Daisy's Po-Boy and Tavern — Restaurant in Hyde Park Township

On 8/6/22, my boyfriend and I are minding our business walking down the street to our apartment when restaurant owner Erick Williams interrupts his own conversation with someone else to stop us and ask if he can interest us to try a sandwich and drink at his new restaurant. My boyfriend casually says to him that we'll come by, but we don’t totally stop to talk. We were hungry, but I had on uncomfortable heels and needed to use the bathroom first. So we went up, took just about 10 minutes and came right back out to Daisy’s.

Both the front and side doors were closed but people were all inside, sitting down or in line ordering. It was very busy in there.

(I’m assuming the official opening had not happened yet, as Erick can be seen on Instagram inviting a food ‘influencer’ for a “sneak peek” inside the restaurant at nighttime just a day prior to this encounter.)

Another man and a young girl comes up after us trying to open the doors also, and they go back to the side doors that we initially tried to open and Erick opens the door and lets them in. We follow right behind them as Erick is holding the door open, he looks at us, flattens his lips and goes, “Guys…We’re done! Sorry.” And closes the door on us, just after letting the two people that came after us right in. Like, WHAT?

By far, this was THE most awkward, weird and uncalled-for encounter with anyone that I have experienced in my life. I am utterly appalled and confused at how we were treated by him.

He didn’t even let us know a time when we can come back, offer a sincere apology or even offer us to dine at his other restaurant Virtue across the street (you know, the one with the tone-deaf, ‘black trauma’ clichés and buzz-phrases posted outside on all of the windows where the daily majority of patrons are non-POC? the place should be called Virtue Signaling), which was still open at the time.

What was the point of offering us to dine at a restaurant that’s closing within 10 minutes, at 6:38pm on a Saturday, just to turn us around after letting other folks in? Or perhaps it was just closed to US because Mr. ‘Kindness is a Virtue’ didn’t like that we didn’t stop to converse with him and walk our butts over there the very moment he asked us to?

This review doesn’t even deserve the one star I’m forced to give it. The sad part is that my boyfriend and I were actually planning to be regulars ever since we saw the decals of food selections on the outside, as we can literally look out of our apartment window and see the place. My boyfriend and I are both black biz owners AND black-owned biz enthusiasts, but I will most gladly walk past both of Erick’s establishments to get other food when I leave my home. Hopefully, if you decide to try this place when it opens, you’ll actually get a chance to eat some good food and maybe get treated with...

Not to be rude, this restuarant needs to be shut down as soon as possible. Their food is terrible. I just came back from a trip to New Orleans where I ate po-boys a bunch for over a month of staying there for Mardi Gras season. I came back and had this abomination and it was terrible. Firstly, they won't let you switch mayo for Remoulade sauce which isn't how original po-boys work (in New Orleans only the cheapest places didn't allow Remoulade sauce to be added and no one ate there), also they use SWEET Pickles here traditional po-boys have savory or tart pickles. This place is a cheap concept that is overpricing guests. I recommend that this restaurant closes down and that we stop accepting basic overpriced options for food in Hyde Park. TOOOOO MANY PEOPLE HERE HAVE RATED THIS PLACE HIGH FOR HOW BAD IT IS. TRUST ME PLEASE DON'T SPEND YOUR MONEY, DON'T COME HERE, AND IF YOU LIKE THEIR FOOD YOU HAVE VERY LOW STANDARDS FOR FOOD. THIS PLACE IS NOT WORTH THE TIME OR EFFORT AND THE FOOD WASN'T EVEN FRESH. THEY WOULDN'T LET ME SUBSTITUTE MAYO WITH A MORE COMMON SAUCE TYPICALLY USED ON THESE TYPES OF SANDWICHES. Also, the owner was extremely condescending and rude, he looked at my party like we were beneath him, but we were all professors. Lastly, for as many people talking about their gumbo, it really wasn't that good, I've had better from other more established Chicago restaurants and way better in NOLA, they are very stingy with the gumbo ingredients which makes it not worth 10-13 dollars. In NOLA most seafood gumbo costs at most 11 a bowl and Is full of seafood.

This restaurant is one of those scams to keep funding the pockets of Erick Williams big, which I will no longer support. We let people come in and gentrify our neighborhoods with mediocrity, treat their own terribly, and then give very poor products and customer service.

I will make sure that none of my students go here, that peers in hyde park don't go here, and that anyone I know visiting the area doesn't go here. It was that bad. PLEASE SAVE YOUR MONEY TRUST ME ITS NOT WORTH IT, THIS PLACE SUCKS AND THEIR FOOD IS TERRIBLE, AND IF YOU DO LIKE THEIR FOOD YOU EITHER DON'T KNOW LOUISIANAN FOOD OR YOU GREW UP IN A HOUSEHOLD WITH WEAK COOKING. PLEASE DON'T EAT HERE. TRUST ME YOUR STOMACH, TASTEBUDS, AND OVERALL HAPPINESS...

My husband and I LOVE New Orleans - we even got married there. We really, really want to love Daisy’s. But the food and drinks just aren’t quite right. Every dish has some sort of weird “twist” to it.

Considering this is the only New Orleans themed restaurant I’ve ever seen in Chicago, there is really no reason to do that - they should just serve classic New Orleans food! Probably a large percentage of people in Chicago have never been to New Orleans and now after eating at Daisy’s they probably think this is what the food is actually like…lol. If you’re one of the only places in Chicago that serves New Orleans food, why not do it right? Most people aren’t going to understand or appreciate your “twists” because they’ve never had the original stuff.

We went to Daisy’s the other night and I had been craving a muffaletta, so I was excited to try it, as I usually get a po’ boy or something else there. The muffaletta was extremely disappointing and was nothing like in New Orleans. In New Orleans, the bread is thin and soft, and the sandwich is loaded with meat, cheese, and this special olive salad (which is not spicy). The Daisy’s version had huge thick crusty bread that was extremely hard (like literally so hard I couldn’t stick a toothpick in it), there was only one layer of each meat and one layer of cheese, and there wasn’t even olive salad on it - it had giardiniera instead?!?!?! And it was really spicy giardiniera too - you couldn’t taste anything else about the sandwich. It literally just tasted like a classic Chicago deli sandwich you could get anywhere.

The drinks also all have weird “twists” to them and none of them are classic New Orleans drinks. On top of all of that, they used to have an amazing corn maque choux dish that they got rid of shortly after opening. It was the best thing on the menu and my favorite dish - sometimes I would order it solo as a side for our dinner.

Daisy’s, PLEASEEEEE learn what New Orleans food actually tastes like and stop trying to make it “unique” and...