Ed Debevic's — Restaurant in Chicago

When I was a kid my grandpa took me to a diner like this and I loved the concept and thought about it every year since at least once.

So glad I came across this place. My kids and I love to explore new cities and find little restaurants to check out along the way. I hate Chicago but my kid wanted to go there next so here we are. Today is April fools day so I had planned to take my kids here (my kids love to rate and review food, bathrooms, staff ability and friendliness and professionalism) they can be critical and judgemental. so I thought this would be a great April fools prank for my kids to see how they'd react to a different type of atmosphere and I was all giggles over it.

The wait staff have fun with each other ragging on each other and of course the customers food choices or needs etc. they're also extremely polite and friendly which is a real treat of bipolar chaos we all can't get enough of right?

My kids were so confused at what was going on and my daughter was actually getting upset over it(she also had to miss her after school club cuz I felt like a road trip on my day off so she was already salty) the waiters aren't offensive, they're just "real", like of it were ur stressed and sassy mom or older sister baby sitting u and trying to feed u while also maintaining a social life haha everything is a chore to them for example. God I would be so perfect at this job. I srsly love this concept cuz I can't stand restaurants to be honest-tho whole polite fake thing. I work at one and refuse to be a waitress cuz I'm terrible at pretending to be in a good mood especially when I'm stressed. Did it for a couple weeks and went back in the kitchen and back delivering. It's a srsly stressful job where u always have to be "on" so I totally appreciate this model and atmosphere.

Our waiter, something about breakfast...brad breakfast or billy breakfast something or other- was fun and very kind but it did seem to take a while to get the check which only made the parking meter cost more lol so boo to that but it was just a great time hearing everyone rag on everyone and be so animated and jokey/sassy

I finally explained to my kids the concept and my son really liked it and my daughter was still very upset but then she said she was mostly still just upset about getting stuck with partners she hates on a school project (middle schoolers) and later after we got home she said it was a great day and literally skipped off to bed. I think she had time to reflect how fun and different of an experience it was.

She also got some photo booth pix keepsakes which I think is an incredible idea they also have lots of business merch shirts to buy.

They do a little dance and song number too so it's a whole show goin down with the anti-camaraderie and music and dancing lol

photo for reference of daughters non enthusiasm .

I had a blast. Food not that great tho. Cost is exactly what ud think, plus a dollar. Lol Nah wasn't really out for a phenomenal meal .. just to relive...

Jane ruined my experience today. Absolutely unprofessional.

My family and I have been coming to Ed Debevic’s for years. My mother is from Chicago, and every single time we visit, this restaurant is on our must-do list. We love the concept, the humor, and the playful roasting. We fully understand that if you don’t like being made fun of, this isn’t the place for you — and we embrace it every time.

This visit, however, was nothing like the Ed Debevic’s we know and love. Our server, listed on the receipt as “Jane calamity H”, took the interaction far beyond playful banter into something outright hostile and unprofessional.

While she was on stage dancing, I smiled and gestured that my mom needed a Pepsi refill — something I would never do in a normal restaurant but have always done here in the spirit of joking back. Out of nowhere, Jane stepped onto our table, took my mother’s drink away, and yelled, “IT’S MY JOB TO BE MEAN, NOT YOURS!” If management wants to contact me I have a video of the first confrontation and yelling at our table on video, when my girlfriend was recording the performance.

At first, we thought it was part of the act — until she went back to the server station and slammed the cup down. A few minutes later, she came back, broke character, and said in a serious tone, “This is your real server talking and not in character. Before coming back to your table, I was about to throw up in the bathroom, and then I came out here to dance for you. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE MY JOB AWAY FROM ME. I DO THE INSULTS.” This was not playful roasting — it was personal and confrontational, and it made our entire table uncomfortable.

For the record, I am a former restaurant manager and server with over three years in the industry, and my mother and girlfriend have both worked as servers. We all understand the nature of this restaurant and the give-and-take between staff and guests. But there is never a situation in which yelling at a guest like this is appropriate.

We spoke to the manager, who was excellent, listened to our concerns, and was very professional. The food was great, the rest of the staff was wonderful, but this single interaction with Jane completely changed the tone of our visit.

We have the initial yelling on video, as well as a photo of our ticket so management can confirm the exact server. I hope this is taken seriously because what happened was beyond the bounds of Ed Debevic’s playful style — it was unnecessarily aggressive and unprofessional. Thanks Jane for ruining this...

While on our way home, this diner grabbed my attention with its quirky old timer diner lighting and props. The food on people's tables looked good so we decided to venture inside. Now it's important to first note that this is not just a themed restaurant, but one that takes the middle-of-nowhere diner theme to heart, including the snarky back-talking servers with attitude. Indeed, after my first interaction with a server right after we sat, my first reaction was "I'm giving this place 1* on Google". I simply asked to sit in an empty booth we walked by as we were being seated. After sitting I noticed it probably wasn't cleaned yet. My wife pointed it out so I asked a server if someone would clean it, she responded, 'Well she was gonna seat you in a table that was ready but YOU wanted this one so... Sigh..." and took off. Then someone came to clean it, then we got our server, Skip, who unlike the first server, was' rude' in a playful way, the way the theme dictated him to be. I think this is why they're only 50 reviews in and they're already looking at 3.X ratings. People need to realize that the 'rude' servers are part of the theme, but also servers need to know how to play it right in a playful way. Anyway, onto the food. I got the Route 66 Burger with avocado and sourdough bread. It was delicious I loved it so much and would come back for it. My wife had the No Yolk potatoes which tasted good as well. The food is generally extremely 1970s-1980s diner style, so this is food that will slowly kill you, and is okay for only the occasional splurge once every couple of months. I was actually surprised to see Impossible burgers being offered, but good for them.

I forgot to ask if their weiners were Vienna Beef since they didn't indicate that on the menu, so I don't know. Would be great if they were, and would make me come in more often than I planned.

The servers also gave us a cute table top dance which was actually fun. Honestly overall we had a great time and yes we'd like to come back even though the entire menu is a far cry from anything we have...