oh my. I couldn't help notice the giant McCondo that seem to be ubiquitous throughout Chicago dwarfing over Moon's. Quite the dichotomy!

Hombre de Acero wrote:The recent images of Moon's made me remember about 10 years back-
I'd turned on a buddy- Marc Hauser- to Moon's.
he LOVED it, so much- he went back about 4x inna row.
Sadly Marc died last week- quite young- 66 I think......
and so-
in Marc's memory (https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/marc- ... ies-at-66/) and honor- here's some of what Marc captured there......
RIP buddy- I know you're telling' some great stories where ever you wound up!

Randall, sorry for your loss. Thanks for adding these great shots at Moon's.

Wow, I somehow missed the news of Marc's passing. A big loss for the Chicago arts community. I have followed Marc's work since maybe the early 80's. In addition to the great shots, he seemed to have a larger than life personality.

His studio is not far from our house and I saw he was now doing portraits for non-celebrities/executives (regular folk), even offering Groupons for sessions, and thought about going with my family for a portrait, but I guess I waited too long.

After reading about Moon's on this thread, I broke down and had an early lunch. As have others posting on the thread, I ordered what the menu proclaims is their "famous" corned beef sandwich with everything accompanied by a side order of home fries (as my server told me, Moon's doesn't serve French fries).

The food was meh. The generic corned beef seemed to be from Vienna Beef without any additional tricking-out (such as additional in-house brining of the brisket). The iceberg lettuce was a bit bitter because it came from inner leaves, and the tomato was flavorless out-of-season slice. The home fries were OK, but no better than I'd get in an average restaurant anywhere in the country.

However, I really enjoyed the atmosphere. After I had packed-up the uneaten half of my sandwich and the rest of the home fries and got up to leave, the cook asked my why I was leaving so soon. I laughed to myself, sat back down on the stool and finished my Diet Rite (yes, that brand is still around). Obviously, there were a lot of regulars. It was as if I had stepped onto the set of August Wilson's play "Two Trains Running" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Trains_Running).

I recommend going to Moon's, but once was enough for me. It's a fun dive, but don't expect the food to be any better than any other "greasy spoon" (as my mom would call such a place) in the industrial North. You could say that I liked Moon's "ironically" rather than objectively, as in "it's so bad, it's great".

ld111134 wrote:You could say that I liked Moon's "ironically" rather than objectively, as in "it's so bad, it's great".

No line-caught caribou, micro-pomegranate seeds or hot-house rose syrup essence at Moon's.

As I mention upthread, grits are the way to go, I dig the corned beef as a side with eggs, lettuce of any kind on corned beef is one step removed from mayo on a corned beef sandwich.

I've compared the lively interchange at Moon's to a diner version of the 1976 film classic Carwash.

Next time, if there is one, order 3-over easy, grits dotted with butter, side of corned beef, rye bread and mustard on the side. You will be full, happy and have your salt and fat intake requirement complete for the week.

G Wiv wrote:

ld111134 wrote:You could say that I liked Moon's "ironically" rather than objectively, as in "it's so bad, it's great".

Next time, if there is one, order 3-over easy, grits dotted with butter, side of corned beef, rye bread and mustard on the side. You will be full, happy and have your salt and fat intake requirement complete for the week.

Thanks, Gary. If I go back, I’ll go back and order that. I think that the corned beef itself is what you can buy at the deli section of any supermarket, but maybe combined with the other ingredients it ends up like a Jim Shoe - mediocre foods that, when smashed together, create something that’s awesome and much more than the sum of its parts.

ld111134 wrote:I think that the corned beef itself is what you can buy at the deli section of any supermarket

That's not been my experience, possibly you, though misfortune, were served all lean from the flat.

G Wiv wrote:

ld111134 wrote:I think that the corned beef itself is what you can buy at the deli section of any supermarket

That's not been my experience, possibly you, though misfortune, were served all lean from the flat.

Moons1.jpg

I’m not sure, but I was sitting across from the slicer and I saw the guy slice it right from the middle of the brisket. Where to they source their corned beef?

ld111134 wrote:I’m not sure, but I was sitting across from the slicer and I saw the guy slice it right from the middle of the brisket. Where to they source their corned beef?

If I once knew where Moon's sourced corned beef I've forgotten. I do know they sell upwards of 30+ full packer cut corned beef a day. Also, having cut <insert some implausibly high number> briskets in my day, there is variance piece to piece, even given the same grade/packing house/size.

I don't mean to sound like a Moon's apologist, I don't doubt you had a so-so corned beef experience. Just that that grocery store deli type corned beef has not been my experience at Moon's.

G Wiv wrote:

ld111134 wrote:I’m not sure, but I was sitting across from the slicer and I saw the guy slice it right from the middle of the brisket. Where to they source their corned beef?

If I once knew where Moon's sourced corned beef I've forgotten. I do know they sell upwards of 30+ full packer cut corned beef a day. Also, having cut <insert some implausibly high number> briskets in my day, there is variance piece to piece, even given the same grade/packing house/size.

I don't mean to sound like a Moon's apologist, I don't doubt you had a so-so corned beef experience. Just that that grocery store deli type corned beef has not been my experience at Moon's.

Thanks, Gary. We’ll have to agree to disagree. After my lunch at Moon’s, I think that their corned beef is no better and worse than you get in a down-market sandwich shop or Jewel.