Michael’s Chicago Style Red Hots

We have been going to Michaels for years. The past couple of visits were not typical of their usual good service. Last visit, the grill side had all the employees working with nobody working on the salad size, yet people were waiting. We finally were waited on, but it took quite a while. Today, there were plenty of people working the salad side, but it just wasn’t right. They were not working as a team. There are new employees mixed with the old so maybe that is the problem. Order finally came; fries were luke warm and when my husband bit into his hot dog, it was completely raw. Just out of the fridge, basically. My husband went in to get a new dog and waited 10 minutes. The woman who was helping him left. My husband talked to the manager. He was abrupt and affronted by the fact that a customer might complain. He was rude and condescending and showed no empathy. He gave us a cooked hotdog and the money for it, but it would have been far more effective if he had given us a little empathy instead.
Michaels changed ownership a while ago and my guess is that the new manager is part of the new ownership. His defensiveness leads me to believe that there are personnel issues, also reflected by the fact that none of the employees act as friendly as before. The manager is mean spirited and needs to treat both customers and employees as human beings.

Best salad bar in the world. Best cheese fries ever. Best wraps, too! I love this restaurant. I always have. Michael’s is a phenomenal events venue. I love every experience here.

I go there when I am in town because they have a great salad bar with fresh ingredients that taste good. I am gluten free and they are very accommodating as they have several salad dressings that are gluten free. Good quick place for a good salad. For the hot dogs, burgers, etc I have not had that stuff since I was a kid so I cannot really comment on that stuff but I am sure its great as they have been in HP for 20+ years.

When you walk into Michael’s, you see a whole panoply of menu options which includes burgers, sandwiches, pasta, sides, and deserts.
I just stopped in for a shake (chocolate banana, shakes only come in size small).
Many of the employees here are the older sort who are a refreshing throwback to a time when restaurants were more concerned about providing good food at decent prices, not a fake kind of showmanship.
The décor is absolutely incredible in all of its 1980’s glory. There are red and teal and blue tiles that line the walls with mirrors that grace the ceiling. It’s like walking on to the set of a John Hughes brat pack movie!
Looking around, I see pictures of kids and families and parties around so this looks like a good family friendly gathering place.
Places like Michael’s are dwindling in number every day so it’s becoming imperative to enjoy them as much as we can before they become distant memories.

Very clear on placing my order. Not too difficult! Cheeseburger with ketchup and grilled onions. Stupid order taker forgot the onions. If I had taken my order to go I would have had food rage. I returned my wrong sandwich and accepted a refund. I did ask if there was a manager and the cashier said «that was the manager that made the mistake». At least I know he is making at least $ 15.00 per hour. If they can’t get it right maybe they should get out of the business.

Here’s what you need to know: this business has a local following going back decades and is an integral part of the neighborhood restaurant community. The food is simple and decent, not great. The setting and ambiance is very basic. They are fairly priced. The buffalo burger is quite good.
I visit michael’s about once a year, and it doesn’t offer the best of any particular fast food item around, but they are solid and consistent. Their stand out for me would be the buffalo burger, which is $ 9 without cheese. I usually get that topped with merkt’s cheddar which goes great. The fries are quite good and crispy when eaten hot.
Michaels is famous for its hot dogs which are fine, but not the best around.
My meal of a buffalo burger with cheddar, side or cheese fries, and a small soda was $ 16.

Love the hamburgers! Great food and great service! A «must» go-​to atleast twice a month, if not more.

Placed an order via Grub Hub. We did not receive all of our items. Called to let them know and manager assured me we would have the missing item soon. No big deal, stuff happens. 45 minutes later I call to see about said missing item that still hasn’t arrived. Am told that they are busy… this is pretty crappy customer service in my book. Hopefully my son’s missing dinner makes its appearance soon.

It was good. I would go there again but they are kind of far from me. I would not say they are my favorite but the are one of the better hot dog places in Chicago.

I have been coming here for the last 10 plus years. It’s hard to find a place with hot dogs, burgers for the kids but also with very healthy salads. Michaels got it!! you can build your own salad or pick from the menu. Always fresh. Great place to come with the family for a quick lunch.

I really hate bashing on Unilocal but the situation I was in definitely calls for it.
Food was OK nothing spectacular; food gets 3 stars.
Costumer service on behalf of the manager gets NONE.
The employees there are working their butts off and deserve some credit. If there is an issue with an employee over serving salad toppings it should be brought up in the back area, not in front of costumers. Poor Jesus was told he needs to go back on hotdogs and off salad bar because he did it wrong again.
No one should belittle their employees in front of a costumer. Not to mention my family and I didn’t even have an appetite after the manager let us know how the salad we bought wouldn’t look like that next time because it was made in correctly. Well my aunt has been going there for years and then said ‘it always looks like that’. Manager then said ‘well I want a paycheck and salads like that make us loose money’ …TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE TO SAY TO A CUSTOMER! If that is the case make your menu out to say additional charge for additional toppings. By the way loose money??? We spent over $ 40 on 3 salads! Cheesecake factory is cheaper then that.
We then sat down feeling awkward. Noticed my sister salad was missing steak and aunts was missing chicken. We didn’t dare go back to the counter at this point. Even though it was extra for the meats. The poor employee making the salads was probably upset/​embarrassed by his manager calling him out in front of everyone.
Never returning after seeing how employees are being treated and how costumers have to hear about the restaurants issues. If this place is worried about loosing money on their salads charge per topping! It’s not rocket science!

Michaels is truly the best place ever. I have been eating at Michaels for nearly 15 years and it is always consistent and great. It is worth trying if you have never been as I believe it is one of the best hot dog places in Chicago. But beyond that, the rest of the menu is great. They have great salads, great wraps and of course the cheese fries. I hope my last meal is Michael’s cheese fries because they are out of this world.
My only dig on the place is it is not cheap. The salads come out to be about $ 13 which is just a little high, but they taste great so I make the compromise.
Debbie is always really really nice.

Food is good, specially those sweet potatoes fries! My friend stopped eating her burger because there was pink inside and had requested well done. Service is friendly & I’d suggest to get the chicken

The mighty have fallen. Soggy lettuce in the $ 9 salad. Ants crawling on the floor in the dining area.
Get it together. 30 year customer who for the first time was turned off. The well oiled machine needs help.

Classic meeting place that I always want to go to when back up in the northern suburbs.
Char dog and cheese fries always my order.

Came to Highland Park to look at houses. The family was hungry so we stopped in here. Food is very good service is interesting. You order cafeteria style and wait in line for your food to be prepared to order. Goodness that is a long wait. I don’t care for the concept. By the time my order was ready the fries they put up early were cold. But the burger was warm because it was the last item on the tray.
I would come back because I know how the system works. If you want burger and fries go to the far line. If you want a salad go to the first line. Very simple once you learn the concept.

Hands down still one of the most consistent family-​friendly restaurants on the North Shore. The best thing about Michael’s is walking in, knowing what to expect, and leaving knowing that when you come back again it will all be the same great customer service and quality of food… each and every time.
This place makes me smile. We are the weird picky eater family, and if any restaurant can please all our different tastes, allergies, and dietary restrictions, then you can guarantee we’ll keep coming back.
Burgers are consistent. Chicken fingers are honestly really tasty. The kids meal portion sizes are a great value. The sweet potato fries are cooked the same every time — not too soft or too crispy. The Merkt’s cheese sauce is so good I could just scoop the whole container in my mouth — who needs fries? ;-)
Not into the grill? No worries. Their salads totally and completely rock. The salad bar has so many toppings to choose from and they’ll chop it up for you right on the spot.
The baked potatoes also look so amazing. Great vegetarian option.
Yep, you can expect to see our family here time and time again. Tip: Sunday nights are a quieter time to stop in. Saturday nights get pretty crazy.

Michael’s is about tradition and preservation. I’ve been going here since I was a kid, and even though I now live in Wisconsin I still come back on occasion because it’s one of those joints you can’t do without for too long. Their structure, menu, and style have remained the same way since they started, and when a restaurant has a structure that works, that’s a formula for success.
The biggest draw is the authentic Chicago grill food. The Char Dog and its good friend the Double Char Dog cannot be missed. Succulent flavor, from that freshly grilled taste, the gigantic assortment of toppings that provide a buffet on a dog, the poppyseed bun, and the attention to detail with cuts in the meat and twisted burnt ends. It’s the classic Chicago treat and if you don’t want «the works» they can tailor it to your liking but I encourage you to take the plunge on this real life fantasy.
Don’t forget to leave room for their Cheddar Fries and Pizza Puffs. The cheese on the fries will give you a heart stoppage like the rest of the food, but it is gooey goodness and the sweat-​in-​the-​bag fries will have you searching the bottom for those last few bites. The Pizza Puff is, yes just a deep fried pouch, but it is easily my favorite menu item and something both my brother and I make sure we get everytime. This isn’t a Walmart puff, it’s an Illinois specialty.
The prices, service, and environment leave a lot to be desired, but the people who work there do work very hard and I respect that. It’s a lot of the same staff that have been there since I was young, and they are always mobbed with customers. I’m guessing that takes its toll as the conversations are usually somewhat gruff and short, but it also could be the fact that the majority of their clientele are the super rich affluent members of the Northern Chicago suburbs. I tend to hear a lot of special requests and complaining, and nobody enjoys dealing with that in the service industry on a regular basis. Still, I wish they were a little friendlier at times and the restaurant itself is very plain with nothing in the way of entertainment outside of a few tvs. The prices are probably in line with most similar Chicago venues, but a meal can get expensive quickly as everything is a la carte.
As usual, it’s tough to get everything right, and while service and prices might not be the best, the food has remained consistently good since they opened. This is the perfect place to get an order for carry out, and then indulge in the guilty pleasures in the comfort of your home or hotel room.

This is our family tradition for the day after thanksgiving. It’s obviously a lot of other family’s traditions. The char dogs are perfect– crisp with lots of crunch. We order it the philly way with grilled onions and mustard. Can’t go wrong with fries or onion rings. We would love a michaels in California.
Love this place !

If I could burrow a hole big enough for a house into Michael’s cheese sauce, I would. I am forever spoiled for future cheese sauces because of Michael’s. I won’t be able to eat a gross nacho or cheese fry ever again. Ah, first world problems.
Beyond the awesome cheese sauce — that is far beyond the liquid orange cheese you’ll find at the movie theaters — Michael’s offers up an array of eats that please the masses. And I really like how the ordering process is organized, albeit a bit slow. Our lunch party veered towards the sandwiches and salads, with a side of AED, I mean, cheese fries. Good thing you can order the fried goods from the sandwich/​wrap/​salad side too. Life should be about variety, no?
My Asian chicken wrap was not only substantial, but it was packed full of flavor! I was quite smitten with the super diced veggies and chicken in my whole wheat wrap. If I wasn’t in between meetings, I could have absolutely saved half for a future lunch, too. Cheese fries + Asian chicken wrap + beautiful day eating alfresco = one happy day at Michael’s. Next time I’m in HP, I’ll definitely stop back in.