Johnny’s Grill

This is by far the best cheeseburger I have ever had in my entire life. I am a cheeseburger fanatic and this place takes the cake — beats kumas, au cheval, and bavettes. I’m actually upset about letting other people know about this because I don’t like waiting in line, but think this place deserves the recognition :)

NOT CLOSED !!! Just saw the «closed» notice on this page. That’s an OLD listing.
As of 9−19−15 this place is open — and open until 2 a.m., at least on Saturdays. I just called.
Haven’t been there recently, but Johnny’s has always been run by very nice folks and does a good job at a good price for the things they serve. Each year in October I run the Battle of the Jug Bands upstairs in the Logan Square Auditorium (which has no food) and we are happy to refer folks down to this classic old time dinner.

For someone who went on record as saying they’re striving to serve THE best fish ‘n’ chips in Chicago, they have a long, long way to go. The fried breading overwhelms to the point that I got a stomach-​ache overnight from it, and the fish was barely perceptible within. If I had to put numbers on it, I would say 75% breading, 25% fish. Also, the «chips» were really just french fries; they gave you less than a single handsful; and their malt vinegar comes in a cup, not a drizzle-​bottle, and they keep no salt on the tables, so you have to go to the bar to ask for some. If you want to try it anyway, you will need to bring more than $ 13 for the pleasure.

Ate here last night the price was lovely and the food was on point. I’m a sucker for greasy spoons I just can’t get enough. Good food great service you just can’t ask for more.

!CLOSED!
Heads up for anyone visiting, this establishment is now closed.
!CLOSED!

This small counter service diner is great when you don’t want to wait long for a seat at a neighboring joint or save some cash or get something wonderfully greasy and don’t want to scan over a menu full of goat cheese frittatas and challah French toasts (while great, sometimes a lady wants to go the simple eggs, bacon, toast route). The employees are friendly and the food comes out fast.

I cringe at bit at writing this review.
Why cringe with five stars?
Because I’m giving it away!
This place is THE hidden gem diner in Logan Square!
(There are actually a few others, but them’s hush hush)
But wait… better than Cozy Corner?! BLASPHEMY!
No, really… as good and cheap as Cozy Corner, smaller location, smaller menu, more of a classic diner feel. Why better? Because you don’t have to wait (or rarely, ever, do you have to wait)!
You get what you pay for here, no question about it. The meat will have been frozen, the veggies might have come from a can, but for the prices, you’re crazy to expect more. The service is fast, the servers are nice. Enjoy your two hour wait around either corner for food that’s not worth it, and tattoo’d hipster server who smells like BO intermingled w last night’s PBR.
Johnny’s Grill, I can’t get enough of you! I’d buy stock if you let me.
In a neighborhood that is becoming literally choked with places that tout meat from a farm 40 they can name, free range blah, local blee, housemade blug, n organic blerg, all while raping your wallet, this place is the best sight for sore eyes possible.
The one review I read about unsanitary… HUH? I’ve eaten here more times than I can count, and every.single.time, it’s been clean.

A classic American diner experience. Friendly staff and good service. The food is solid, nothing spectacular, and the price is right. A great alternative to the overcrowded specialty cocktail bar-​restaurants in the neighborhood for breakfast.

I am surprised by some of the reviews on here.
I have been to Johnny’s MANY times and the service has always been pleasant and they DO give refills on the soda but you typically will need to ask for it. It is exactly what you might expect in a greasy spoon diner setting… squeaky swivel stools, at a counter cleaned with a bleach water soaked rag. The menus are there, you figure out what you want and the guy makes it. There is no fanfare, no frills, no pointless garnishes on the plate…
It’s cheap, fast and greasy. One of the best bacon cheeseburgers I have had!

The only reason I gave it 1 star is because I actually do like the food here. Problem is that its sooooooo unsanitary here. LITERRALY.
Im surprised they havent been reported yet.

Inexpensive, completely consistent., cash or credit, greasy spoon/​lunch counter, with all day breakfast, right off the blue line on the square.

Johnny’s offers a nice break from hipster paradise… Lula’s. If you’re into a nice mom and pop’s– I just moved from a small midwestern town– kind of place, Johnny’s is it. The food is made in front of you with people who care about the food they make. The wait staff is always friendly. I will continue to eat at Johnny’s.

Cheese omelet and Denver omelet. Both were good, and so was the overall experience.

I’d really like to give Johnny’s the 4-​star nod, but at the end of the day, it’s just an OK diner. Although I find it refreshing that an old-​school diner like this exists and thrives sandwiched between Lula’s and Dunlays, Johnny’s food is really very average. Not that I’m looking for anything fantastic at a joint like this, but most of the time they serve me scabby scrambled eggs (too well done), and their bacon is somewhat sub-​par (I could probably make better in my microwave). They are extra generous with the hashbrowns, as well with refills. Service is good too, and I generally would rather eat breakfast here than Dunlays or Lulas, mainly to avoid the hype and give my wallet a break.
Ultimately the pros/​cons kind of cancel each other out in my eyes, so all-​in-​all this is just an A-​OK diner for this fellow. If you’re looking for some decent/​cheap breakfast in an unpretentious environment (which is me most of the time) overall Johnny’s is a good bet.

Cheap, fast, greasy, and tasty. The only type of breakfast I like to consume!

Johnny’s is my go to breakfast place, I even moved further away and I still go there. Its a great breakfast place for after a heavy night of drinking or when you have a couple friends visiting (not too many because it isn’t that big).
They service is good, they have always been sweet to me and the prices really can’t be beat!

This might be the ideal place to begin piecing your life back together after either a messy divorce, or a night of abusing your liver at The Owl until 5 AM. The reliability of the diner standbys– the Greek skillet, chocolate chip pancakes, bacon & eggs– make this a reassuring replica of classic diners across America, including the joint from Nighthawks (framed on display behind the counter). Its effortless consistency makes this place one of few to hold Logan Square’s history together, the old roots that still stand their ground even as new money spurs change. It can get a bit cramped, but it’s full of characters, and the cooks shift seamlessly between Spanish and English to accommodate the diversity. Overall, it’s a better place to pretend to read the morning news than to actually read the morning news.
Distinguishing Johnny’s from other diners are the windowside seats, offering perhaps the best view of Logan Square around: joggers turning from one boulevard to another, hip gentry talking about NPR broadcasts and waiting to get into Lula, the monumental Illinois Centennial eagle-​tipped phallus holding down the center of the Square in all its libidinous vigour, the splintered Norwegian community reuniting at their old church for Sunday service, righteous pedestrians risking their lives to cross Kedzie boulevard (Yes, ALL those cars cutting south onto Kedzie from the rotary can be wrong. Pedestrians have right of way). As the sun sinks over the massive apartment complexes on the west side of Kedzie, the glare might blind you if not for the pull-​down sunglass shades on each window at Johnny’s. They thought about that for you.

Unilocal asks you to promise you aren’t «connected» to the restaurant you are reviewing, so, here goes. I am in no way connected to the owner or the employees at this establishment. But, I am in yes way connected to one of the employees at Lula, so I go here to wait for her to finish working.
Johnny’s Grill is like this: they sometimes draw smiley faces on my hamburgers in mustard and ketchup. They have coffee for a like, a dollar. They let me sit and rest my aching feet. They are a tiny sanctuary. Hooray for Johnny’s Grill. Hooray.

Ehhh… it’s exactly what I expected. There was a little part of me that thought this place might have delicious food, because it looks a little dirty, and dirty looking places typically are the ones to go to! Yet, this place was just «ok». My friend and I got stuck with seats by the door, and in winter, it was cold. Our server was quick, and nice, but she also recognized my friend (as in, she looked at her and asked her if she was getting the usual). I had a gyro that I didn’t finish. I’m used to gyros that have so much meat I can’t even fold it and take a bite. This one… didn’t. Will I come back here? If I’m in the neighborhood and someone wants to go there, fine, but, probably not.
Simply put: this place is average.

Plato once posited that humans create objects that attempt to mimic an idealized form. I.E., any chair we make strives to be the ideal «Chair». IKEA and decades upon decades of obnoxious philosophy grad students have smushed this concept, but I’ll say this…
The closest we’ve ever come to creating the ideal «Greasy Spoon» sits at the corner of Kedzie and Logan.
Nice staff, super fast service. It’s also, like, the TOTAL opposite of Lula’s Café which is two doors down. Which is funny in it’s own way.
Of course, Plato would tell you we’re all imperfect, and so is Johnny’s — it’s not open nearly late enough (which forces us all go to the overpriced «Golden Nuge» instead)
I’m sort of confused why it doesn’t keep later hours. Even MORE confusing then, is the Art Institute using Johnny’s for it’s Ed Hopper nighhawks photo-​illustration (
), which is well-​executed but contradictory.
In reality, the Nighthawks’ (
) cook would be asleep, the guy sitting alone would be ordering the «pennysaver» at Golden Nugget, and… let’s face it… the other guy and the skanky redhead would be having awkward sex on a studio apartment futon at this point.