Chickies Diner / Park Ridge

Stumbled across Chickies yesterday, (actually fought my way through a snow storm and got there about 2:00P.M.). The place will be celebrating it's 1st. birthday next month.

Kitchie decoration that showed lots of thought, (but you cant eat decor). The best part of the whole deal is that the place is owned by a brother and sister team who really seem to have an eye for detail and customer satisfaction, (no corporate manufactured nostalgia here). Menu choices were interesting and my desire for the "Poodle skirt burger" was overcome by my curiosity about the quality of the pot roast special. My lady had the poodle skirt burger with tater tots, my brother and I had the pot roast and his lady had the Reuben sandwich with fries.

The 1/2 lb. burger was the size of a Frizbee and juicy and flavorful, (if a bit overdone to my taste, but you do need to melt all that cheese) and the tater tots were nice and crispy.
The pot roast came with a choice of soup or cole slaw and since my brother didn't care for either, I got both the cream of chicken rice and a small dish of slaw. The soup had actual pieces of chicken and was flavorful and deep. The cole slaw was, at best, average, (I would suggest maybe a bit of buttermilk if you're gonna serve a "slightly creamy" slaw. V & O might be a better choice). The pot roast was melt in your mouth with a lightly sweet and tart red sauce served over noodles with nice carrot coins added to the mix, (this one is a real keeper). The Reuben was served on dark bread with a generous portion of corned beef and cheese. The sauer kraut was just tangy enough and, surprisingly, there was just the right amount of dressing on the bread. The hand-cut fries were O.K., but I think they were fried in poly-unsaturated plastic oil, (try lard if you want to recreate the 1950's diner taste). We were too stuffed to try any dessert so that will have to wait for a return visit.

All in all a fun experience. Friendly waitress and ownership with a kitchen that, for the most part, seems to have their head on straight.

I will return to try out the rest of the daily specials; the sandwiches; the chili and the desserts.

Worth a trip to a rather out of the way area of Park Ridge.

Chickie's Diner
920 Busse Hwy
(between Bouterse St & Dee Rd)
Park Ridge, IL 60068
(847) 823-1956
http://www.chickiesdiner.com/

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The fact they have a horseshoe on the menu is enough to convince me to try them out. The only other place I've seen a horseshoe around here was at a bar where I wouldn't expect much of the food.

6 Degrees in Bucktown has a horseshoe, an homage to the owner's Springfield roots.

6 Degrees
1935 North Damen Avenue
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 904-8812
http://www.6degreesbucktown.com/

I'll have to check that place out as well, thanks.

Max wrote:I'll have to check that place out as well, thanks.

You should have done it while you had the chance. I'm sad to report that Chickie's Diner is no more. There is a For Rent sign in the window.

It's really too bad, because Chickie's was a nice little neighborhood diner who's main problem was that it was locationaly challenged. They deserved more recognition than they got, although it always appeared that they did a nice amount of business. I've been collecting pictures from several meals that I've had there in preparation of putting together a nice post. Now it's too late, but I'll share some of the pictures anyway.

Chickie's Diner


Ham & Eggs


A solid version, with ham off the bone.

Pancakes


Horseshoe


Not their best dish and not very authentic, so I'm told; but an "A" for effort.

Salisbury Steak


Friday Fish Fry


Friday was the one day of the week when they would open for dinner, and they featured an all-you-can-eat fish fry. This is a lunch portion.

Guess the Restaurant


Chickie's had an extensive collection of memorabelia that was on display throughout the restaurant.

When I drove there this morning for breakfast and saw the For Rent sign, I was really surprised. There had been no indication that they were having problems. As I said earlier, they never seemed to be hurting for business, though the place was never full. Hopefully the explaination is something as simple as they had a beef with the landlord (shades of Patty's) and that they will reappear somewhere in the near future. Chickie's wasn't necessarily destintion dining, but it was close enough to my house to act as a once in a while replacement for Patty's Diner.

Chickies Diner R.I.P.

I was there about 3 months back with a Groupon. The owner told me that he has spent so much on advertising, sad that only the Groupon got us in.

Chickie's has reopened as Lola's Diner. I'll post a report in a new thread, since the two places are not related at all.