Poet’s Beef N Dogs

I visited Poet’s for the first time today. Italian beefs are my weakness so I decided to try one out from somewhere other than my normal go-​to spot which is Portillo’s. I ordered a beef with a side of fries. The beef was flavorful and tender. I’ve tried beefs at other establishments and either the beef was bland or dry. Poet’s truly serves a great savory beef.
I also appreciated the customer service. The staff was beyond kind and for me, that goes a long way. What many businesses fail to realize is how far kindness and extraordinary customer service does for them as a business. It truly means so much. So thank you to the staff at Poet’s for displaying what other food establishments should and also for that delicious beef. Needless to say, I’ll be back.

I do not typically write disclaimers prior to beginning one of my reviews, but in this instance I feel it is warranted. To those who might be unaware, this restaurant has been the subject of an ongoing saga over in Unilocal Talk between the business owner and the posters that has become, in a word, ridiculous. I won’t take sides in this dispute, as my primary mission is to experience new places and write reviews of them. I will opine only this: both sides quickly devolved to the lowest common denominator and it has been a very long time since I witnessed such juvenile behavior from adults. Mark Twain really said it best, «Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference». And with that, let’s talk about the restaurant, shall we?
First off, if you are expecting a Portillo’s type experience here, you are bound to be disappointed. They are obviously modeling their theme more along the lines of a Gene and Jude’s. By that I mean a more ‘man of the people’ type of local joint. What it honestly reminds me of, food wise, is a place called ‘Beef Shack’ here in Hoffman Estates. Beef Shack is a place the locals here love and I can’t stand. Is there some kind of esoteric quality to hot dog joints that I am not getting? Must be.
The staff at poet’s was very friendly to me upon my arrival, and it was not busy at all. There were a couple of interesting guys hanging out up front on my way in the door that could of passed for Jay and Silent Bob though.
I went for the double dog with chili and cheese w/​fries. In short, it satisfied my hunger but that was about it. My philosophy on places like this is pretty simple; if I am going to splurge and eat some massively unhealthy food, the payoff in the form of taste had better make it worth the sacrifice. It’s not. The dogs themselves are devoid of flavor and the motor oil consistency cheese sauce and chili are not what I would call an ideal accompaniment. Question: Have you ever been to 7 – 11 drunk as hell at like 3AM and got one of their nachos with self serve chili and cheese before? If you have then you have some idea about what to expect here. It would not surprise me in the slightest to find out that Poet’s orders from the same distributor in fact.
I was hoping the «fresh cut fries» would at least give some semblance of redemption to my meal at Poet’s, but alas, it was 3 strikes and you’re out. They were fairly soggy and (once again) without much flavor. Bland was the overall theme of my experience here. It’s like an amalgamation of the tastelessness of the traditional food served in the UK, mixed with the cholesterol laden garbage that makes far too many Americans have an ass the size of a Cadillac. Not a winning combination.
In summation, I can’t see myself ever returning here again. I can assure you that nothing awaits you here that you have not seen a million times before, and done far better. Life is too short to eat average (or less than average) food, which is about the best outcome you can hope for at this place.

I had hot dog and fries. How can you mess that up??? You can’t. Music was phuckin’ awesome.
Don’t think i’ll stop by again, unless I’m in the area again. It’s like 30 miles from my place. Doubt i’ll ever find myself in Elmhurst again, though. You know?

Average beef, ok dog, not friendly… in fact, felt as if I owed them something. I’m a Country guy and googled them to learn the owner was some sort of hip-​hop guy and disappointed that they came into Elmhurst with an attitude. I guess I am not a targeted demographic, ok, but with no seating and a shitty attitude, most of this town isn’t really targeted. NEXT!

I stopped in to try Poet’s on a recent weekday around lunchtime. I was surprised that no customers were in there, but glad to get straight to the counter to order. Their menu is simple and features typical neighborhood grill fare (hotdogs, hamburgers, gyros, fries…). I ordered a hotdog with everything (comes with fries) for a reasonable price. The food prep area is open and positioned about 6 feet behind the counter allowing you to watch. The hotdogs and fries were in a warmer ready to go. I didn’t see where the bun came from. What I did see is that no gloves were worn to prepare my food and no hand-​washing took place immediately before my meal was assembled. A bare hand was used on the bun, but tongs were used on the hotdog and fries. Either way, unpleasant and unsanitary… I also think gloves are required to be worn when you are touching prepared food directly.
The meal was assembled quickly and I was on my way.
Inside:
–No gloves worn for food prep
–Self serve pop machine had signs on 80% of the varieties stating «out»
–Front entrance was small, but clean
–Inside was almost too quiet and even a bit awkward feeling. 3 workers were there (1 cashier, 2 food prep workers) and it felt like 2 watched me the whole time
–The employees were pleasant
The food:
The dog and fries were wrapped together very loosely… fries escaped the package
The toppings were onion, mustard, sport peppers… I didn’t see any relish on the hotdog
The bun was smashed up looking and pasty
The hotdog was a Vienna Beef. It was either boiled or old because it had no snap to it and was missing flavor. Vienna Beef hotdogs should be steamed or grilled
The fries were limp, cold and greasy and didn’t taste great
The name and business:
I get the tie-​in to the owner’s rap name, but I don’t see how that has anything to do with hotdogs and beef… it may even be turning off potential customers in the somewhat affluent City of Elmhurst. I think the team could benefit from spending a few days at a successful hotdog stand.
I will not be returning to Poet’s.

Went to grab a hot dog and fries over lunch today and was not impressed. Fries were soggy and the hot dog had one tiny sport pepper and no pickle, tomatoes or celery salt. I will stick to Portillos or Scoobys down the street for my Chicago dogs!

Just called, it’s 845pm on a Friday night. They answered the phone «Poet’s, sorry we’re closed». The menu says they’re open till 3am.

I ordered from them through grubhub. First of all the food was about 25 – 30 minutes late. Ok it happens sometimes and especially on Friday nights. I’ll let that slide. The driver told us to give them 5 stars on grubhub if we liked the food. I’m ok with that. The food was so disgusting. I asked for well done mozzarella sticks and they were barely done. Gross. Then to the chili dog. Omg disgusting. The chili was cold and flavorless. The normal hot dog I ordered was pretty good though so that’s why they get 2 stars. It was made just as I had ordered it. The fries were not very good. All of the food was luke warm due to the fact that it had probably been sitting in the delivery drivers car for much longer than it should have. Sorry but you won’t get 5 stars from me on grubhub. I’ll stick to picking up food from a GOOD hot dog place instead of settling for subpar food just because they deliver.

I went here not too long ago. Very late at night. My boyfriend was looking forward to try this new place and unfortunately walked out disappointed. I’m in the food industry and from what I witnessed I’m never going back there again. Potatoes on the floor. One employee took our order and didn’t wash his hands to prepare our food. A second employee walked out of the bathroom and went over to help the other with our food. Without washing his hands!!! They weren’t wearing gloves whatsoever!
Very disgusted by this place

In terms of a hot dog and fries, I’d say it’s very good. It’s definitely a good deal and better than most in town. The owner was super friendly and the staff was nice, though they were a bit disorganized and there were way too many of them. I’m really hoping that it was just «training day» when I visited. No way he can make a profit with seven people behind the counter. The only complaint I have, and I didn’t expect it, was that there was no seating — indoors or out. There is a small counter you can stand at, and for this type of food that may be sufficient, but it’s really just a take-​out restaurant. If there were seating I’d give them four stars. Other than that, there’s no reason I wouldn’t go back and try some of the other items.
As of this writing there are ninety-​six restaurants in Elmhurst. I plan on eating at, and reviewing, every one. Follow me on Unilocal

… final chapter. Never have I seen a business owner/​celebrity attack their customers for sharing a review. I flagged numerous Unilocal profiles and pictures which are personal attacks and had my image on them.
My initial 3 star review of Poet’s was based on my paid experience. It quickly became a 2 after Mike S (AKA:Mikie da Poet) friends started sending personal attacks for my opinion. Once I saw how loco Mike S is, with his delusional rants on his YouTube channel, my review became a 1 star and added an updated review.
This quickly turned Mike S furious and his true self was made clear. I quickly started getting messages from other people who have been threatened by Mike S from their Unilocal page. I suggested they flag any message received that was inappropriate.
Mikie turned his Twitter page into a joke and more and more of his cronies started with more antics. Some how a past Unilocal elite/​business owner/​Yelp event photographer, who was also tipped off about the delusional business owner, (Mike S was convinced his competition was leaving bad reviews to ruin his new restaurant) has just happened to make a visit and has taken staged photos of Poet’s food. I find it highly suspicious that Mike S just happens to make a visit to the same photographers restaurant 2 days prior and left his Orland Park restaurant a 5 star review.
I messaged Mikie I was coming to his business, as I had seen his YouTube rants « Unilocal is the modern day Mafia» and his friends were posting pictures of my family on their Twitter pages, which they captured off my
page.
Mike S messaged me that he was at his restaurant, so I walked in to the restaurant. He wasn’t there? I waited for a few minutes and Mikie rolled up. Mikie opened the door, yelling get the f*** out here. Mikie instantly charges me of filming/​recording him (In hindsight I wish I was) and tried to grab my phone. I assured him that I wasn’t and placed it in my back pocket. Mikie instantly charges me and chest bumped me and snatched the Bluetooth headset out of my ear. He then said that he is a celebrity rapper and has friends on Michigan Ave and he will f*** me up. He was accosted by his father, who is the actual investor of Poet’s and convince him to give me back my bluetooth. Since an assault and battery had occurred, I contacted 911. Mikie instantly was told by his father «why are you still here?»
Mikie da Poet employees and friends certainly wasn’t going to tell the police what actually happened, but the dispatcher remained on the line, as she said she could hear his repeated threatening assaults. I’m 6’5″ 260 and 55. Mikie is probably 5’8″ and is a young thug capable of who knows what?
Once the police arrived, Mikie instantly charges the officer and filled him with lies. Now the story is I’m the one who wanted to fight, chest bumped him and took his Bluetooth. The officer saw through it and indicated that this is a civil matter, after I showed him the messages, email and review I left.
The officers offered to stand between us so we could have the discussion I was seeking from my visit that day. Mike shocked me and extended his hand for what I thought was a truce, but immediately became a rant about how I’m trying to ruin his business on Unilocal.it was clear that this was not going to go any farther and I had no intentions of ever returning again on this matter.
Now the same elite Unilocaler who initially thought I could offer Poet’s some assistance, also had contacted the Unilocal community photographer for an Unofficial Unilocal Event. The puzzling part is this same elite Unilocaler had offered Mikie some suggestions which were never even considered.
Mikie instantly made a YouTube update and is well aware when this will take place. Unofficial events are traditionally held without the business’ knowledge, so the participants are offered what would be a true consumer experience. Now it’s turned into an elite style event with knowledge of how many people are going to show up and what time they will be there. It will also be photographed by the Unilocal community photographer and will hopefully add a truly positive experience, which will certainly persuade them to leave positive feedback and reviews.
We’ll see if this UYE is pulled off and it will be interesting to see who leaves reviews based off this event on ⁶⁄₀₃ 7pm, which already has a set fee of $ 10. It sure seems like the business is trying to save face and these reviews will not reflect an actual consumer experience and a separate page for this event should be created, just like the official elite events
I appreciate all of you who have contacted me for support and to shed light on the type of antics Mikie is capable of. The person I have a concern for is Mikie da Poet’s father who is the investor and is seeing his son ruin the business.

If the Sons of Anarchy and the Insane Clown Posse partnered together and went into the restaurant business, this would be their joint, or should I say joynt? First the ambiance, do you like being assaulted by the rhythmic beats of Lil Wayne screaming about his baby momma’s pu**y? Yes? Then step right in! I have never entered a restaurant that played music that made me feel uncomfortable. Sheesh, it should not be this embarrassing to order a cheesy beef, gyros, and hot dog! The staff were friendly enough. My order was filled quickly and accurately. The food was not that good. The fries were a weird combination of soggy yet still firm. Almost as though the fries were still raw but left to soak in oil. The cheese on the cheesy beef was super thick and gross. Same can be said for the tzatziki on the gyros. A good tzatziki is not paste-​like. Nothing was really good and everything kind of had the same bland taste. I may consider giving this place another try in the hopes that it was just an off day. Will be sure to bring noise canceling headphones for my toddler.
Update:
The owner messaged me accusing me of writing a fake review, saying I didn’t give his place a chance, he is going to have my Unilocal account suspended, blah, blah, blah, blah… Of course, made no mention about his poor food quality. He did claim that the place does not play music which, my bad, I must have had a Little Wayne earworm and just blamed it on this place. You know, considering how I am always listening to vulgar rap music in my Audi wagon with my 3 year old. In any event, the owner had a chance to make it right by responding to my review with any variation of the following:
«Hi Unilocaler, I am sorry you had a less than positive experience. I sure would like the chance to earn your business. Next time you stop in please ask for me.»
Instead, this man-​child chose to attack and verbally harass and threaten a patron.
He has also posted videos on youtube. One in which he actually uses my name. In the video he states that he is going to get his friends to come after me because he grew up ghetto. He also compares Unilocal to the mafia and states that the reviews are criminal. He claims that Unilocal contacted me to go to his restaurant to give him a bad review because he refuses to advertise on Unilocal.Seriously, I can’t make this nonsense up! I am certainly not worried about this man-​child and his crew of misfit rugrats. What a joke. He cries about the reviews all sounding the same. Well, maybe that is because he behaves the same with everyone! I welcome his attorney to review my «criminal» post. Then his attorney can review his posted video, in which he uses my name, and threatens me and by extension, my 3 year old child. Here is his video:
Finally, and what was most curious is, Mike had an issue with my review posting at 4am local time. I realize geography may not be his strong suit, judging by the location he chose to open his hot dog stand, but just because it is 4am where you are, does not mean it is 4am where I am. There is this nifty thing called The World Clock. Maybe Mike should Google it.
So, it has been a month since this tin foil space cadet has messaged me and then random, out of the blue, he started messaging me again yesterday. His new crazy is that Baker & McKenzie is representing him in his lawsuit against Unilocal and Unilocal reviewers and that he will see me in court very soon. I was confused because the last court date he had was for stealing pillows from Kohls so I wasn’t sure if he was trying to get me to be a character witness or what. He then rambled that the Elmhurst police are reading all of his crappy reviews and are writing everything down. He then told me I don’t live in Switzerland because he has my IP address. Which, considering, due to my Check-​ins, I am the «Queen» of Zurich, I am going to have to call BS on his crazy IP address statement. He then kept going on and on and on.
I finally blocked him after telling him exactly where to go. I have a lengthy block list of ONE on Unilocal.Congrats Mike, you are it. Oh yeah, and the way in which he communicates with his so called lawyer, is through their generic twitter handle! I have several different attorneys that represent my interests and I don’t communicate with any of them through Twitter.

Updated review… after I left an honest experience/​review. The owner contacted me from his personal Unilocal and threatened me. stating that my IP address has been tracked, that he has elmhurst city officials in his back pocket and threatened me. I am at a loss for words I really am. I had to block him from harassing messages. This place will not get another dime of my money. This guy is unstable and a very poor owner not fit to run a business.

This is one of the best food spots in Elmhurst. The food is fresh and reasonable in price. The atmosphere is great for an afternoon snack or a late night crave when everybody else is closed. Another great thing about this place is that they deliver. I highly recommend this place, Come by and check it out for your self. You will not be disappointed. The beef polish is the BOMB!

Great food and service! I ordered the gyros plate. The two pitas were hot and fresh, plenty of meat and the fries were delicious! I’ll be back for sure!

Just awesomeness in a bun!!! Fast friendly service the owner greets you as if he’s known you forever. Best gyro and dawg I’ve had in awhile. Really takes me back to old school fast food the way it should be… Keep on feeding MY BELLY!!!

had a problem with the order talk to owner Mike and he fix the problem customer service A+ the Gyros probably one of the best in town A+ hamburgers C+ I like bills in Evanston or 5 guys I like greasy burgers that’s me hot dogs and fries B+ gene’s and Jude’s you have some competition tamales C Italian beef c+ little bit salty but the owner said he’s gonna fix it. if your looking for Portillos they’re not right now I give them 5 years and they could be a contender remember this Portillo’s didn’t start out perfect I wish Mike and the poets crew best of luck

Hot dogs flavorless, beefs small for price, slow service, fries are terrible, Dont know y the good reviews, maybe its friends or the owner doing it, but you get more and better at Yorky’s or Scooby’s. Never will go here again.

They play hip hop music while your waiting. I have zero desire to wait for my food listening to some ass-​clown rapping negative crap with words I wouldnt say in front of my kids. I didnt order anything. I dont give my money to a company that spews that kind of garbage. Especially when there are a LOT of other great hot dog places in the area. A restaurant even a greasy spoon should make people feel welcome. Not play music with the N-​word and swear words blaring. The food might be great. I dont care.

I learned about poets from a menu left in my door. My finacee and I figured we would give them a call and an honest review.
Their food is AMAZING. From the time we called until we received the food was about 25 minutes (Delivery).
Ordered the Gyros, with a double cheese burger. They were great. (The bun was actually large enough for the burger) There’s something about their fries that taste pretty great, it’s like the grease doesn’t override the actual taste of the potato in the fry.
It’s a new business and they will catch on fairly quick. I love to support a local mom and pop food joint.
For one to comment on the music, if you learn the history of the owner, you yourself would understand why you’re hearing what you hear. Next time order delivery if you’re going to base your review off of someone’s taste of music rather than the superb quality of the food.
I will be ordering again.