Hody's Grill — Restaurant in Cicero

As a small business owner, I try to be mindful of supporting other small businesses. I have passed Hody's many times but never ordered. One night I decided to just stop by to see if they had fried chicken....

At night (not sure about daytime) you have to ring a bell for service. The whole setup reminds me of some roadside type place down south. The guy who comes out is unresponsive and gruff. No greeting, no real eye contact. First, it was confirmed that they DO NOT take cards. Ok, really? So cash only. Then I asked for a takeaway menu and he goes and brings me some crumpled paper with water stains and smeared ink. That's the best you can do?

I ended up not going back to order. Mind you, the prices are pretty great (on paper). Like the Grand Slam breakfast is quoted at $7.35 and most of the breakfast offerings are reasonable. Not much else on menu other than regular burgers and sandwiches. But for a 24hr joint you can get food from at 4am after clubbing...should be great, right?

From the other reviews here, the food must be as I thought, subpar. And that's sad to me. This place is sort of an institution...not sure how long it's been there. But there is NOTHING else around as competition for them. They should be poppin! There should be cars in the lot...attractive lighting...and seen as a destination. It's almost like they DON'T WANT to make money. Someone with better business sense could really make this place work. Even if physical upgrades aren't a concern, how about hiring employees that care? How about proofreading business literature before giving it out. Yeah, they have chicken wings & fries ($6.52!) but the menu says they are "chicken wigs". Then they are offering "Omlete's"..again misspelled and even with an apostrophe. These little things should be important but they point to a greater problem.

I know that small businesses that have been around a while often don't have drive to stay competitive and rely on repeat customers and trickle-thru. But in the 21st century that business model and attitude is no longer viable. In a city as large as Chicago, one has to be mindful to stay current and desirable. If Hody's wants to just sit in that desolate Cicero area and coast along,...

ITS TIME TO PADLOCK AND CHAIN THE DOORS. There's Only One Grill Master There (I forget her name). But I Know She Can't Do It all. Everyday, And she certainly has to have a day off. The food is HORRIBLE whenever she's not there. And besides that MANAGEMENT is horrible now. It's Time To Bring In The DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH INSPECTORS!! Behind The Counter Where The Food Is Being Prepared Is So Despicable Looking. Floors, Walls, And Baseboards Are "FILTHY NASTY". My Food Was Prepared Wrong And disgusting looking. And instead of an sincere apology, all I received was a NASTY RUDE attitude from the person in charge (white blonde chick). And the menu tossed at me to figure out the extra charges on my own. Then told that they don't give REFUNDS even when they clearly screwed up your order. They try to force you to still take a replacement order. Luckily this time I Checked my order before paying. I just could sense it was not right , because when I entered the place. All I could see was sserious complete Kaos. Workers appeared disoriented and very unorganized. And NO it was not Crowded and busy like on some days. It was 8:00 am on this Saturday morning. And The Lady in charge had the AUDACITY to tell me to never order again from them... 😯😯😯😂😂😂 YA THINK!!! SO SAD! I've always in the pass been fun of the original owner. I don't know her existence anymore there. But unless they CLEAN UP, and get organized and business oriented. This place needs to be...

Hodies is usually my late night go to, but tonight I had a terrible experience. I called in and was informed that I had to wait 30 minutes for my order, I politely said that's fine and she replied youll have to wait until the food is finished and hung up in my face.she didnt ask how I wanted the eggs, Pancakes or frenchtoast etc.. So I called back politely and was greeted with the same force and hung up on. Mind you I never raised my voice or said anything irate. She couldn't own up to whatever it was that had her mad and dismissive so i hung up and settled for white castles.. I believe she didn't mean any harm, probably just going thru something at home or maybe in the work place bc in other occasions she was sweet as pie.. but at the end of the day your place of business should be a place of businesses, personal issues to the side. I chose not to go back and forth and to find another solution to kill my hunger, but I had to write this review bc over the years I've spent a nice amount of money with this restaurant. No customer should have to be greeted with that kind of disrespect and unscrupulous service on any level. Do drug checks and we'll being checks bc your head chefs/receptionist are messing up business mixing personal issues...