Wide Daddys LLC — Restaurant in Mesa

Today was my first visit to this Chicagoland-based eatery, Wide Daddy's. This slice of Chicago is located in the plaza off the north west corner of University and Lindsey in Mesa. The place is new, just opened in January of 2022. Clesrly focused on takeout, the shop nonetheless has a half dozen tables, with both regular back and high top seating.

The staff consists of people taking orders, cooking and managing. There is no table service. I had a chance to talk with what seemed like the owner/operator, and it was clear that quality and faithful reproduction of great Chicago standards was their focus.

My goal was to try to sample as many entrées as possible. My first order was the Italian Beef Sandwich. I had it with mild peppers, but they also offer hot and sweet pickle versions. The shaved italian beef was good quality and just the right amount of saltiness. I had the sandwich "wet" which means they pour grill juices on the sandwich to moisten the bun. It was excellent in flavor.

My second entrée was a hand made burger with all the fixings. It was very god. The beef patty was clearly handmade and tasted good. The third entrée I tried was their polish dog, which consisted of a giant polish sausage, excellent hot peppers, pickles, other fixings and a nice bun. The sausage flavor was likewise very good.

Two other items that I ordered were a vanilla milkshake and a side order of fries. Both were good and tasted great.

I really liked this little Chicago food stop. If you want this kind of food, it's a good one to check out. The prices were very good, the people were kind and welcoming and the food was up to par.

The only thing that seemed needed improvement was the speed of getting the order. There was no one else there when I visited, but the order still took longer than expected. As I stayed and talked with a friend, the place got busier and the customers seemed to be waiting longer than necessary. It may simply be a logistical situation where the staff of this new place is still learning how to get more efficient.

That said, it is a good place. I...

A Groupon purchase is what lead us here. This is a tiny little place with a few tables.

There wasn't any AC, so as always the end of July in Phx is very hot. We didn't ask why, but perhaps it was broke. Felt sorry for those in the kitchen where it's even hotter.

Service was friendly. Portions are large and price reasonable. We had the Italian Combo (beef & sausage), the Italian beef sandwich and Shrimp basket. We each only ate half. Food was very tasty. What was odd however, is that they pour the aujus over the sandwich rather then provide a container to dip it in. Because of this the bun was stuck to the paper it was wrapped in and the bun was soggy and immediately fell apart. Same as soaking it in water. It also wasn't cut in half, so if we had attempted to eat in the car rather then at home, there would have been no way to hold the sandwich.

BTW, if you see them on Groupon don't buy it. We couldn't use ours as they had been trying to get Groupon to take down their offer for weeks. So we had to apply for refund...

I don’t normally leave reviews. I just came here for the first time tonight and I definitely want to go back to try more. I really loved how friendly they are. I never had Chicago food so I tried the Chicago dog with sport peppers relish grilled onions tomatoes and pickles…. My goodness this was soooo delicious I loved the bun too. My boyfriend had the Italian beef wet with trio peppers and mozzarella. He said next time he would get dry if we are getting to go just to save the bun a little. I tried a bite and I loved all the flavors popping off in my mouth. The French fries are really good. We split the onion rings and mozzarella sticks and everything was fried perfectly. I love onion rings and these are probably my favorite! Super crunchy!! I really want to come back and try a whiting fish sandwhich! They fry really good so I know it’s gotta be good. Thanks for excellent service and...