Jimmy's Place

--Got Beef? Italian Beef
as seen on 'What's Your Beef?'

Its a special month for the people of Arlington Height's and the lifelong patrons of Jimmy's Place. Its this September that Jimmy's celebrates its 50th anniversary. The only way to describe Jimmy's place located on Northwest Highway in the Northwest suburbs is a world class grease dive. I actually got to try Jimmy's for the 1st time ever last week and just loved it. Stepping into this bar/fast food joint is like stepping back in time because nothing has changed. Upon your entry you are greeted by a dark room with a bar with a some regulars drinking and some old TV's showing the games and there's also tables for food patrons. On the walls are a bunch of Jimmy'd memorabilia and newspaper clippings from thru the years highlighting their excellent hot dogs and Italian beefs. Its been all in the family for three generations now.


Everything is old School over there

On top of all that, its been the same bartender and food prep people going on 30+ years so when I say nothing has changed I mean it in every sense. Same atmosphere, same beer, same people, same food. Same as it ever was or so I'm told anyways and I can see why. We were greeted by the lady who had been there 30+ and she was very alive if you know what I mean. I did the ordering so my buddy said he "was fine" when she asked what he needed. Lets just say she told him that she was just fine too. It was all in good fun because obviously they knew we were new. It was really easy to feel that this was a classic Chicago hot dog and beef kind of joint. The dogs are served up somewhat Chicago style minus the poppy seed bun and were a real winner if your in the area and craving yourself a hot dog. Guess what? for the month of September they will be rolling back the prices on the hot digs to the price when they first opened.


Jimmy's Place always gets love when best dog in Chicago is discussed

The hot dog was very good but it was the beef that I came here for. Its very rare that I just randomly drive by a beef joint that's been open for fifty years and I've never been to it let alone heard of it. So it was a special day and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I guess I wasn't expecting all that much because I was shocked at the old school taste of Jimmy's Italian beef. It reminded me of the beefs i used to eat as a kid from the places that are long gone. I especially liked the gravy which was seasoned very well and took me back to a time when everyone made their own beef and didn't order it pre-sliced from one of the many distributors of it these days. It really tasted like a beef I hadn't had in over ten years. The meat was tender and the peppers were average and served on the side even when ordering a beef with hot. So that was its only blemish and I would give it my signature of approval any day of the week should you be in the Arlington Height's area near Jimmy's Place.


beef with hot from Jimmy's Place

Rating Scale 5/5

beef: 4
bread: 4
gravy: 4
hot peppers: 3

Score: 15/20

Jimmy's Place
640 W Northwest Hwy
Arlington Hts, IL 60004
(847) 398-9783