On the face of it Slim’s would appear to be be just another hot dog and burger joint but it is slightly more than the sum of its parts. I have to be honest that I thought that calling a fast food joint Slims was a bit tongue in cheek. I really wanted to be greeted by a 350 lb owner called Slim, but that wasnt the case at all. In fact the guy who has been there on all three of my visits is actually pretty slim. Their website claims that “Slim’s is a fresh take on traditional American fare minus the frozen to fryer mantra.” with their menu, “featuring homemade sauces and dressings, along with fresh meat and bread delivered daily.” Well I am not sure about that but on each occasion I have eaten here I was not disapointed. Both the hot dog and cheeseburger came with all the usual neon coloured toppings that I have learnt to associate with fast food in Chicago, but I wasn’t planning to write too much about them except to say that there was nothing wrong with them and they were definately freshly prepared.

On this occasion I was planning to reach out slightly beyond my norm and pick something a little different from the menu.

The spicy Chicken Po-boy caught my fancy, it was listed as coming with lettuce, home made spicy chicken fingers and a spicy mayo sauce

It wasn’t quite like any of the PoBoys I chowed down on in New Orleans, but it was a pretty good rendition and as a spicy chicken sandwich it was more than half decent even taking away it’s po-boy status. I really liked the spicy chicken, it was chopped up into small pieces and filled the crusty breadroll. The lettuce was crunchy and there was a slight burn from the spicy mayo that topped the whole thing. I quite enjoyed the fries that came with it too as they were freshly hand cut and not salted. I often find that the fries in these places are too salty, so on this occasion it was a nice bonus.

I also love the painted sign on the wall outside, I wonder if I am allowed to do something like this on my apartment walls, perhaps not a good idea.

Slim’s is located at 2020 W Montrose Avenue, the nearest El station is the Montrose Brown, and the 78  and 50 buses stopjust yards away from the front door on the corner of Damen and Montrose

website: http://slimschicago.com/