I have written more than a few times about the fine breakfast fare at the Original Palace Grill (and I will comment on some of those morning eats in a bit), but I have sorely neglected the rest of the menu. The burgers, sandwiches, entrees and daily specials, for example. But then, at the OPG you can have breakfast all day. And a hamburger, a Reuben or a tuna melt for breakfast, if you want one.
Being across the street from the 911 call center and a jump shot away from the United Center, the OPG keeps an eat beat going all day long (and into a good part of the night). You can be seated in the dining area or take a seat at the counter, where I like to hang out to watch the cooks. You can pick up more than a few tips about the art of grill cookery from them. Who needs the Food Channel when you can watch live? And there's nothing like a mountain of hash browns on the flat top to whet the appetite.
OK, so I might be overselling this place a bit, but when it comes to good cooking and variety, the OPG is the place for casual fare at reasonable prices. The highest-priced dish on the menu is the "ribeye steak dinner" at $11.50 (vegetable, mashed potato or rice included; add a side salad for $1.75). I am not suggesting that the steak at OPG is in the same ballpark as a steak at Mike Ditka's, but when price comes to shove, well, a penny saved is ...
Speaking of Mike Ditka. How strange was it that a few days after eating at Ditka's in Oakbrook Terrace, I found Ditka looking at me? A picture of Da Coach standing in front of his team from Super Bowl XX was right there on the wall over my left shoulder. I was tucking into the Palace Grill's excellent rotisserie half chicken at the time, so the chicken got my undivided attention. The plump bird had a nice char on the outside and ran moist and flavorful right to the bone. The chicken came with two sides, so I chose mashed potatoes and gravy (OK, not great) with the chicken and a thick and flavorful pea soup (lots of ham and carrots to bulk it up even more) before the chicken.
One of the daily specials (check the chalkboard) was chicken a la king. Well done. Delicious. The dish was so good-looking that a guy passing my table wanted to know what I was eating. I heard him order the same thing. It had chunks of chicken in a tasty cream sauce with peas, mushrooms and strips of red bell pepper laid over slices of toasted bread.
A couple of breakfast dishes not to miss: The corned beef hash omelet is as big as a first baseman's mitt and filling enough to last a good part of the day. Then there are omelets and eggs any way you want them, but you should have them with ham off the bone -- big hunks of delicious ham. And you should go with either the hash browns or the grits.
You can pretty much skip dessert, but one good choice is the waffle with a scoop of ice cream and strawberries.
Pat Bruno is a free-lance writer, critic and author. E-mail brunoeats@aol.com.
Have you recently dined at the Original Palace Grill? Let us know what you thought. E-mail weekendplus@suntimes.com with a 50-word review of your dining experience. Please include your name and city.
