Dear Franks of Niles

3 out of 5.
I’ll explain why.
1) Food is 3,5/5. Not mild, not hot, not tasty. Kinda plain but good and fresh.
2) When we ordered hot dog they served it burned as black coal. Not professional way. Here is 2.
3) Interior needs serious updates. Kinda not dirty but not perfectly clean. That’s why 3.
So yes 2,83 out of 5.

They list Gravy Bread on the menu! Italian sandwich roll dipped in Italian beef juices, no meat.
I had an Italian beef. Fantastic sandwich.

Ordered 2 chili cheese dogs and asked for no onion, got 2 chili cheese dogs with all the «Chicago style dog» toppings as well. Couldn’t drive back since I’m stuck working late so picked it all off and forced myself to eat them, they tasted terrible. And for $ 10 haha.
Edit: After posting my initial 2 star review in the rather upset mode I was in Randy the co-​owner sent me a nice message offering to fix the mix up that must have happened with how the cashier interpreted what I had asked for. Even offering to deliver the hot dogs to me. I definitely appreciate the offer and have upped the rating. It is a nice place to go for lunch from time to time and I’ve never had bad service before this experience (first time taking to go) and the staff is always friendly so I was a bit harsh in my upset mood.

Where do I even begin…
I should probably preface my review by saying that my loyalty to this establishment goes back to when it was still U Dawg U, but the quality of the food & friendliness of the staff has kept me coming back my entire life.
As a connoisseur of all things cheese fries in the north shore, I’ll tell you the top three, in no particular order, are Michael’s Red Hot’s (Highland Park) Buffalo Joe’s (Evanston) and this Dear Franks. Now, please also understand that while there may be other restaurants with the same name, the food is not the same at every location. This one is the place to keep coming back to.
You virtually can’t go wrong with anything you get; dogs, Polish, philly cheese, chicken, burgers… And I already mentioned the cheese fries.
I’ll go as far as to say that any negative reviews of this place were either done with haste, or in malice, because quite frankly (no pun intended) this place is fantastic.
Yes there’s a million hot dog stands all around the city, but the quality of there food over time, the friendliness of the staff… It’s why I’ve been a loyal customer and always will be.
When I’m here, I feel like I did when I was a kid, and that’s an impossible feeling to replicate.
To the ownership, I owe you a debt of gratitude.
Thank You

First time going to Dear Franks today — I had received a brochure in the mail with some coupons, and decided to go check this place out (the photos looked really enticing!). Bf and I stopped by this evening and ordered a hot dog meal with drink and fries and a grilled chicken sandwich meal with waffle fries and a drink (Saturday special). His sandwich was underwhelming — small, and nothing spectacular to note in terms of taste. Aesthetically, I thought it was beautiful though. For 11 $, my bf was far from impressed. The waffle fries were fresh and hot, but lacked flavor as well. As far as my hot dog goes, it was pretty average. I love how they use celery salt — I don’t think most hot dog places in the area do that, but I love it. The hot dog itself was pretty small — regular grocery store size bun and hot dog. Charred well though, so tasted pretty good in that regard.
Service was pretty good — kind, respectful people. No complaints there. They also have a pretty impressive selection, although what we did get today we will probably not be getting again in the future.
After speaking with a manager, I’ve upped my previous rating to a 4. He was extremely pleasant to speak to — probably the most intelligent, caring, courteous, and prompt manager I have spoken to yet, and trust me, I have spoken to a lot! Anyway, below are my three beefs with the place:
1) prices are too high for the quantity of food.
2) food tasted mediocre, although they were pretty fresh.
3) we weren’t allowed to use our coupon for 2 $ off a 15 $ purchase, even though our meals were about 16 $ total before tax. No big deal, considering bf’s meal was a daily special thing, but still, I thought it was worth mentioning: P If I am recalling correctly, the coupon had no exceptions written on it.
If I hadn’t seen an employee bring out a burger just before I left, I’d probably say I’ll never be back here again, just because there are so many other places I can go for cheaper yet equally tasty dogs. However, that burger looked *delicious*! ¹⁄₃ lb patty, with a beautiful golden bun on top. I think we’ll give this place another shot.
Update: I keep getting texts from em with coupons and cute little «come back!» messages. Enticing…

I’ve been here about 3x now & have tried a variety of menu items. It’s a great place for fast, hot food.
The cheddar waffle fries are most memorable for me, the cheddar is nice & sharp but is more on the thicker solid side. I miss them already!
The fried fish sandwich is aiiight, not bad portions but just another frozen filet of Cod on bread.
The gyros pita sandwich had a nice bold flavor to the meat, the spices they use differentiate them from others. The meat ratio was fair but the greasiness turned me off.
Overall great customer service, top notch for a fast food place with fair prices.

I know… I know I’ll get grief over this one. But I’ve gone here a hand few of times with family and not at all impressed. The service is really good but the food is just ok. It just reminds me of just another hotdog place. It’s been there for a long time and there are family and friends that love this place but I just don’t see anything special.

I don’t know how this place only has three and a half stars. The employees are all always welcoming and friendly and the food is delicious!

Just left this place and was very disappointed. Pattymelt was served on stale dirty butter soaked bread. Patty was tiny and French fries were freezer burned and tasteless. My girlfriend ordered a chardog was mutilated and tasted like it fell into charcoal. Dirty greasy slop. Wrong condiments etc.etc.

Everything there is good. Especially, the burger. Yummy !!! The waffle fries are so delicious. Great customer services.

Great hotdogs!!! Service is really good. The people working there are super nice. Always greets you with a smile and a little bit of small talk. I always come here for the hotdogs and they never disappoint.

My sister and I came in during a rainy day to try something different. And we saw this store window stating DEAR FRANKS? Sounds different lets go in and maybe the rain will let up. Well the rain didn’t I ordered there Gyros sandwich also made it a meal with fries & drink for $ 2.95 the fries were crispy also the Gyros was great. I used to have this all the time at this place in my hometown in Aurora. My sister had the Patty melt and made it a meal also. She too like hers. This is a spot we will come back to again. Plus there are many other shops to visit too.

I really enjoyed the food at Dear Franks as it was simply delicious! The staff was also great! Michael was super! My food was hot and tasty and what made it better was being able to have a person like Michael take care of me! I highly recommend this restaurant to all. If you want delicious food and good service– this is the place to go!!! Super!

Well what can I say! Hum let’s see! A burger critic came to visit your place at 12:30 in the afternoon and you gave him a dry precooked burger! It had No taste at all!!! I think waiting for your burger to be cooked is much better then getting one that was cooked 2 hrs ago and dry as can be! Must have been in a container somewhere keeping warm cause it only took 3 min to fix my order! Oh well they had thier chance we will let everyone know how bad it was! Don’t go waste of money much better places out there that will make u a fresh burger! Ps 1hr later on toilet! Not good! Next morning still got the shits! Lmao

If you wanna pay for way overpriced food then Dear Franks is the place for you. Hotdogs are 3 bucks and don’t include a fries or drink, their an additional 3 bucks. For 6 dollars for a single hotdog meal is outrageous. Their other combo meals are a rip off. Fries are horrible. You have to spend at least 10 bucks for a meal that is sub par. If I wanted to spend that much I’d go to a real restaurant and spend a few dollars more for some actual good food. Do not waste your time people.

Great service but mediocre food. I’m always wishing for better burgers or fries.

I’ve been coming to dear franks since I was in high school and I can’t believe I forgot to review one of my favorite places. Perfect place to grab a burger and cheese fries! Tried some other menu items and the food is always really good, I’ve never had a bad meal here! The staff is always extremely friendly every time I come in too :) The food is always consistent and I’ve never had a problem with my order. Love dear franks!

We went to Dear Franks at Lunch Time. Kinda busy, no problems, tho. They were very smooth and fast!
I had something called a Hoagie. Not with American Cheese, but with Swiss.
Can I tell you that I died and went to heaven???
I never had this before! What I was MISSING!!! This HUGE sandwich was GOOOOD!
And for another $ 2.95 you get fries and a large drink (large to me).
I raved all about it even the following day.
Nice place. Nice guys and gals. Fast turnaround once you get your order in.

Great food and excellent service! Every time I have gone here through the years I am never disappointed. The food is always good. Burgers, fries, sandwiches, and the shakes are delicious. Just the type of food you would expect when you want a little more than other fast food. Also the employees are always friendly!

Grill chicken salads are really good. They actually cook the grill chicken for your order they have good specials

The only thing I ordered was some cheese fries. Actual fries were pretty good but the cheese was very overpowering. It was giving me acid reflux and was kind of hard to eat. My friend also did not like the cheese fries.

Great place with friendly service, friendly staff and good food. Strip mall parking so something it’s bad sometimes it’s okay. the veggie burger here is really tasty.

I must write to update my previous review of this establishment. After being very kindly corrected, I want to make special note that there IS a changing table there despite my last review stating otherwise.
And a kudos again goes out to this restaurant for it’s extreme amount of friendliness and professionalism.
I will return here, get a burger this time, and hopefully be back to give them 4 stars or above :)