How are the mashed potatoes? Fresh or boxed?

bnowell724 wrote:How are the mashed potatoes? Fresh or boxed?

bnowell,

I've not had them, but saw them served at Moon's today, looked great, and I imagine they are fresh, but I've been fooled before. Priscilla's for one.

Enjoy,
Gary

kuhdo wrote:Doesn't anybody like meatloaf? Moons makes a great one. This is not an easy thing to do (witness all the places that can't) and is an achievement not to be ignored.

Kuhdo,

No meatloaf today, I asked. Must be a daily special. Overall lunch was terrific, perfect grits, corned beef to.............

We've posted a bunch of words about Moon's, time, I think, for a few pictures.

2-Up w/grits and bacon


Scrambled w/cheese, grits, sausage


2-Over easy w/grits, one pancake and toast


Corned Beef Sandwich w/mustard and side of potatoes


Corned Beef Sandwich with 'everything'.



2-Over easy with grits and side of corned beef.


Random pic of Corned Beef w/mashed potatoes and corn to go.


Moon's Sandwich Shop


Moon's food tastes even better than it looks, and it looks great.

Enjoy,
Gary

stevez wrote:I believe the awning on Taylor Street still says Al's BBQ.

No longer. The awning screams AL’S #1 ITALIAN BEEF on all three sides.

Stopped for breakfast with The Wife (the Queen of Breakfast) on Sunday Morning.

What a circus.

A nod from the white cook, the saucy young waitress, the banter at the takeout counter, the old men hanging around the front...

I had the eggs, rice with brown gravy and corned beef (also with gravy). The gravy, commercial and not too good but on the rice... it was nice. The gravy on the corned beef brought back a memory, I can't pin it down, maybe chipped beef on toast? An unasked for cup of gravy on the side.

The Wife had bacon (a large pile, perhaps 5 or 6 slices) and the grits (there some eggs in there). Big helping of grits with the signature slices of butter on top...

Too much food! Unless you eat big once in a while...

Everything was well prepared, the coffee a tad weak, served in inserts in old plastic holders. The toast nicely browned, pre-buttered, with more butter on the side (should of had the rye toast).

A popular carryout item was scrambled eggs with chunks of cheese folded in. Godda give it a try on my return.

While we were eating, perhaps Mr. Moon himself was standing supervising, a teen girl (his daughter?) stopped in and asked for a few dollars and use of his cell phone, she was greeted warmly by the eight or so employees working behind the counter.

There is some wonderful Chicago character here along with some very good food.

was there last wk. had a salami and cheese omelette that brought me back to my childhood. doubt the salami was from romanian on clark and touhy though, but excellent all the same. and very generous portion. great grits as well. also shared a corned beef that was very good. a little lean for my taste. the bill came to $13 and change. great vibe too. such a deal...

G Wiv wrote:No meatloaf today, I asked. Must be a daily special.

Meatloaf is offered on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. I gave it a try the other day and thought it was pretty good.

Meatloaf Dinner Special

The rest of the Daily Dinner Special ($7.72) wasn’t so special: iceberg and tomato salad with Wishbone-like dressing, mashed potatoes with brown gravy, canned corn, and squishy wheat bread. I think the meatloaf sandwich ($4.25) might be a better bet. But, really, breakfast and/or corned beef seems like the way to go at Moon’s (though some of those specials—short ribs, roast pork, beef stew—sure sound worth trying).

I went last week for breakfast, and had grits and eggs with corned beef. Everything was great. But when the women behind the counter saw me putting hot sauce and salt on my buttered grits, she looked at me like I had just stuck my butter knife through PIGMON's eyeball. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that until now, she'd thought she'd seen it all. What, no one puts hot sauce on their grits in Chicago? Is it that weird? I thought it was the rule. She claims it was the first time in her life she had ever seen spicy grits.

I've had the short ribs and remember them as very tasty. Also that the mashed potatoes were very good, and while the potato is the one food I would take to a desert island if restricted to one and only one food, mashed is not at the top of my list, but I thought moon's were good. It's been quite a few years, though, since I had them.

there goes the neighborhood
I've been eating at moon since 1955. My family had a business in the area since 1946. The original owners were a family with dad and his three sons. They have all either retired or passed. It has always been a hub of activity. In the past it was the "COP SHOP" and one of the present owners Jim was one of the cops. The place was always full of colorful characters. The many past servers Riley and Foxxy were a great floor show at all hours. One morning very early Riley took the bet that he could throw a 5lb bag of sugar accross western ave. He did it!! If you haven't tried the short ribs yet you are missing a great treat. Also the chili-mac is awsome. Next time you go there ask for JT"s special sandwich it's a ham and egg sandwich on a grilled onion roll with grilled and raw onions tomatoe pickle mayo and pepper . A heart attack on a bun. Tell them Hi form JT at All American. I've been meaning to go and have lunch there but my endochronoligist doesn't approve. It might ve one of the reasons I'm a type 2 diabetic. Oh whats a little more insalin.

Made our first (but not last) trip to Moon's.

I got the corned-beef sandwich. Very good and a great price, but a little too lean for my preference.

The wife had "The Scrambler" which was a very tasty heaping pile of eggs, homefries, Italian sausage, onions, and cheese.


It will be interesting to see what happens to the character (and prices) of this place when the dozens of condos next door and across the street actually fill up.

griffin wrote:... but a little too lean for my preference. ...

I see two options here...

You can order the CB with gravy... (?!?)

... or stop at AP Deli (less lean).

A & P Deli
704 S. Wabash Ave.
6311 North Ave, Oak Park

... and elsewhere...

trixie-pea wrote:I went last week for breakfast, and had grits and eggs with corned beef. Everything was great. But when the women behind the counter saw me putting hot sauce and salt on my buttered grits, she looked at me like I had just stuck my butter knife through PIGMON's eyeball. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that until now, she'd thought she'd seen it all. What, no one puts hot sauce on their grits in Chicago? Is it that weird? I thought it was the rule. She claims it was the first time in her life she had ever seen spicy grits.

this months issue of Saveur(#97), has a recipe for grits with sausage and gravy (page76) from a louisiana cook. the recipe calls for adding tabasco, salt and pepper 'to taste' before serving. as much as i love hot sauce and grits, i confess i've never tried them together. lots of salt and pepper and a little butter has always worked for me (and i make my stone ground grits with half water and half low-fat milk which also increases the flavor). but clearly trixie-pea isn't alone in her taste for hot sauce and grits. justjoan
btw, let me take this opportunity to bring up something i learned from a 2 year old post by cathy2 regarding magazine subscriptions on e-bay. did you know that you can get a 2 year subscription for SAVEUR for under $10?!!!!? a year subscription from the magazine itself is $29. i got 3 years for $9, but i just checked and can only find 2 year offers. this is an amazing deal available for bon appetit and other magazines as well (though not, alas, cooks illustrated). the reason is that high circulation allows the magazines to sell more ads and more expensive ad space. they dont make much, if any, money on the subscriptions themselves.

LTH,

Stopped for a burger at Moon's Sandwich Shop, a perfect, as Mike G refers to them, 30's style burger. Warm bun with just the lightest of grill grease sheen, toasty sweet grilled onions balanced by a slender slice of raw brought into a sum/parts paradigm by a couple of ounces of griddled burger perfection.

Moon's Grill Man has skills, be it American fries, couple of eggs and sausage or a perfect little burger.

Enjoy,
Gary

Moon's Sandwich Shop


Ketchup, steak sauce, hot sauce, syrup



Side of corned beef w/gravy



Meatloaf



Trixie-Pea, J. R. (Owner, Moon's)

Stopped by early Saturday afternoon and enjoyed a corned beef sammie (well documented) as well as a fried salami sandwich:



There are apparently no “set” accompaniments for this sammie (or probably any other served here), so I went with lettuce, tomato, mustard and raw onions, all of which were simple and fine complements to the sausage, which turned out to be much better than I expected. White bread seemed the right way to go (the sweetness nice with mildly spicy meat), though next time I will probably have it toasted or griddled.

I think you'd have to tell me that there wasn't a rye bread within 100 miles before you got me to eat salami on white.

Seriously, I'll have to check that out. I'm crazy about fried ("griddled") salami. Do you know if they are using Vienna hard salami?

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:I think you'd have to tell me that there wasn't a rye bread within 100 miles before you got me to eat salami on white.

Seriously, I'll have to check that out. I'm crazy about fried ("griddled") salami. Do you know if they are using Vienna hard salami?

Best,
Michael

Well, the corned beef was on rye (only seemed right) but having rye on the salami seemed repetitive, plus I do think the white worked well with the sausage. If the whole thing were slapped on the griddle, it would have been even better (white caramelizes in a way rye cannot).

Can't say for sure if it was Vienna, but will check the next time I go (which will be soon).

One of my favorite sandwiches growing up was salami, mayonnaise, iceburg lettuce on Wonder white bread. My korean grandmother once made it extra special for me by putting leftover cut-up hard-boiled easter eggs on it. David, that sandwich looks amazing! It brings back memories.

Sharona

LTH,

Two over easy with grits and rye toast, split an order of corned beef with Daane, who also had over easy, grits and rye toast. Splitting the large order of corned beef between two made for the perfect breakfast, rich salty cured meat the perfect foil for neutral grits and runny yolk eggs.

Moon's is always conversation friendly, Saturday especially so, we got in to a lively conversation with the gill man about Astrological signs, it is his hobby, and and lingered well past finished breakfasts over coffee.

Enjoy,
Gary

Great to see this post. Moon's is GNR material in my book and I'm sorry I haven't posted on it myself yet (in my backlog). They make me a griddled (fried) salami-and-bologna that is like a Melrose Park basement-kitchen muffaletta (they just need the roasted green peppers cooked in the broiler in last night's Italian sausage drippings to send me into Proustian reverie).

Hi,

I strongly considered going to Moon's today. My only reservation was whether the seating is exclusively stools or are there tables and/or booths? I can sit just about anywhere, I simply was with people who are not as flexible.

Thanks!

Regards,

From what I recall, the seating is exclusively at the counter, and I think it's all backless stools (though they are the 4-legged variety, not the single-stem kind)

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I strongly considered going to Moon's today. My only reservation was whether the seating is exclusively stools or are there tables and/or booths? I can sit just about anywhere, I simply was with people who are not as flexible.

Thanks!

Regards,

Counter service only. Moon's is a Lunch counter in the truest sense.

Steve,

That was my hunch. Thanks for confirming.

Regards,

Big news at Moon's. They are now open on Sunday from 7:00 - 1:00.

Thanks to this thread I dropped by Moon's earlier this week for lunch with one of my pals from work. I had 2 eggs over medium, grits and bacon with white toast. He had an egg sandwich with potatoes and a donut afterwards. What a great lunch. The staff couldn't have been nicer and the food was fast and delicious. The coffee isn't anything to write home about, but it ain't bad. I'm not a big grits eater but I enjoyed them. It reminded me a bit of rice congee in that it was kinda bland until you added something to it--butter, salt, syrup?, hot sauce? It seemed like you could go sweet-- my lunchmate said he always has sweet grits with some added sugar-- or savory with just butter and salt & pepper. Can anyone give me some grits advice for next time? And there will definitely be a next time. I think I'll make it one of my go-to places for breakfast, especially given how close it is to work.

Got a corned beef sandwich to go for dinner and ended up having it the following day for lunch. The day in the frig did the sandwich no favors, but it was very good all the same and the size of it was comparable to the NY deli sandwichs of my youth. Not as good as Carnegie or Star deli sandwich but maybe the best I've had in Chicago. Though I do agree with the other posters that it is a lil on the lean side. And what a bargain. Lunch for the two of us plus my sandwich came to $21. At first I wasn't sure they had added our bills together.

Lastly, I just want to say that finding a place like this is one of the joys of reading this forum. While the food was great and the staff incredibly friendly, the looks of the place (both inside and out) and the neighborhood would normally ensure I wouldn't go in that place in a MILLION years. It just doesn't LOOK like it would be any good. Or safe. Or friendly. But of course looks can be misleading and so I'm glad to read this forum and find out about places like this. I've gone to a couple places that I didn't think were all that (I was VERY underwhelmed at the Jerk Chicken place recently talked about) but overall it's been a huge benefit. So thanks to everyone who posts here.

--Dirk--

Just got back from my first trip to Moon's Sandwich Shop. What a wonderful experience.

I was very concerned when I parked. The area is a lil dicey...
But once inside, the warmth of the staff was absorbing.

Cynthia waited on us...hovered over to make sure we were happy with our meals...and told us to come back when it wasn't so busy so we could chat more.

My husband had the eggs, ham with rice. I had the corned beef dinner (not much of a breakfast person). The dinner was everything that the pictures posted here promised...and more. I have most of it in my fridge now...way too much food to eat in one sitting (or possibly 2 sittings).

I mostly lurk and read all of your wonderful posts. But when we find a place as unique and special as Moons, I must come out from my hiding place to thank you all for such an outstanding forum. For there is no way I would have found Moon's on my own...and I am so happy that there is a Moon's...and an LTH Fourm,

I made my first trip to Moon's on Sunday. Ran into GWiv, who made a few suggestions and I ended up with a pound of corned beef to go. This was followed up with a trip to Red Hen bakery to get some fresh pumpernickel onion bread. The sandwiches that I made for lunch were great. I liked the salty, meat to fat ratio. I agree it is a bit more on the lean side, which I like.

I had the scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage patties(I could have just eaten a few of those and been happy, the crispiness was just how I liked it) potatoes, and rye toast. The fact they serve real butter without even asking was a delight! Side of homemade hot giardinera ( I think the guy that made it was named Harry, he was so busy telling me about astrological signs and his wife, I kinda forgot)

Hubby had over medium eggs, bacon and pancakes. Everything was just outstanding. I didn't even mind the coffee cups in the plastic.

This place oozed Chicago and the west side. Lois waited on us and really couldn't have been more attentive or lovely. I agree, it is a totally special place. And it didn't seem as if anyone cared that we were newcomers. The amount of take out they do is amazing.

Next time it will be the jumpshot or cheeseburger for me, and no way will the hubby pass up that gorgeous corned beef and cheese omelette monstrosity. I swear he would have taken a bite of his neighbor's but luckily he poured ketchup all over it.

One of the best things about this place, no waiting for a table on a Sunday morning!! (or should I say stool)

For your lunchtime consideration . . . some teaser photos of takeout Moon's sandwiches I've been meaning to post.


Corned Beef on rye, mustard, pickle


Roast Beef on hard roll, a Wednesday special

I might have to make it to Moon's for lunch this week . . .