Frank’s Dairy & Deli

After writing my previous review on a philly cheese, I decided I needed to cure my Philly Cheese craving.
I have driven by this place many times over the 20 plus years I have lived on this side of town. I had no idea they made sandwiches to go here. Until recently. I suppose they let their customers market/​advertise for them through word of mouth. It is in a decent location for a lot of traffic. Not much else around for the the tenants in the nearby apartments to get a hot sandwich or very basic groceries. Basic being, bread, cereal, milk, eggs, canned goods and candy. They had a lot of candy for such a small store.
I knew what I wanted when I walked in, but thought I would look over the menu board just to see what else they have available. I let the customer behind me place his order, so I could look over the menu. He placed his order, another customer picked up their order of 3 sandwiches, then I got to place mine.
I placed my order for a philly cheese, large with everything (not knowing what everything is). «You want fries and a drink», he asked. Sure. it came to $ 10.19. Fair enough price.
I get my sandwich and fries in an 8 inch dinner box. He opened it up to add some sauce to the fries. Saw a nice looking sandwich wrapped in foil and cut in 2 to fit in the box. Actually, I did not see the sandwich, since it was wrapped in foil, but it seemed to be a decent size.
I get home and contemplate, do I put the coke in the fridge and get a beer? Philly and a beer sure go together well. But then a coke goes well to. I decided on the coke. I opened the box and grab a fry with mild sauce. Mild is accurate. Just what I would expect for a mild sauce. I unwrapped the sandwich and lo and behold, I see lettuce. Lettuce on a philly cheese? No.
I know enough about philly’s to know it should not have lettuce, tomato or mayo. None of those are bad ingredients, but on a philly is a sin. A philly should be beef, cheese and optional ingredients of peppers, onions or mushrooms on a toasted roll. Some will say it should be a cheese sauce, but I prefer sliced cheese melted into the meat as it is cooking.
I got what I ordered I guess. I got what they call a philly. But it really is a hot beef sub sandwich. Maybe cooked philly style, but the cooking technique is just a part of what a philly is.
I paid $ 10.19 for this combo meal. The menu he put in the bag with my order said the large sandwich is $ 7.99. Fries and a pop additional $ 1.00. That means I should have paid about $ 9.60. If the prices went up, that is fine. But change the prices on the menus too.
The 2 staff were pleasant enough, though hard to understand since english is not their first language. But they try to communicate well. Price was fair for what I got. But it was not a philly cheese.

Ok, don’t be fooled by the fact that the Chi-​Town Grill part is tucked inside a corner c-​store — this place is the real deal — at least when it comes to the Philly Cheesesteaks. The Philly here is as good as any I’ve ever encountered in the Upper Midwest, and it’s made the way it’s supposed to be. Just fantastic.
More people need to know about this place as once everyone I know goes here once they keep going back over and over.
Portions are huge for what you pay and the staff has always been very friendly. Haven’t had the gyros yet but have heard very good things about those as well.
In the world of greasy sandwiches, gyros, fries, nachos, cheap burgers and a whole lot more… this place is as good as it gets. Plus it’s cheap. Add a can of soda and healthy serving of fries for $ 1…total? Unheard of these days.
This place really needs to get its name out there somehow.
One note as it may be helpful: It’s pretty much takeout only as there’s nowhere to sit and eat inside.
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Update: Since getting popular and establishing itself the place has taken a step backwards. It’s still reasonably solid at what it is that it does, but is just not what it used to be, in my opinion. In all honesty, it depends a lot on who is working and you can never be sure what you’re going to get on a given day.
I really don’t like doing this but I have to be honest. In the early days of the new ownership a few years back this place was an awesome hidden secret… now it’s just another place.

The gyros are so good here! The meal deal is pretty good too! Comes with fries, a large gyro and a soda pop can for 6.99 $ not bad at all.