Harlo Grill

Very dirty and they don’t use gloves. the menus are old and have stains on them.

Another one of these places like Hala Kahiki… I’ve driven by it hundreds if not thousands of times and never went in — until today. Harlo reminds me of what the Gossage Grill (now La Parillita) was up until the 90’s — with the exception being that Harlo is a freestanding place and Gossage was (and the building still is) side by side with another building.
As places go nowadays, it’s pretty unique. An old time breakfast /​lunch place with a short order cook who in this case handled everything (I was there around 3PM, it was kinda slow — might be different at busier times). The prices are fantastic — $ 2.05 for a cheeseburger. No, it’s not the biggest cheeseburger you’ll ever see, but it’s pretty filling for the price. Fries — $ 1.95 crinkle cut that were freshly made and pretty good. A tad oily as they came out of the fryer, a shake or two then directly onto the plate. But the fryer grease was clearly fresh.
Also ordered a chocolate malt — pretty good, but a little hard to detect any malt. Overall, my tab was $ 7.90 with tax — hard to beat that deal anywhere in today’s world. Service was pretty prompt and polite.
Now, normally I’d give a place like this four stars based on what I’ve said above — maybe even five because of the «circuses» at the place. But the one thing that was a little unsettling was that I didn’t get the sense that the place was very clean or following prescribed sanitation standards. The guy behind the line never used any gloves nor was there any visible hand washing going on. I saw him take some bacon out of a drawer — it was in a box and I wonder how cold it really was inside that drawer — one of the doors on the unit didn’t seem to want to stay closed. Finally, and this is what heightened my sensitivity — I discovered not one but two hairs in my food. One was on a French fry (how could that have happened — straight from the fryer as noted before!). after thinking about it a little, it might have been from a brush — kind of hope so as it looked like short body hair. The second one I saw was on my plate beneath the burger bun — looked like an eyelash maybe. So that’s why the low start count.
Novel place — not sure if I’ll go back though — usually not too picky about sanitation, but there were too many issues here not to be concerned.

Nothing like two cheese burgers after a night of drinking.
The service is fast, the place is clean, the prices are good, and the food is great.
If you live in the area and you have not been there yet you’re doing yourself a disservice.

Best patty melt ever. Watching the short order cook is like poetry in motion. I’m definitely going to stop in for breakfast on my way to work one day.

The best breakfast croissant sandwich I ever had (sausage, egg and cheese). The hash browns are always perfectly cooked and crisp just the way I like it. Burgers are good too! Fast service! Definitely recommend!

As good as it gets for a «Greasy Spoon»
There’s nothing fancy about this place. You walk in, grab a stool and order. Our waitress was very friendly and the food is very good, considering it is very inexpensive.
I got a double cheeseburger, fries and a vanilla shake for less than $ 7.
If you stop by to give them a try, bring cash. They do not take plastic

Dis place is just for drunks to sober up with greasy burgers and under cooked eggs, the cooks look like they haven’t showered in over a week or more, it was a lot better 20 years ago when the old lady behind the counter made you feel like you’re in your mother’s kitchen, boy how time’s have changed”

This place is far from fancy but it is frickin’ awesome because it’s good food and cheaper than most fast food!
We made a late night run to Menards after working out and I was sporting my workout attire and the smell to go along with it. That said, I was in no way up for a true sit down meal so we decided to check out this place and we were blown away by the entire experience.
When we first arrived, there were literally two others there and one guy behind the counter. Within the thirty minutes we were there, the place had a crowd of at least twelve. All the while, the cook/​cashier/​server was moving non stop and that was amazing to watch. He grilled, prepared malts and took orders and did so fluidly.
We ordered a bacon double cheeseburger and a Mexican Omelette. Both were delicious. The omelette was served with hash browns which were perfectly crispy and some of the best we have had in a while. There were free refills on the soda and the condiments are right in front so you have little to ask for once you’re drive your order.
We have many times sought a late night option and found ourselves scrambling to identify a place that was not far away from the nest. I suspect this ²⁴⁄₇ diner will be a go to place for us going forward.

Cozy, cheap, and very consistent.
This cash-​only greasy spoon serves all-​day breakfast and has a max of 20 seats at the counter. Open 24 hours, the menu is surprisingly vast and there’s only a few items I wouldn’t order again.
I found the patty melt to be rather dry and flavorless, although the burgers have turned out much better. The eggs + meat breakfast combo is unbeatable – for the unbelievably low sum of $ 5, you’re given two eggs and your choice of meat, plus hash browns and toast. Plenty of regulars sit at the counter and order ‘the usual’, which should tell you the type of place this is. On a recent visit, I’m pretty sure I sat next to a guy that was wearing a confederate flag jean jacket and a Dodge Durango hat. I wish I was kidding, folks, I really do.
Of course, no greasy spoon would be complete without a middle-​aged gruff lady behind the counter. Lots of grumbling about how much of a pain-​in-​the-​ass it is to make milkshakes… as I sat and guiltily drank a milkshake she had JUST made for me. Kinda awkward, but also kinda funny. Most of the patrons are friendly, aside from aforementioned Dodge guy who kept muttering things about «those god dang democrats» and illegal immigrants.
On more than one occasion, I’ve seen Harlo Grill’s back door wiiiiiiiide open during the summer months, which leaves an opportunity for any creature big or small to wander in and wind up on the griddle. Were I an OCD freak, I would likely notice 1001 health code violations and have a major conniption eating here. But I’m not, and I don’t. The food is delicious and I’ve never gotten the hershey squirts from eating here, so you won’t hear any complaints from me. Although, I’d venture a guess that the last time the kitchen got a really good deep cleaning, Nixon was still president.
Not too many old school places like this left in Chicagoland (probably because the department of health and sanitation shut ‘em all down). You stay classy, Harlo Grill!

For under $ 6 dollars you can get a double cheeseburger and fries. The burger was cooked with grilled onions two slices of cheese with the works. The fries although not fresh cut they were good. I went in on a Friday night about 7:45pm was not that many people there. I ate there the show was good lots of carry outs and call ins You don’t see old school counter work like that now days. The food was hot just as I ordered. Was it the best in town no but I will give Harlo an B+. For a diner it was good. Set on grill side for the show boy dose that guy works. CASH Olyn

My favorite greasy spoon near my office. I like to stop for breakfast on my way to work on Fridays, and until the Harlo Grill I had a difficult time finding anything better than Dunkin Donuts.
All the standard diner fare is available, including breakfast all day and lunch options. The milkshakes are pretty good as well. I also would recommend the coffee, because it is strong and they give you a to-​go cup if you ask nicely.
Plenty of parking in front and along the side. Most of the customers seem to know each other, and they are friendly.

Went here to eat first day of the new year as I’m sitting there looking at their disgustingly dirty ripped up menu I keep seeing on two chalkboards they have a special for sloppy joes is eventually won me over the guy came I ordered the sloppy joes and he says all we don’t have any why would you advertise a special that you don’t have looking at things to grill was filthy I decided best money was to walk out I think I did the best thing because somebody is going to catch something at this place it is filthy I have never saw as dirty as this eat here at your own risk

I always look for the perfect bacon cheeseburger and this place has it. Old school diner with a friendly staff. Ordered 2 double bacon cheeseburgers with fries. Like eating the In And Out burger from LA, California. Amazing! This is what a burger should taste like. Way too much food! Next time only need 1 double burger. I heard the shakes were amazing too. I will order this on my next visit. You can’t go wrong here.

Good old greasy spoon, love it. everything about this place screams dive. old counter top chairs that are older than most of the patrons. Silly signage like «if you don’t eat here we’ll both starve» now as for the food, great greasey spoon food, had the patty melt, crispy grilled bread. Fried onions melted cheese, on bread that was perfectly grilled crunchy, chili was ok, malted was perfect. definitely drunk food, great after a night of party.

First of all service is really slow and they don’t have decaf coffee and second wow if you are going to be cooking food the cook should not have a really bad acne problem. That does not look nice at all when you are dealing with food and touching food with your hands and no using any gloves. I feel that is just really not sanitary.

Awesome grill and friendly staff, lots of great breakfast classics and some innovative combos. When you think about doing breakfast right, you gotta go with these guys.
space is cramped though and sometimes it’s hard to get service but it’s not on account of the driver’s not working hard.

Not too shabby for a little pit stop in Melrose Park. Traditional American food. As greasy and good as it gets. The Double Cheeseburger is the boss!

This is one of the last few diners scattered around Chicago. I completely blame them for an extensive weight gain. Back in the day the Ben Moore paint factory was located across the street. I worked there over the summers and Harlos was one of the limited eating options. I thought it would be a good thing to devour nightly two double cheeseburgers.
I have had many of the menu items from the chili to multiple breakfast items and have not been disappointed.

Food was just ok. Got the meat lovers breakfast burrito. Had to pay extra for cheese which makes no sense. The chorizo was not very good and all together the meat was really salty. The kicker was they don’t take cash so I had to go find an atm before I could take my food.
On the plus side they are open 24 hours so I will probably eat there again when I’m craving something at 2 in the morning. Otherwise u would probably give it 1 star. Really wasn’t anything special.
Really you have to pay extra for cheese in a burrito?

CASH ONLY!!!
OK now that that is out of the way… this place has the best flat iron burgers… PERIOD!!!
the malts are great and the service is always on point.!!
time to move on.