Zippy’s

Best local restaurant!
Family been coming here daily before i was born!
24 years later, now im a constant customer!
Don’t under estimate Zippy’s :)

Zippys is now closed, but there is already a sign up that the Beef Shack is coming soon. I believe this might just be a re-​branding because I believe the same family that owned Zippys owned the Beef Shack in St Charles.
The cheesy beef on garlic bread might not be dead yet.

Tragically — the last Zippys has now closed.

First and last time in Zippy’s. This is the poor man’s Portillo’s.
Dinner on a Saturday night.
+ Friendly cashier
+ Good chicken gyros
+ Great waffle fries
— Indifferent cook/​clean-​up staff (No smile, no hello)
— DIRTY! DIRTY! DIRTY! There were 5 tables that that had food, trays, and receipts on them. Floor had spilt food on it. Some tables are off their hinges and looked like they were about to fall off. Some chairs had upholstery slashed and the insides coming out of the it. Had to walk around and look at tables/​chairs to make sure they were not sticky/​had not food or trash on them. The place looked like the staff just didn’t give a s— about what their workplace looked like.
Ick! Never again. Such a shame. We liked their gyros and fries.

Bad service, bad food, bad family.
Go to Portillo’s… do not support these people.

Awesome food! Clean bathrooms too. Awesome lunch spot.

I’ve been eating at Zippy’s for a few years now and their food is consistently good. Both the regular gyros and the chicken gyros are delicious, the latter being nicely complimented with honey mustard. The waffle fries are some of the best I’ve ever had, every one is crispy and cooked perfectly; that is reason enough to go to Zippy’s. I also like that there are mini gyros of both types at a very reasonable price so I can have a gyros and fries and not feel like I’m going to explode afterward.

The company i work for just recently moved locations for our office. My first thoughts were Great, now i have to deal with all the overpriced and overrated Woodfield places for lunch. Luckily i found Zippy’s!
I was driving around looking for a lunch place that looked good, and saw famous cheesy beef writen on the side of the building. I figured i would give it a shot. At first glance the place seemed old and falling apart. The tables have zany squiggle designs on them, and the booths seemed kind of small and jammed into the place. This may bother you, but not me. i don’t care as long as the food is good.
I ordered the Cheesy Beef on Garlic bread with waffle fries. This was very good and tasty. They have 2 sandwich sizes mini and jumbo. The jumbo is about a foot long size of bread. I unwrapped it to find a small pool of Au Jus in the wrapper. They layer melted mozarella cheese all over the top of the sandwich. You would need x ray glasses to see the beef from a top view because it is covered in cheese!
The garlic is noticable on the bread, but not crunchy like some garlic breads. The beef is a good protion size. It tended to be dryer towards the top by the cheese, but on the bottom was like a flavor explosion of meat and the Au Jus. The sadwich didn’t fall apart either like many other beef places. Zippys was definitely a good find. The price wasnt bad either. For the jumbo sandwich it was like $ 6.
The waffle fries were good as well. Nothing really that fancy about them. They were crispy and were not overflowing with salt. It was nice that they were freshly made and still warm too.
I will definitely be going back here for lunch with my co workers!

Zippy’s is a small fast food joint with a drive in located off of Roselle Road in Hoffman Estates. Less than a decade ago they used to have hot dogs for a mere ninety nine cents, and I bought them quite a few times back in the day. As time has gone on I’m not in the general area of Zippy’s as much anymore and I haven’t stopped by in nearly a year. The day finally arrived to make a return trip to Zippy’s and give their hot dog (no longer 99 cents but now 2.49) a review.
In going to Zippy’s I ordered a hot dog, you have an option of steamed or charred, I went with steamed. I also decided to order some waffle fries and a pop. Their carbonated beverage fountain used to have R.C. products and Green River. To my dismay it’s been replaced by all Coke products.
As far the food itself the hot dog I received came on a slightly dry non-​poppy seed bun. The bun wasn’t hard but was a bit on the flaky side as it had cracks in it. The sausage used was a skinned natural casing dog, it had a very nice flavor and all the juices were intact. The pickle used here is a little on the thick side, a bit sour and is slightly shorter than the hot dog itself. Eating it with the pickle on means that the pickle flavor will overpower the other flavors on the hot dog more often than not, except for the bite you have where there is no pickle due to the fact that it’s shorter. The tomato slices included were nice and red and not too watery, these were well done. There were no sport peppers, nor a sign of celery salt. But the mustard, onions and relish were all well applied.
I also ordered some of Zippy’s waffle fries. The waffle fries here are great, they have a nice thick amount of potato paste in them, yet with crisp corners and edges. They’re not too salty or too greasy. These are excellent fries.
Overall my visit to Zippy’s was a mixed bag. The hot dog was about average, the fries were a little above average and I was disappointed by the missing Green River and the replacement of the fountain drinks with coke products. I still do like Zippy’s and would go again. I’m giving it three stars.

Zippy’s is my favorite pizza ever. Enough said.

Zippys is a great place to go grab some quick food. I love their waffle fries and gyro. The place is managed well and is kept clean. The ingredients seem to be high quality for a place labeled as fast food. I will definitely be coming back here soon.

It has been a long time since I had been here and my mouth was watering as approaching thinking about getting my cheezy beef. I only got a half this time as I did not want to eat that much. The sandwich seemed smaller overall but it could be me. It was as good as always. HOWEVER!
I have no idea who drives the fancy car but I ASSume he is the owner. When I go somewhere to eat, I do not want to here about the problems you are having with your employees. I do not want to hear you swearing. I do not want to hear you fire someone while i am there. I do not want to hear you say you are holding another employess pay because they are late. Not sure the food experience would ever make me want to come back here. I know it sucks having business problems. I have them too. But, if you need to talk to people and do not have an office then it was a nice day and you could have taken it outside. I am actually mad at myself for coming here because it kind of ruined my day.

Get:
Slices of pizza, hot dogs, and fries
Skip:
Hamburgers, beefs, and chicken products.
The quality over the years seems to have suffered in order to keep costs under control. Everything seems to get breadier and breadier and blander and blander. The hamburger has never been anything to tell the food network about but its seriously the driest I have ever had and no better than McDonalds.
The hot dogs have always been strong and I am partial to the slices of pizza from years of high school lunch and working at that hellhole two doors down (Jiffy Lube).
Lately its just become a low rent portillo’s — I wish that wasnt the case anymore.

we love their thin crust pizzas & when you use thier buy 1 get 1 free, its a deal you cant pass up!!!
We get pizza from hear at least a few times a month!

The gyro wasn’t bad. It should only be about $ 4.99, but what are you gonna do? Anyway, it wasn’t too bad. The problem was that I ordered it to go so I could eat it in my car outside the mall. As if that doesn’t make me a big enough loser, I crack open the bag to find two things: a wrapped gyro and a side of tzatziki. No fork, no napkins.
Look, I can understand if you don’t want to put tzatziki on the gyro. Makes more room for meat, I guess. But you have to help me out. Give me a fork. And the fact that my order was to go should instantly merit inclusion of at least one flimsy napkin. Had they given me three, I would have used them because of the mess I made due to not having been given a fork.
Only way I’m going back is if they slip me a freebie. And that’s probably not going to happen. Too bad.

Zippy’s, Home of the Cheezy Beef ©. I’ve ventured here a couple times and I have to admit that their regular Italian Beef is really nothing special. The signature Cheezy Beef, on the other hand, is luckily more than just meat and a bun or I’d quickly disregard it as well; it’s covered in a big layer of cheese that quickly turns hard and makes for an interesting, not-​necessarily-​bad texture, and you can order it on garlic bread which I applaud. I need more garlic in my life.
As for their other menu items, the waffle fries are crisp and clean, their gyros are pretty good and their hot dogs are pretty good. I haven’t had their pizza yet but I hear it’s pretty good. Overall, Zippy’s is, well, pretty good. I’d say the only things that really set it apart are their Cheezy Beef and the fact that it’s much less greasy than your typical American-​style restaurant.

This place appears to have a lot going for it. I like the vintage appeal. «Home of the cheesy beef?» — You’d think they’ve perfected it, leading it to become some sort of famous must have…
Being that this the décor sort of reminds me of a mini version of Portillos, heck yeah I want to try their awesome Cheesey Beef.
I go inside…
For some reason, it’s so dead here. OK, whatever. I place my order. A combo sandwich, fries, strawberry shake and ofcourse, a cheesey beef.
I liked the waffle fries. I’ve always had a weakness for them. Strawberry shake — so thick I needed a spoon.
Combo sandwich — bread too thick for my taste. It may be subjective though. I found the meat to be unspectacular. Didn’t have enough kick for me and was bordering on bland. I guess I’ve been spoiled by Johnnies Beef on the other side of town.
OK let’s get to the Cheesey beef…
Pluses:
— Huge sandwich w/​lots of meat
— Huge cheese
— Garlic Bread
Minuses:
— Beef itself is a little bland
— Cheese can harden if not eaten right away
— Garlic bread too thick
I think this sandwich could be made so much better if they used a less thick or softer garlic bread. It’s just too thick for my taste. I love the fact that they used garlic bread though…
Overall, not bad. Not great either. Just average. Will I come back? Well, there are too many places that offer better.

I’ll admit to being torn between giving Zippy’s 2 or 3 stars but I’ve settled on two. I’ve been to Zippy’s twice. The first time was less than satisfactory and I gave them the olé second chance and it was more of the same.
Zippy’s might call themselves the «Home of the Cheezy Beef» but it would be more accurate to label them «Home of the Greasy Beef».
I stopped by the first time for lunch. I was unprepared for the puddle of grease that came pouring out from my sandwich and onto my lap. That led to a less than comfortable afternoon at work and more than one explanation as to why I had a huge spot on my crotch.
The second trip I ordered the Cheezy Beef a second time and this time I was prepared. A little less grease came pouring out this time but still way too much.
I’m no food prude that requires everything I eat to be healthy but give me a break here. I almost felt a trip to the hospital to have my arteries checked was in order after eating there.
The food doesn’t taste bad and I do like their fries however, if you order the Cheezy Beef, wear a bib — or better yet, a wet suit.

This place used to be so much better. When I was kid, there was actually a Dog & Suds on this location. The building turned into a few crappy places after D&S closed down. (I recall one called Mr. C’s. think the C stood for crappy). Anyway … Zippy’s was opened in the mid 80’s I’d guess and was a small cozy little place. The owner really took care of you and made you feel special. The place was popular and grew by leaps and bounds. I think there have been two expansions to this particular building. Now there’s several Zippy’s. But the charm seems to have worn off. The customer service isn’t what it was.
I remember the owner walking around, checking to see if you had gotten your food yet, and if you hadn’t. he’d give you a free bag of fries or something while you were waiting … And he’d check into your order. Those days are long gone. The food isn’t bad, but it isn’t anything special.
Pizza is okay. Dogs are okay. The cheesy beef is a pretty good sandwich. Gyros is pretty good. The waffle fries here are great.
I see one other person comparing this place to Portillo’s. I’ll give Zippy’s a ‘one-​up’ on Portillo’s in the fact that Zippy’s has free soda refrills. I can’t believe Portillo’s charges you for a refill on pop. C’mon Joe!

So… based on the Chicken Gyro alone this place gets 5 stars. I have always loved this sandwich and I cannot believe it hasn’t seen a rise in popularity over the years.
Other then the Chicken Gyros I find Zippys to be over priced without the quality of Portillo’s. The Pizza is average at best, the Shakes are TERRIBLE, and fries are ok. Hotdogs are a noticeable step below competition. Beef sandwich is pretty good…
Sadly I feel with better management and focus on quality Zippys could be a real player in the market. Having said that unless I am getting a chicken gyros (I can’t get it anywhere else) I go elsewhere.
This place really is overpriced as well. If you are going to have less quality at least offer additional value… right?