thick wrote:If not Bobak's, perhaps Gilmart or 7-9-11?

Gilmart's gone. It closed down last year, then reopened for a spell under new ownership, and then closed down again a couple months ago. There is a sign on the front saying that they are reopening in Glenview, but I know nothing beyond that.

Also down the street on Archer is Dunajec Bakery and Deli (this is where my family usually got their sausages) as well as Joe and Franks if "down the street" means all the way down to Harlem. There's also a smattering of other small Polish delis along Archer, but I don't know which ones are still open. The Shop & Save on Archer and Central also has a large selection of homemade sausages, and definitely qualifies as being "near Midway" and reasonably down the street from Bobak's. This is where I go these days when I want a large selection of Eastern European sausages at a reasonable price. Plus they also carry some of Bobak's products, if you want them.

Binko wrote:

thick wrote:If not Bobak's, perhaps Gilmart or 7-9-11?

Gilmart's gone. It closed down last year, then reopened for a spell under new ownership, and then closed down again a couple months ago. There is a sign on the front saying that they are reopening in Glenview, but I know nothing beyond that.

Also down the street on Archer is Dunajec Bakery and Deli (this is where my family usually got their sausages) as well as Joe and Franks if "down the street" means all the way down to Harlem. There's also a smattering of other small Polish delis along Archer, but I don't know which ones are still open. The Shop & Save on Archer and Central also has a large selection of homemade sausages, and definitely qualifies as being "near Midway" and reasonably down the street from Bobak's. This is where I go these days when I want a large selection of Eastern European sausages at a reasonable price. Plus they also carry some of Bobak's products, if you want them.

Bobak's was mentioned by the staff...

Just responding to the other speculation in the thread, of what it would be if not Bobak's in the area. (Plus it was important to note Gilmart is closed.) I suppose I could have just kept all that to myself, but that wouldn't really add to the discussion....

Savored a massive and beautifully griddled burger today on nice brioche with good toppings; this is a serious thing. Not unlike a Goldyburger, it's fairly densely packed and semispherical, so it may not be everyone's style, but we were impressed.

Fries are now served in small brown paper bags, an improvement. Sausage appearing Tuesday: house-ground turducken.

Santander wrote:house-ground turducken.

That is hilarious.

Ate the turducken today and it is good.

Comes with a "breadless" stuffing, cranberries and gravy.

Breadless stuffing you ask? Me too!

But it was exactly as advertised. A sage gravy with carrots, celery, mushrooms...basically the veggies you would
find in stuffing with the bun providing the bread part. The cranberries though, that was the key. Providing some tartness and some sweetness. Perfect.

The sausage was really tasty. I would love to know what the mix was of the turkey, duck and chicken.

It's a messy eat but quite delicious.

The fries? Blah. They should serve mashed potatoes with it instead.

Daily Specials just posted on Facebook.

Just had the Prime Rib with doubled meat (for the price of a hot dog). Tender, tasty with Tiger Sauce and frazzled onions on Garlic Bread. Doubled fries too.

Awesome.

David Hammond wrote:

Santander wrote:house-ground turducken.

That is hilarious.

Paulina Market makes turducken sausage. David, I have to ask you what you find so funny about this sausage? Just curious. To me it's kinda goofy but it doesn't make me laugh or anything.

Evil Ronnie wrote:

David Hammond wrote:

Santander wrote:house-ground turducken.

That is hilarious.

Paulina Market makes turducken sausage. David, I have to ask you what you find so funny about this sausage? Just curious. To me it's kinda goofy but it doesn't make me laugh or anything.

I actually made my maiden voyage to Big Guys yesterday. I tried the turduckin, which is actually not made in house but is Paulina's version. In terms of in-house made sausage, it's still only the chicken sausages and now the crawfish that they make there, but it doesn't matter, because the Paulina turduckin sausage is so good, I didn't care.

Big Guys Turduckin


As described above (and by the guy behind the counter), it's really Thanksgiving on a bun. The toppings work very well and the eggy bun, which is substantial enough to stand up to the big sausage and sloppy toppings, combines with the breadless stuffing to really evoke the taste of the holidays. The turduckn comes with gravy fries. Even though I knew the turkey gravy would eliminate any semblance of crispness from the fries, I ordered them well done and cispy anyway, and I'm glad I did.

Big Guys Gravy Fries


The fries were well cooked and tasty, but I'm really looking forward to returning and trying the BG fries, which I think would be more to my liking.

Had the venison-blueberry with carmelized onions and goat cheese special today.

Carmelized onions should be dark brown. These onions were sweated, at best, and were not at all what I wanted.

ppezalla wrote:Carmelized onions should be dark brown.

I haven't been there yet, but you've hit upon one of my pet peeves. I hate it when fried or barely browned onions are referred to as "caramelized" on the menu.

Picked up the daily special from yesterday for lunch at work. Brisket. Meat way too firm as it should be fork tender. Good flavor with some smoke.

Improvement on the fries (regular)! Flavorful and getting some crispness. Getting better...

I find it really hard to keep up with all the specials and other surprise offerings here, but I saw them post this picture and caption a while back:

We reworked our pot roast sandwich. This 1/2 lb sandwich comes on a buttered brioche bun, gravy and our shoestring onions. This may look familar, but you know what they closed down and I wasn't gonna live without this sandwich.

Actually they do have a schedule for their specials...



from...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... =3&theater

Darnit -
This thread popped up at a bad time, since I want to rant about BG's. Don't get me wrong at ALL, I like this place, and I'm glad it's there. The guys rrunning the joint are a riot, and it's very clear that they are eager to please, and are very nice, and have been very nice each time I've gone.
BUT.
I finally got there on a Sunday to try the hyped burger. I was a tad excited. When asked how I wanted it cooked, I said "Medium is fine."

WELL done. And I mean WELL. Like not much less tender than a hockey puck. No pink, no red, no nothin except gray.

I ate it all, and it would have been about 200% better if it was medium, but damn if that didn't cheese me off a little. Not because it was horrible, or anything, but just because it was a total waste of an excellent product. It took longer to ruin it than it would have to do it correctly. Cheeses me off. I'll ask for it rare next time, OR, just know that I can't go wrong with the hot link and bg fries extra well done.

Won't keep me from going back in the slightest. I know the deal with joints - inconsistency is pretty consistent. No biggie, but it just irked me that it could have been so much better.

Good to have that specials list handy. Though there's also keeping track of the weekly specials, plus other things they circulate in and out, like soups and chili and stuff. Looks like their catering menu offers Whiskey Glazed Ham; is that usually on the menu? Anyway, it's cool. Keeps me on my toes.

I'm killing a hot link with extra well done fries right now, and Big Guys is back in my good graces.
They have a homemade cookie display on the counter now as well. 1.75 each, but I couldn't resist.

The burger made the regular menu, and is available all times they're open. My most recent order of fries was the best yet - I think they have it down.

They were featured on channel 9 morning news last week. Anna V did a great segment on this tasty place.

For lunch today, I had a Big Guy's brat with coarse mustard, grilled onion and fries. Less than 5.00.It was served on a fresh, steamed roll. Delicious. This was my first visit. I'll be back.

Hi there! I’m the owner of Big Guys Sausage Stand in Berwyn and I wanted to reach out to everyone who contributed to this thread to let you know we are going to be celebrating our 1-year anniversary on August 10th. We have come a long way in our first year. We’ve improved on many things which were brought to my attention in this thread: we now make all of our sausages in-house, with the exception of our Maxwell Street Polish and our hot dog, both of which are Vienna products; we improved our fries, which are now the best that fries can be, in my humble opinion (I’ll even share our trick—we now refrigerate our fries after blanching them in oil and then fry them to order). We made a lot of changes to our specials menu, taking the time to see what stuck, what made people smile and want to come back for more. Homemade daily specials are now posted on our website, if you like big ass ham sandwiches, pot roast, prime rib or shrimp po’boys you should check it out.

After we opened, I quickly got tired of people walking in and right back out because we didn’t have a burger on the menu. I’ve written almost 800 checks in my first year of business and I decided we couldn’t afford to have anyone walk out the door without having bought something. So, we decided we’d add a burger. I didn’t want anything on my menu to be mediocre so the burger gets the same attention to quality and flavor that everything else we serve does. We grind our burger meat fresh everyday, using whole choice cuts of beef from the inside round and whole briskets. We offer a 6oz and a 12oz burger and will cook the latter to temperature. My guys have gotten pretty good at the art of burger prep, despite a little trouble with overcooking at first. And nothing is wasted; we save the point of the whole brisket for our Wednesday BBQ brisket special and we buy the rounds by the case to also make Italian beef. Two months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to write this. Now, I’m confident enough in our beef that I would put it up against any other in Chicago. The end result of all of this is that we now have a menu the size of any Greek-owned fast food restaurant; the difference at Big Guys is that everything is homemade. With a menu that size we cook to order, so our food takes a little longer. I probably don’t operate with the best business model considering my labor costs are outrageous, but I’m proud of everything we sell. And somehow we’ve been able to do more than get by because of loyal customers and some really lucky media exposure that catapulted our brand from the reputation of a 1 year old restaurant to a far more established and trusted range of products.

What I like about the LTHForum is that the users, though critical, are completely constructive. You guys just want good food cooked right. And that is exactly how I am. It’s also the reason I opened my restaurant. Living in Oak Park or Berwyn my whole life, I recognized the shortage of above-par casual food and I set out to change it. I suppose this post is really my thank you to all you LTH users for starting a thread about Big Guys. And thank you for your comments, which continue to steer us in a more positive direction.

Sincerely,
Brendan O’Connor

This block party is sure to be a success between your establishment and Bill's! You've got the nicest employees and some fantastic eats. Sign me up!
Congrats on your first year! Good to see hard work pay off.

B. O'Connor wrote:The end result of all of this is that we now have a menu the size of any Greek-owned fast food restaurant; the difference at Big Guys is that everything is homemade. With a menu that size we cook to order, so our food takes a little longer. I probably don’t operate with the best business model considering my labor costs are outrageous, but I’m proud of everything we sell. And somehow we’ve been able to do more than get by because of loyal customers and some really lucky media exposure that catapulted our brand from the reputation of a 1 year old restaurant to a far more established and trusted range of products.
What I like about the LTHForum is that the users, though critical, are completely constructive. You guys just want good food cooked right. And that is exactly how I am. It’s also the reason I opened my restaurant. Living in Oak Park or Berwyn my whole life, I recognized the shortage of above-par casual food and I set out to change it. I suppose this post is really my thank you to all you LTH users for starting a thread about Big Guys. And thank you for your comments, which continue to steer us in a more positive direction.

Given that Katy's also opened up this year, I'm afraid I cannot say you're the best thing that's happened for Oak Park (and area) eaters last year, but I'll say you're tied for best. I think you should be proud of what you sell because the product that comes out nearly every time is so good.

Oddly, I have slightly mixed feelings on the burger being there every day. Given that it's one of my favorite things to order, I want it on the days that I show, but I also liked when I felt like I had to "earn" it by coming on select days. Then again, with all the additions and specials, I'm having a harder and harder time knowing what to get.

Thanks. Looking forward to many more anniversaries.

Big Guys has my preschooler's full endorsement, for good or ill:

Hey, I have a nice all-beef hot dog and S. Rosen bun right here in the fridge. "No thank you, I only like hot dogs from Big Guys," Hey, here we are at the Portillo's drive-thru. Would you like a hot dog? "Sorry, I only eat hot dogs from Big Guys now."

Anniversary event details are now here.

Just posted by them to Facebook, with no explanation/clarification (yet):

I'm closing down free food today at 3pm thanks

No idea what this means. Closing for good? Just early today?

OK, here we go:

We are still open. Ham Sammy special today. Sorry no free food.

Big Guys is not closing. Someone hacked on to the site. To the person who stole my brothers phone isn't bad enough that you are a good for nothing thief but do you have to mess with his business as well. What kind of person are you?

FYI, you can buy Big Guy's housemade sausages, frozen, at the Galewood Farmer's Market. The market is tiny, but it's all we've got. Sundays from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Charter One Bank parking lot, 6700 W. North Ave. Not sure how much longer into the fall the market continues.

Pretty sure the awesome BLTs Big Guys was selling a couple of weeks back used Galewood Farmer's Market tomatoes. Delicious.

Broke free from my hot link norm, and tried the "Chipotle." It's a winner as well. A real winner. I'm normally very selective with my sweet+savory in one bite foods. I'm normally not really a fan. But "honey cream cheese" on this chipotle sausage really works, imo.

November is almost upon us and here at Big Guys that calls for one thing... Turducken Sausage, which we brought back this weekend. This is our homemade version, you'll note that previous comments on this thread were correct that we did originally purchase this sausage from Paulina. It is an easy recipe of equal parts turkey thighs, chicken thighs and duck. We only season it with salt & pepper, so that the flavor of the birds really come out.

We make our gravy by searing and then roasting turkey necks, and bones from the chicken and duck. I think the stock came out well balanced between the flavors of the birds. I always go a little under on the duck bones because the flavor is much stronger than turkey or chicken.

We make a simple whole cranberry sauce. As well as our breadless stuffing which is basically just carrots, celery, onions and mushrooms roasted with fresh sage. Put it all together on a toasted Turano roll and you get a sloppy yet delicious sandwich.

If you are a hot turkey fanatic like myself, you're going to like this sandwich. We hope you stop in to try one, we will be serving this up until Thanksgiving.

Brendan O'Connor
President,
Big Guys Sausage Stand