Manny’s Express

Stopped to get something quick before my flight. I ordered a cheese calzone. Worst food I’ve ever had. It was cold and there was no cheese just tomato. They had them pre-​made and never heated it up either. I just threw it out.

I saw a Spinach Calzone on the menu here and got excited because I love calzones. I accidentally mixed this place up with Manny’s Deli and thought it would be great.
It was not.
The girl at the register was some rude black chick who glared daggers at me for having the nerve to approach her and make her do her job. I asked for the calzone, she plunked it onto a plate and handed it to me. That was it. No utensils, nada. I had to ask for a fork and she gave it to me with considerable attitude.
Fine, the service is bad, but what about the food? Well, it was just as terrible. The calzone was under a heat lamp, but it was still room temperature. The cashier did not bother to heat it up or anything. The bread was hard, dry, and chewy. It was edible, but just barely, and definitely not worth the $ 5 I paid. Avoid this place at all costs.

Horrible service, slow as hell, girl making our food had to ask what we ordered, bunch of half brains

First off, their staff isn’t very friendly at all and they rush you to order and pay even when you’re the only person there.
But a friend highly recommended their potato pancake and that I must try it before I leave Chicago. Now I love potatoes, so I was extremely excited to try it and made it a must to stop by to grab one before boarding the plane.
I ordered 1 potato pancake with both sour cream and apple sauce (they come on the side). It was only $ 2! And it’s very large, equivalent to about 3 McDonald’s hashbrowns. It was also really hot.
However, once I bit into it, it was a disappointment. It was very oily, over fried, and tasteless. You definitely need to add some salt and pepper to it. The applesauce was good. And the worker completely forgot my sour cream. It was nothing like I imagined it to be. I was very disappointed. I definitely will NOT be getting another potato pancake from here.

One star for the nice lady working the grill. Otherwise, service is rude and food isn’t at same quality as the Manny’s in gate A. Just threw out my coffee after two sips.

Lukewarm pizza! Scalding hot pretzels that are more shriveled up than a grandma with a tanning bed addiction! $ 2.30 for a 16oz soda! What’s not to love?

Middle seat plus a Manny’s reuben equals the most uncomfortable meal of all times. If you’ve ever had one of these babies you know how huge and delicious they are, but I’d definitely take that whole «Express» thing at this location with a grain of salt.
There’s not a thing express about it. In fact I’d venture to say that you’ll get your food faster at the original location on Jefferson Street. I went from an A boarding pass on Southwest to sitting between to fat guys, and if they weren’t pissed off enough that they were flying into Detroit imagine their rage when they had to smell sauerkraut for the whole hour long trip.
Don’t get me wrong Manny’s is probably the best corned beef in the city, but at Midway the ladies who work there are super mean, and it takes forever to get your food. Just make sure you’ve got plenty of time to sit and eat comfortably is all I’m saying.

BE WARNED — This place has the most disrespectful workers and supervision. They sold my son a slice of cheese pizza but didn’t have any to give him. When we asked for a refund they got upset and tried to make it our fault. Then we confronted the supervisor and only got the shoulder shrug. If this is what the rest of Chicago is like, keep it. I’m never going back.

This place is a fucking train wreck. I generally do not cuss in my reviews. So that might tell you something. The service was terrible… and not playful terrible like Gino’s in Philly but Soup Nazi terrible like on Seinfeld. There was no organization and a bunch of people doing nothing or doing things sloppily.
The corned beef was dry and had no fat at all… it needed some.
They called Challah «Texas Toast.» I am not Jewish but that even offended me. lol
They only palletable thing were the potato pancakes… which SHOULD have been called Latkes. I am surprised they didn’t call them Idaho Flapjacks or something. Still… they were too cold.
Skip this place.

Sucked. The hardcore urban crew was rude and condescending (were yelling at people for trying to order at the Order Here sign), corned beef was dry. Sucked. Go elsewhere in the airport. Btw, Mannys on Roosevelt wasn’t that hot either.

Charging $ 4.47 for a 16.9 oz «Honest Tea» in a plastic bottle, then being only willing to furnish a 6 oz plastic juice cup for ice seems like some sort of cruel joke! Even the cashier warned me that I was about to get hosed before she rang my purchase up, then apologized for the ridiculous cup she was allowed to provide… As a frequent traveler, I understand the economics of airport space rental and am accustomed to getting hosed, but Manny’s is a little extreme in their fleecing of travelers even for this hardened road warrior!

The Corned Beef, Swiss with Spicy Horseradish Mustard on Rye was a 4 star sandwich. The Potato Pancake with Sour Cream tasted like it had been out too long. 2 stars. Definitely worth a trip for the Corned Beef.

… and we’re back to ‘B.’ I knew my time in Concourse A was not to last. Back to my ‘B’ basics, I thought I would try my hand at replicating the grandeur of Manny’s in A. I ordered the same thing (breakfast sandwich) and waited for the magic.
Not so much.
I didn’t get sick nor did I have to use the facilities on the airplane so, you know, points for that. Seriously. The alternative could have been traumatic. But, the service was more eye-​rolling than ‘how do you do.’ The breakfast sandwich was more Betty Maltese than Harold Washington. The experience was more Lunchlady Doris than ‘Oh, I see why Manny’s is a Chicago institution.‘
But, again, I didn’t get sick. When you’re up in the air in cramped quarters, that counts for a lot. In any event, I think I am back to a Kate Moss diet in Concourse B.

In B concourse at Midway, next to McD.
I should have known something was up; 25 people in line at McD and none at Manny’s. Like a numnut I went to Manny’s. Had a dog with fries. The dog was lukewarm, bun soggy, and fries cold. The girl at the register was less than pleasant; her shift was not going her way; but then with her attitude does it ever. Go to McD.

Calling it disgusting is actually being nice here.
Food took about 10 – 15 mins to get. We were the only ones in line when we got there. We ordered two hot dogs.
The cashier told us the girl will call us when our order was ready. Since standing around 10 mins a group of people lined up.
The girl comes out plops an order on the counter and walks away. We figured it was ours since we where there first. Walked up inspected the order figured out it was ours, took it and went to our gate.
My BF’s hot dog was in a stale bun. And I mean stale. Hard. The hot dog itself was room temperature.
My hot dog was cold, like they took it out of the fridge, let it sit on the counter for those 10 mins we were waiting for a HOT DOG, and then put it in the bun and served it.
I’m sure there’s a few health code violations going on somewhere there.
If I thought we had time to take the food back, and if I thought the workers there might have actually cared, I would have gone back and complained. But, it probably would have taken 20 mins to get a COOKED hot dog and I didn’t feel like missing my flight for a hot dog.
If your hungry and you value your digestive system, go elsewhere.