Ham Hash at Patty's Diner

Acting on a recent tip from a local tradesman, I had breakfast at Patty's Diner at Main and Kimball this morning. (Nothing came up in my search for this place, so forgive me if I am rehashing old news.)

Patty's is a simple place with a counter and a few tables, improbably, (in this day and age), run by an actual cook named Patty. Patty and her veteran waitresses have a clearly devoted contingent of breakfast-meat-loving men for regulars, and they greet them with little housemade half- donut twists right out of the fryer. Two big guys next to me at the counter ordered huge breakfast sandwiches with eggs, ham, bacon, onions and cheese. Along with that they had home fries with gravy. I wish I had had my camera with me, because this was some good-looking cream gravy with sausage--a rich gold and speckled with brown bits and lots of black pepper. The big guys praised the biscuits, which I did not try on this visit. Instead, I opted for the ham hash, made with bone-in ham. Lately, I have been disappointed with pre-sliced bone-in ham at a few breakfast places, but the denuded ham bone was sitting right in front of me next to the grill, so the ham hash won out over the corned beef hash.

The hash consisted of large chunks of bone-in ham, grilled up with home-fries and lots of browned bits, with onion that still had a bit of texture and sweetness, and generous amounts of coarse black pepper. Two eggs over very easy blended into the mound of hash forming a delicious sauce and made this the perfect hearty Sunday breakfast I was looking for. I'll be back to Patty's soon.

Patty’s Diner
3358 Main St. (just West of McCormick)
Skokie, IL 60076
(847) 675-4274
Open Tues.-Sat. until 2PM, Sunday until 1PM

Josephine wrote:Acting on a recent tip from a local tradesman, I had breakfast this morning at Patty's Diner at Main and Kimball this morning.

Josephine,

I am so glad you posted about Patty's diner! I had been a couple of years ago, really liked the place, simple, honest diner food, friendly efficient waitresses and low prices, what's not to like, but for some odd reason I could never find the place again.

I kept looking for Patty's on Oakton just West of Crawford, no wonder I couldn't find the joint, it's on Main just West of McCormick.

Patty's Diner


Armed with a proper address I went Saturday for breakfast, biscuits and gravy with a side of ham. The ham was terrific, porky, not too salty with a slightly sweet note, cut directly from the bone. Biscuits and gravy were good, if a little light on the sausage and pepper.

Biscuits and Gravy w/side of ham


Patty's has an interesting presentation in that they include, coated with the gravy, hash browns on the plate. No shortage of carbs at Patty's.

Breakfast, plate lunches, sandwiches, all the typical diner food though, from what I saw, made and served with just a wee bit more care than most.

Enjoy,
Gary

For reasons I cannot imagine, I was just thinking about Patty's ham hash this weekend and how I needed to write it up on LTHforum, because it seemed so, well, LTHforum-ish. So, thank you Josephine, for reading my mind.

Patty's, and the location's previous incarnation (the name escapes me) was a go-to place for my carpenter father; it became a go-to place for my brother and me as well. Especially for the ham hash.

Patty has 2 sisters who have served as, and perhaps still do, the waitresses.

Shasson wrote:For reasons I cannot imagine, I was just thinking about Patty's ham hash this weekend and how I needed to write it up on LTHforum, because it seemed so, well, LTHforum-ish. So, thank you Josephine, for reading my mind.

Just tapping into the great unconscious, Shasson. Surely Ham on the Bone and Biscuits and Gravy have archetypal stature there.

I am glad to hear that others like Patty's. The waitresses are truly outstanding, making me feel like a regular on my very first visit. I got the impression that this is the sort of place where good old-fashioned comfort and common sense are dished out with the food.

GWiv wrote:Biscuits and gravy were good, if a little light on the sausage and pepper.

That's funny, Gary, on Saturday the biscuits and gravy were a bit heavy on the sausage and pepper. Seems like Patty herself was at the grill both times. Clearly, this will require further investigation. ':D'

Back at Patty's Diner today, I had lunch instead of my usual breakfast. And what a lunch it was! The chicken salad (a special) was made with real, not processed chicken, celery, and a light touch with the mayo. It was served with lovely, freshly cut slices of cantaloupe, watermelon, and nectarine.(Don't you just cringe at all the pre-cut and treated underripe-honeydew-heavy fruit salads you get these days?) I chose the cottage cheese to round things out, and was offered two tender-fresh buttered slices of just-baked bread. So simple and so real. Viva Patty's.

Josephine wrote:Back at Patty's

Josephine,

Ditto for me, met Steve Z, who has discovered a Patty's 'secret menu item', Old Potatoes. Crisp, highly seasoned, perfect for a crunch/texture fellow like myself. Old potatoes are American fries from the grill that are given a second seasoning then deep fried crisp.

Patty's Diner 'Old Potatoes


Having a bit of a 'head' from the previous nights festivities at the LTH Honey One Check Please party, I went for a loaded burger, bacon, egg, cheese, tomato, lettuce, mayo topped off with a dollop of El Yucateco*.

Patty's Diner Burger w/side of Old Potatoes


This is a damn tasty burger, somewhere between a thin 50's style diner burger, as Mike G refers to them, and an 8-oz bar/steak house burger. Meat was good quality, not overly lean, and they hit med-rare on the nose.


Steve had corned beef hash and, from the small taste I had, was quite a good version.

Patty's Diner Corned Beef Hash.


Patty's Diner really does a nice job on American diner food, thanks for bringing it up to the board Josephine.

Kermit w/El Yucateco. It ain't easy being green.


Enjoy,
Gary

*I keep a bottle of El Yucateco in my glove compartment.

Thanks for the pics, Gary. You and stevez really know how to get to the goods on a menu!

I am dying to try the burger. Good call on the bacon and egg garnish. I stopped in at Patty's last week for a little comfort food after a particularly grueling round with the Home Depot team (score going into the final: Home Depot-3, Josephine-0). It was a little early for lunch, but they kindly accomodated my preference for a sandwich by making me a BLT. The waitress observed with a knowing look, "You can never go wrong where bacon is involved."

Just a little tidbit I picked up on my last visit to Patty's: they order hams for the holidays. If you have yet to do so, you might want to check out the semi-demolished bone-in ham sitting to the left of the grill. I was told that a couple of weeks' notice is preferred. I neglected to get a price.

Wee-hoo! Real biscuits and gravy mere blocks from Sparky's school! Can't wait to ditch him and then go chow down with the 'spouse. (OK, maybe that's unneccesarily cruel - Sparky likes cream gravy just as much as the rest of us)

Great work, Josephine - just my kind of place! Wonder how I missed it?

Mhays wrote:Wee-hoo! Real biscuits and gravy mere blocks from Sparky's school! Can't wait to ditch him and then go chow down with the 'spouse. (OK, maybe that's unneccesarily cruel - Sparky likes cream gravy just as much as the rest of us)

Great work, Josephine - just my kind of place! Wonder how I missed it?

While I would recommend sampling the biscuits & gravy at Patty's, I wouldn't go there expecting a revelation. The ham and/or corned beef hash is top notch, though. GWiv's burger was also quite good looking. They serve the burgers on a bakery roll similar to a kaiser rather than a bun. The "secret menu" old potatoes are also a unique and very tasty dish. I've only been there for breakfast, but the sandwiches sound like they are pretty good, too.

I went to Patty's for lunch today. I set out to have one of those good looking burgers that GWiv ordered over the weekend, but when I got there and was told that the special-of-the-day was meatloaf, I did a 180 and ordered that instead. It's a damp and dark Tuesday. Just the perfect kind of fall day for a comfort food lunch.

The special included a mug of soup (beef barley or split pea). I opted for the beef barley, which was homemade with big chunks of beef and potato along with the barley. With a dash of hot sauce, as recommended by Judy, the waitress, this was a fine mug of soup!

Patty's Beef Barley Soup


The meatloaf came with corn and mashed potatoes and a couple of slices of that buttered homemade bread that Josephine talked about earlier in the thread.

Patty's Meatloaf Special


This lunch really hit the spot! I neglected to ask if every Tuesday is meatloaf day or not, but if you're a meatloaf fan, Patty's version is worth checking out.

don't have a lot to add here, we've also enjoyed the offerings at Patty's

One thing I will note is that last sunday, around say 10:30 or so the palce was completely packed, slammed even, and the wait stuff was not so happy with that.

zim wrote:One thing I will note is that last sunday, around say 10:30 or so the palce was completely packed, slammed even, and the wait stuff was not so happy with that.

Yesterday (Saturday) around 11:30 or so the place was empty; when we sat there were no tables full, although two or three had seated by the time we left.

Breakfast was excellent diner fare. I had the corned beef hash, with nicely crisped potatoes and good corned beef mixed in there. The rest of my party also spoke well of their meals (ham hash, biscuits and gravy, and scrambled eggs). We noted with some curiosity that the upcharge from a half order of B&G to a full order is only $0.25.

Patty's is a great breakfast option for us as Rogers Park residents. I'm not sure I'd be encouraging people to drive across town for it, especially because I think similarly fine local diners have been spotted here on LTH in other neighborhoods -- but I'm happy to have been introduced.

Patty's appears to be closed on Mondays. Will try again.

After an early-for-a-Sunday workout last weekend, Mr. X and I headed up to Patty's Diner. Nothing like packing on some calories after burning some off! Mr. X had the bacon, onion and cheese omelet with a side of hash browns. I was tempted by the 2+2+2 option, but wanted to try the ham, so went with two eggs over easy, potatoes, ham. Both of us were delighted we could order one biscuit and gravy in place of toast. The gravy was even darker than I was expecting -- almost brown, with a good amount of pepper and a few pieces of sausage. The biscuit was tender, as best as I could tell from underneath all the gravy. I forgot to order the "old potatoes." The regular hash browns were okay, but I would have preferred more crispiness. The ham was plentiful, but overwhelmingly smokey and salty. I find the ham at A&T Grill (7036 N. Clark) more pleasing. Mr. X ordered well with his omelet. The taste I had of it was quite yummy.

We were asked how we found the place. Once we said "the LTH Forum web site," the waitress said "Oh, the ones who take pictures." Yeah, those are the ones.

The GP wrote:We were asked how we found the place. Once we said "the LTH Forum web site," the waitress said "Oh, the ones who take pictures." Yeah, those are the ones.

Yup, when I went with the hubby, our waitress asked "this is your first time here, right?" and after we confirmed, asked how we'd heard about Patty's. We said "the internet" and she said, "I can always tell if it's the internet - people always order the same stuff"

The photos looks so delicious, we feel obliged to try them!

-gtgirl

The GP wrote:Yup, when I went with the hubby, our waitress asked "this is your first time here, right?" and after we confirmed, asked how we'd heard about Patty's. We said "the internet" and she said, "I can always tell if it's the internet - people always order the same stuff"

The photos looks so delicious, we feel obliged to try them!

-gtgirl

No photos yet, but in the interests of LTH-ers who might wish to go incognito, I would suggest the Wednesday turkey lunch special. (Not available the day before Thanksgiving.) Today it was really chunky creamed turkey on mashed potatoes, and all the big guys were chowing down on these steaming piles of it with cranberry sauce and veggies on the side. Me, I finally got around to a burger with old potatoes. Bless you, Messrs. GWiv and stevez for these recommendations!

We finally (urp) got to Patty's today, and had a truly gut-busting brunch.

What a delight! We were greeted almost instantly by coffee and the little doughnut twists, even though when we arrived they were really slammed. The doughnuts are very good, just little knots of dough dusted with cinnamon sugar, but there was no evidence of the fryer; they were light and almost greaseless. The Uberspouse ordered the biscuits and gravy, I opted for the homemade corned-beef hash, and Sparky had scrambled eggs and sausage.

The hash was very good; nice bite from the onion and ground pepper, crunchy potatoes and good bits of chopped or possibly pulled corned beef - the yolks from my over-easy eggs making a nice gooey sauce.

The biscuits and gravy were the subject of much discussion; the' spouse being something of a purist between working at a firehouse and growing up in Northern KY. The biscuits were very good, with a nice crunchy bottom that I'm not used to which was an excellent foil to the velvety sauce. The sauce was almost a brown gravy, but with the pepperiness typical of white sausage gravies - but we discovered after sampling Sparky's sausage that the sausages were a bit on the bland side for our taste - and the gravy used link sausage rather than crumbled. All that being said, it was velvety and flavorful, probably our best gravy experience in the Chicago area, and we both ate way way way too much.

That wasn't the best part, though. The best part was going to a restaurant run by somebody who loves food and loves sharing it with you. Our waitress/cook/etc. apparently was Patty's sister, and she stopped by the table several times just to chat about why she likes the way she makes the hash, did we like the gravy, how did Sparky want his toast. She got extra points for taking Sparky's entire order directly from him, without looking at either of us once, which made him feel very grown-up even with the requisite post-meal lollipop. That kind of experience is what makes a meal, for me.

Thanks, Josephine! We'll definitely be back.

Mhays,

I wonder if we were there at the exact same time today since petit pois and I stopped by Patty's for an early lunch of couple of burgers today, although I think you would have recognized me in my sparkling new LTHForum t-shirt.

A brief conversation with G Wiv put the thought of tasting Patty's burgers in my head today, and I'm glad I went.

I think the description of the burger above is right on the money. It's definitely somewhere in-between a big tavern burger and a thinner diner burger, and it was pretty tasty. I had a high level of appreciation for the fact that I asked for medium-rare and got just that, medium-rare on the nose (it seems like I rarely get this in a burger anymore).

Heck of a nice burger, and I'd even go so far as to say that I prefer it to Charlie Beinlich's. Patty's is on my short-list of places to satisfy a burger craving.

(We also tasted the gratis little donut bites, fresh from the fryer. Quite delicious and not at all greasy).

Best,
Michael

Mhays wrote:The biscuits and gravy were the subject of much discussion; the' spouse being something of a purist between working at a firehouse and growing up in Northern KY. The biscuits were very good, with a nice crunchy bottom that I'm not used to which was an excellent foil to the velvety sauce. The sauce was almost a brown gravy, but with the pepperiness typical of white sausage gravies - but we discovered after sampling Sparky's sausage that the sausages were a bit on the bland side for our taste - and the gravy used link sausage rather than crumbled. All that being said, it was velvety and flavorful, probably our best gravy experience in the Chicago area, and we both ate way way way too much.

Mhays-- thanks for sharing your views on the biscuits and gravy, very interesting.

Mhays wrote:That wasn't the best part, though. The best part was going to a restaurant run by somebody who loves food and loves sharing it with you. Our waitress/cook/etc. apparently was Patty's sister, and she stopped by the table several times just to chat about why she likes the way she makes the hash, did we like the gravy, how did Sparky want his toast. She got extra points for taking Sparky's entire order directly from him, without looking at either of us once, which made him feel very grown-up even with the requisite post-meal lollipop. That kind of experience is what makes a meal, for me.

I think that as good as the food is, the best part is the fact that I feel really welcome there.

eatchicago wrote:Heck of a nice burger, and I'd even go so far as to say that I prefer it to Charlie Beinlich's. Patty's is on my short-list of places to satisfy a burger craving.

Coming from you, Michael, that is high praise indeed! (And I'd like to thank you, belatedly, for your recommendation of the burgers at Jury's, which is walking distance from my new home.)

Josephine wrote:No photos yet, but in the interests of LTH-ers who might wish to go incognito, I would suggest the Wednesday turkey lunch special.

No going incognito when you're with Josephine, she brings a smile to the Patty's crowd the moment she walks in.

Wednesdays turkey lunch was delicious, fresh cut turkey, real mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and house made bread, old school diner comfort food done really well. Our entire table had the turkey special which, I think, I can say was enjoyed by all.

Patty's Diner Wednesday Turkey Special (Iridescent green El Yucateco is my addition)


Navy bean soup, especially with a dunk or two of the house made bread, hit the spot on a blustery day.


Patty's 'Old' Potatoes are simply terrific.


Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

Josephine wrote:No photos yet, but in the interests of LTH-ers who might wish to go incognito, I would suggest the Wednesday turkey lunch special.

No going incognito when you're with Josephine, she brings a smile to the Patty's crowd the moment she walks in.

Yes, and, thank you, Josephine, for bringing this to the attention of the Forum. It really hit the spot for me, yesterday.

Even without any hot sauce.

It was my first visit to Patty's, but if that was an indication of how the food there is generally prepared, I am already a fan.

E.M.

I noticed nobody finished their monster portion of roast turkey that Patty's served up yesterday for lunch.

No trouble here; I've never had any discipline whatsoever when it comes to true home cookin' such as this.

Been to Patty's twice in the last week and have loved it.

I finished mine, except I took a pass on the canned green beans, which I felt detracted from a otherwise stellar blue plate special.

I'm so glad y'all liked the turkey lunch. I enjoyed it immensely, and the company just as much! One thing I've never seen anyone eat at Patty's is dessert. I guess Rob hit it on the head -- no one manages to finish the huge portions. That is a rare thing indeed with a crowd of LTH-ers.

I must try Patty's soon. I can't believe I haven't been and I live so near.

My question is about a similar looking place on Oakton, almost similarly west of McCormick. It's a diner, only serving breakfast and lunch, with a name somewhat like "Sparky's Diner" or something like that.

Anyone familiar with this joint?

- Mike

No question that Sparky's is a cool-looking place in that reverse-chic American flag-waving industrial park sort of way. I've been there just once for breakfast. The waitress was a really warm middle-aged woman with big, sprayed hair and a genuinely friendly way about her. But, as far as I could tell, from a food point of view, Sparky's is all about huge portions and somewhat indifferent to quality. Scrambled eggs were griddled too hard for my taste, hash browns were underbrowned, lacking any crisp bits, and ham was the pre-sliced variety. I'd give it another try, just for the sake of fairness, though. I'd love to hear from anyone who is a fan of the place and who'd like to put my hasty conclusions to the test.

I've been to Sparky's a couple times and I'd say that you're spot-on, Josephine.

Standard diner fare that can be found anywhere.

Best,
Michael

So funny - we've been passing by Sparky's for years, and finally decided to give it a try last week. What I enjoyed about Sparky's is the feeling of stepping back in time to a diner from the '30s. People are friendly, the booths are pleather, the tables edged with chrome.

I'd agree - the food is average. We had lunch; I had a fried pork chop sandwich that was pretty good: a giant pork milanesa on unabashedly white bread smothered in gravy - but my guess is it wasn't made on the premises. The 'spouse had a hot turkey sandwich, which got the same treatment - it at least wasn't pressed turkey meat, but that's the best we could say about it. Sparky had a good thick burger and fries, probably the best choice. Both sandwiches were served with reconstituted mashed potatoes and canned green beans. We had enough food for about six people, and spent under $20 with tip.

I want to go back for the breakfast, because it seems to me that they might do better at that.

LTH,

Had lunch with Josephine at Patty's today, who might be their favorite customer, I swear even Kermit the frog* waves hello when she walks in. While I like pretty much everything I've eaten at Patty's I'm becoming convinced the burger, 1/3-lb of lightly charred med-rare coarse ground perfection, is in the top few burgers in Chicagoland, especially when paired with 'old' potatoes.

Patty's Burger (Not to be confused with Patty Burger)



I often add bacon and over easy egg, but went no bacon today. Green is El Yucateco hot sauce.



Enjoy,
Gary

*see upthread

I can't take any credit for it but some friends saw this thread and asked us if we would join them this morning for breakfast at Patty's. And I am so pleased that they did. Thanks, Josephine, for starting this thread and thanks to all who uploaded the mouthwatering images.

I was extremely pleased with our breakfast. Everything I tasted was terrific. My ham and cheese omelet was great. It contained large, juicy chunks of succulent ham. The ham hash was out of this world. The 'old' potatoes were glorious -- supremely crispy, aggressively-seasoned and piping hot. The french toast, made with house-baked bread, was spectacular and the biscuits and gravy were the best I've had in a long time. For 5 of us, the bill with tip was about $55 (and, for sampling purposes, we ordered more dishes than we had diners), making it a great value, too.

We almost always go out for breakfast on Saturday mornings and while we do have our favorite spot (Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook), Patty's is as good at what they do as PGC is at their thing. The 2 places are so different, it really isn't fair to compare them. But the food is excellent at Patty's, the service is friendly and I look forward to returning there on a regular basis.

=R=