Maxwell Street Depot

Maxwell is what you would expect from a place like this: fast, cheap, greasy. There is a parking lot and a window that you can order from. You can get your order and be on your way in less than five minutes. I usually get the sausage or cheeseburger. The pork chop is decent; imagine a grilled pork chop with grilled onion between a hamburger bun. Fries have always been fresh.

This review has been a long time coming. This has been my favorite Maxwell street location since 1996 when I began attending IIT for college. It was at that point I was introduced to the amazing, post college party, booze soaking greatness that is produced by the Maxwell Street Depot. Decades later, I still stop by when I get the chance.
This location is located a few blocks West of the Dan Ryan Expressway, right next to a viaduct. The first thing you see are the 55-​gallon plastic drums that have been converted to garbage cans. Next, if it’s summertime, you notice the customers lining up, and the yellow sign lining the top of the building. The first thing you smell are the onions. The ever-​present, wonderful onions that have been cooked as much as a thing could possibly be cooked. There is a parking lot, but often cars will park right in front of the business curbside, so they can grab their food to go. This is a 24hr restaurant, and there is often great people watching to be had late night, especially on weekends.
I will be up front with you, this isn’t the best food you will ever have. Odds are you will still be tasting the onions 8 – 12 hours after you eat here. However, if you want to see and eat where real Chicago people eat for a good price, it’s hard to beat.
Hot Dogs
It’s a hot dog. There is no snap to the outer casing, and it’s probably cooked a little too long. The bun is standard, probably the cheapest ones the owner could find. The hot dog is topped with mustard and as many over-​grilled onions as you can stand. Ketchup is optional, french fries come with it. Despite the way my review sounds, I love these hot dogs! I eat 20 – 40 hot dogs from this location a year. Fast and cheap, you can eat these while you drive, walk, or work. Ask for hot peppers if you want to spice up the dog. These are not sport peppers, these are HOT peppers, be aware.
French Fries
Not the best you’ve had, far from the worst. They are always hot and fresh. French fries come with every item they serve so the odds of you getting old, or cold french fries is non-​existent. They give you a decent amount, and if you’re really low on cash an order of Fries for $ 1 will keep you alive. I once asked for grilled onions on top of the fries and had my own little animal-​style (in-​n out burger) party.
Pork chop sandwich
Inconsistent, sometimes dry, sometimes juicy, bone in awesomeness. Cooked on the griddle, placed on a hamburger bun and covered with grilled onions (of course), the pork chop is a decent size and is the true star of the sandwich. I still order these now and again, but because they are more expensive than the hot dogs, they have fallen out of favor with me.
Breakfast Sandwich
The great this about places like this is that they never change, so when they introduced their breakfast sandwich a few years ago I was skeptical. That said, late night breakfast is one of my favorite things to indulge in after a night of drinking, so I decided to give it a try. The breakfast sandwich consists of 2 – 3 eggs scrambled along with roughly chopped bacon. This delightful mixture is then placed atop a hamburger bun, where a slice of American cheese can be added (.50 extra).
To sum it all up: you can still get an affordable, cheap, delicious (mostly) meal relatively quickly. Of course the food, clientele and cleanliness isn’t the best, that’s part of its charm. It is a Chicago institution, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

4 stars because you get exactly what you expect. Good street food at a cheap price. I like getting the pork chop sandwich and I can never resist the greasy delicious fries.

If you like a good juicy polish, this is your spot! Their polishes are phenomenal! The one tip I will give you though is this, unless you really and I mean really like onions, tell them to put about half the amount as usual because they really load your polish with onions! If you’re around for breakfast they actually make a decent bacon, egg,& cheese on a bun as well. However, they loose points for only having fries available to go with it instead of some kind of hashbrowns or oven Brown’s. And besides the bacon, egg, & cheese, they don’t offer any other type of breakfast sandwich. They do still serve polishes during breakfast hours. There is no seating, so plan on a carry-​out order.

Had a polish. Pretty good. Too bad they had mustard in food wrapping. What place doesn’t have mustard packets? I guess that’s my only negative.

This place gets 5 starts because it’s my hotdog stand. You might have your own place and think this one sucks. Good on you. Everyone had their’s and this is mine. So if these guys mess up your order, i don’t care it still gets 5 stars. The wait is too long, prices too high, food sub par. Doesn’t matter still 5 stars.
Why do I like this place so much, who knows, it’s just the place I adopted when I moved to the area.
If you don’t have your own hotdog stand yet, try this one. Who knows, it could be your place too.

The other 24 hour hot dog stand in bridgeport (coupled with Johnny Ohs on 35^th) this one is on 31^st and more east, to serve the other side of the neighborhood. It doesn’t have as wide a menu as Johnny Ohs, and doesn’t take credit which sucked, but I got the polish and hot dog which were really good and may have even been better than Johnny Ohs, also the prices were pretty low too. If I’m ever out in that part of bridgeport again I’ll deh hit it up

I grew up in Bridgeport so Maxwell Street has been a good source of late night grub for a loooong time. And let me tell you, even though the ownership has changed the feel of the place has stayed completely the same. It tries to be nothing but a fast bite for people looking for something greasy and filling. They serve up classic for any «Maxwell Street» type of joints like pork chop sandwiches, polishes, burgers, and hot dogs. All orders come with grilled onions, mustard and a side of fries that are pretty good when warm but quickly become subpar once they get cool. There is a parking lot connected so drive by, get a quick order, and head out if you want. I’ve had everything but a hot dog here so let me give you my thoughts on some of the items:
Pork chop sandwich — Probably the one item you need to get if you come here. There is a bone-​in and a no-​bone option. People are gonna hate on me for saying you should get the no-​bone version, but what is a big piece of bone every doing in your sandwich? You gotta take the whole thing apart, it gets messy, and just isn’t worth it. The chop is juice and tastes great with the mustard and onions.
Polish — Good stuff here too. You get that nice snap from the polish casing. Can’t go wrong. Not the best polish, but very doable.
Double cheeseburger — Why do a single if you can do a double? Lots of cheesy goodness and a really health size. The cheese can overwhelm the patties, but that might not be the worst thing in the world, right?
All in all, good place to great a quick bite. Opened ²⁴⁄₇! It’s really greasy so I can only come here once in a blue moon, but I’m always happy when I come.

It’s ²⁴⁄₇ cheap and always good place to grab a snack. The fish sandwich and the polish is a must try.

Many times, I come here on a whim late after work. This is my go to place for late night grub. Fast and cheap! The fries are crispy like the way I want it. The burgers are average but nevertheless fulfills an appetite for good ol’ American food.

Still excellent and cheap. Pork chop and rc $ 5.25. Hit the spot. With fries. No wait no rush
Great service as usual.

Pork chop was moist and tender (it did NoT have that cheap hog taste). Quick fast service. Flavor was simple but I only eat with ketchup… Traditional style is mustard with grilled onions which my husband liked. Inexpensive for a good sandwich. $ 4
Parking lot, fast friendly service, I will always come back!

Had the hot dog, it was okay. But I know they’re famous for their other menu items so I’ll give them a 3.

July 28^th 2015.
3^rd stop
Hotdogs are generic regular bun, vienna, mustard and lots of grill onions. If your looking for dogs avoid as possible but they have amazing pork chop sandwich.

Being a tourist from Kansas, finding this place that serves street meat ²⁴⁄₇ was absolutely what we were looking for coming to Chicago. The prices were cheap and food was awesome. Highly recommended!

The Pork Chop is their featured food!!! Only $ 4 dollars for one Pork Chop, fried chips and ”LaJiao”.
Sometime I stop by and just bought pork chop only~~~

What is there really to say about Maxwell Street Depot that hasn’t been said about Johnny O’s on 35^th? I do like this place, but it misses the mark on the neighborhood staple vibe. Obviously it’s amazing when stumbling back home at 3 AM in the public transit desert of Bridgeport, but I wouldn’t go out of my way in the day to come here. The plus side is they do have a small parking lot and because they’re take-​out only, things move quickly. It’s not much different from the other locations in the city.
Beware of the grilled onions. They’re damn good but they cause issues down the road if you eat too many!

I wish I can give the hole in the wall 100 stars.
I don’t know why I loved it so much but it is so tasty and delicious.
The guys that work there don’t speak too good of English but they know how to mean a fantastic polish and cheeseburger
Everyone loves the pork chops but my favorite is the cheeseburger
You can eat like a king for $ 5.75

The pork chop sammie was terrible, but the hot dog was actually pretty tasty. These two items both came with fries, and I bought a can of soda. The total, with tip: $ 7.50. This is absurd, so I’m willing to give Maxwell St. the benefit of the doubt since it is so freakin’ cheap and open all night. The «inside» of this place doesn’t smell very inviting (how’s that for the political answer) but the food is good enough to warrant a bad decision after a night out. I won’t be back, but I’m glad I checked this off of the life box!

For all its supposed South Side lore I didn’t find this to be that great. Cash only, good prices, you order and it’s ready very quickly. Which is good and bad. Good cuz it’s fast but bad because it’s kind of pre-​fab schlock. The Polish sausage itself was good but the stringy mess of onions on top was devoid of real onion flavor. The sport peppers were 2 inches long and soft smooshy canned stuff, not the small crunchy hot sports I’m used to at MY dog joints. Fries were good.
Oh, and get this. Though they have hotdogs, they only dress them Maxwell style (mustard, grilled onions, [wannabe] sports)! What? You can’t get a proper Chicago style dog here? Crazy. I had asked for my Polish Chicago-​style and found out.
This place will please yuppie Northsiders who think they’re getting some gritty «true Chicago experience» by getting food on the ruff ruff Souff Syde.