JJ’s Grill Chicago Style

Came in for a Philly cheesesteak, left happy.

One of the best burger places in Poway. Highly recommend this place. But also highly recommend you have patience. I need to try them Gangsta fries.

My experience was marked by good food, good service, and cleanliness. Gangsta fries, like the other reviewer noted, is excellent.

Excellent hot dogs. Real Chicago style. Came here after going to the nearby shooting range: very convenient.

Stopped in after a hike and found this place off of Unilocal.I ordered the beef polish dog that came with fries and a drink for just a little more! My friend had the Italian beef that was light dipped that she thought was wonderful! Great customer service!

Really Tasty Burgers, better than any fastfood joint. If i could give 6 stars I would. Try the Gangster fries!

This place was awful! I order 2 plain hot dogs for my picky girls and opened the box and one had all the toppings, so brought it back and said this was supposed to be plain and the employee said yah I know I watched him. So I asked for a plain hot dog again and was brought out the same exact hot dog that was clearly scraped and made to look like it was new. Brought it back and said this looks like it was wiped off and the employee said yah I know I watched him WTF !!! And the fries have burnt grill bits all over and they give me a paper for a free meal. That’s a joke I won’t need it cause this was beyond the worse place I’ve been to and over priced.

If you like finding amazing food from a little hole in the wall this is the place. My friend and I went here for lunch today, I got the Chicago beef cheesesteak and he got the Chicago dog. Both were out of this world along with their fries. I will definitely be back to try more on the menu.

Why anyone in this area would eat at Subway or Carl’s with JJs in the mall bewilders me. The amount of meat packed into their Italian Beef sub puts any Subway sandwich to shame and his burgers are more flavorful and filling than any Carl’s burger on their menu. After just one of JJs Chicago style dogs you will never ever eat another Costco hotdog again. Make it Polish sausage and you’re hooked for life. So glad we found JJs Grill as the flavor of their food has us eating there weekly and we’ve never eaten at any other place weekly.

Wow!!! You dont need to go Chicago for a Chicago Style Hot Dog. Windy City has come to San Diego! Amazing hot dog!!! Hard working and friendly owner! Its my friday special from now on! :)

Very poorly managed. Out of bacon. Out of roast beef. Constantly out of soda and always running to the neighbors to get supplies like cup lids and straws.
To Go orders tend to be real skimpy on the fries. That being said, the food is great! Try the Chicago burger. Cooked egg on a burger. Yummmm.

Best Chicago Dog in town! Great owner that is authentic and an amazing cook.
A lot of people told me about this place and I finally listened to their advice. Yay friends.
I cannot wait to go back and try their other plates.

Ok, I absolutely looove Philly Cheesesteak and have been meaning to try this place out ever since finding them on
where you can get a $ 5 off certificate good for $ 5 off any order over $ 10. Finally, last week, I was able to check it out.
The hours posted in Unilocal state that JJ’s Chicago Style is open until 3:30pm on Saturdays. I arrived at about 2:40pm and, as I walked up, there was a small group staning in front of the restaurant which was empty insde. ‘Is it open’? I openly asked the group. «Yes. Yes. Go in», one of the men outside said. He followed me in and took his position behind the counter. «This is my first time here so I’ll need a few minutes to look over the menu» I told him. He responded by staring at me while I reviewed the menu on a side wall.
I decided on the Philly Cheesesteak and «Gangster Fries». «What»?! he said after I told him what I’d like; despite being the only customer in there, he couldn’t hear me and I had to repeat my order. He told me the total and I gave him my credit card and the $ 5 off certificate which he couldn’t figure out how to program in the register. He called another man (form outside) in and seemed to ask him how to enter the certificate (they were speaking another language). At one point the beckoned guy, in English, said, «No. 20% off. Oh. $ 5. That’s a lot of money». Finally my order was paid for (with the $ 5 off) and I sat down to wait.
As I waited, another customer arrived and explained that he was in a hurry and only had a few minutes left for his lunch. He asked how long it would take for a chili dog and an order of fries to which the man at the counter replied, «3 minutes». He placed his order and they called him about 15 minutes later. 10 minutes after that, my order was ready. The man handing it to to apologized for the wait saying, «I had to turn the grill back on». If you’re open for another hour, why was the grill off???
As I left, one of the men was standing outside where he had been smoking (as the smoke blew right into the restaurant for me to enjoy as I waited a ridiculously, long time for my order). As I walked to my car, I heard him yelling and cursing at someone on the phone –something about a lock not working and he was going to stay there until the locksmith got there.
Finally…the food…
I was thoroughly disappointed in the Philly Cheesesteak. The meat had little flavor and is not the consistency of any philly cheesesteak I have ever had before. There were no other detectable ingredients.
Then, the gangster fries. Wow!!! Those were awesome and saved this experience from being a 1 star! Those are amazing and IF I ever go to JJ’s Chicago Style again, I will surely order the gangster fries. But all the other experiences with this trip make that a big ‘IF’; loooong wait, not a very friendly staff, poor philly cheesesteak, and a small menu with only pricey options.

I went here several months back when they first opened. I was happy with the service, the food, the cleanliness.
I went back today, for the second time, and meh. Call me a little old school when it comes to Chicago Style food; I’m a huge Portillo’s fan, and this is no Portillo’s.
The dog was good, but the relish made my bun soggy. Relish shouldn’t treat my hot dog bun like a wet beef sandwich, ya know?
The fries had zero seasoning on them. It was OK, but I am not sure I’ll be going back again. It’s a shame since I work about 5 minutes from this place.

Went there for lunch the other day. Second in line, around noon or so. Dude who took my order was nice enough. I ordered a Chicago Style Hot Dog (Charred), fries, and a drink.
25 minutes later, not hot dog, no fries, and all I have is my drink. It was a pretty adventurous event to get to the drink. Soda machine was sticky, styrafoam cups half full of soda around the counter near the machines. Empty straw wrappers everywhere too. Pretty gross.
Eventually got my food, but it was time for me to get back to work. I spent way too much time sitting at the table not eating during my lunchtime. The Chicago Dog came and out and boy did it look disappointing. It tasted better than it looked. They actually use the neon relish, so that’s cool. The fries however, were pretty delicious. That and the hot dog itself, bumped it up to 2 stars.

Came here on recommendation from a fellow Unilocaler and with the back support of the Unilocal reviews. [TL;DR]: It was okay but I probably wouldn’t return or recommend.
We attempted to come to this restaurant twice before actually dining here. I recommend calling ahead because the posted hours on Unilocal do not accurately reflect the times they do business. The first time we came 2 hrs before posted closing and they were closed (I think it was a Friday). so it was disappointing. (If that happens, go next door to the Chinese food joint and get some chicken wings!) Hours were not yet painted in on the door. so I can’t say there is a good source for true business hours without calling in advance.
Finally made it here on a Saturday while they were open for operations. There was no one in the shop when we came. but I can’t say that our presence was met with much reception especially as first time visitors. The fellow at the register seemed less than amused that we needed more than a couple of breaths to figure out what we wanted to order. Ended up ordering an Italian Beef Dip and the Gangster Fries to share. Each cost about $ 8 – 9 bucks. Requested both green and hot peppers. and cups for water. I don’t want to comment negatively in case there is truly a physical impairment. but one water cup for two individuals standing before you and only green peppers on the sandwich when I emphasized both hot and green… I felt that there was either lack of attentiveness or complete disregard.
The bread for the sandwich was soft and fresh tasting. the meat was a good amount. not cut paper thin (which is a positive). but not anything special to write home about. We got half dipped (based on the recommendation upon order). but ended up asking for additional jou on the side. The jou was pretty tasty so ask for extra. Overall the sandwich was lacking in flavor. I’ve had dipped beef from the ghettos of C-​town and it was mind-​blowing. Perhaps the original is hard to replicate. but this sandwich missed the mark. There was nothing special about it.
The gangster fries were entertaining to eat. but the price is hard to justify. Fries, nacho cheese, chopped iceberg lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sour cream and jalapenos+ meat. We ordered steak to change up from the Italian beef but it was hard to distinguish whether there was a difference between the two meats. There definitely was a notable amount of meat on the fries (positive). but overall it felt like a glorified taco salad on fries. At a dollar more than the «meh» sandwich. it was just ok. Tasty but not something I would seek to eat again.
With the average at best service, average eats, and slightly higher than it should be prices… it was worth just coming to say we tried it. but not something we would refer forward or go out of our way for. We would, however, continue recommending the Chinese restaurant next door (excellent service, cheap prices, and fantastic chicken wings). I can imagine this being a good change in food genre in this area (where most will probably grab a costco dog/​pizza or get a burger for cheap, fast, good eats). so it might be a good alternative for those in this slightly remote area.
2.75/ 3 stars. Not bad. but would not return or recommend.

I was looking for new places to eat, and I found this place on Unilocal so I gave it a shot, good decision. Food was really good I ordered a chicken cheese steak and the fries were really really good! I might come back here just for the fries!
Anyways the thing that made this worth 5 stars is the owner came out and started talking to me and asking me how the food was and if I enjoyed it, he started to bring me out samples of other food items on the menu and asking if I wanted to try them, why wouldn’t I?!
Food was delicious and the owner is really, really cool. Im definitely going to come back.

Sandwiches, hot dogs, fries, etc. Pretty much average grease truck type food. Which isn’t necessarily bad if that’s what you’re in the mood for. The customer service is good and the staff is pleasant. Overall the prices seem a little high for what you are getting. It’s about $ 9 for a sandwich.
Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
— Sliced sandwich bread which are buttered or greased and grilled. In the middle is shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes and chicken with buffalo sauce. I was expecting pieces of grilled chicken breast but it was more like sliced deli meat.
Chicken Cheese Steak
— Comes in a sandwich roll. The chicken is the same sliced sandwich meat but not as much. There’s more bread and cheese than anything else.

Edit–
Excellent customer service. They wanted to correct the mistake and made sure I was taken care of. This restaurant truly cares about their customers. The food that I got again was Italian Beef which was made to my liking. Food was excellent made me love the restaurant all over again.
I got the Italian beef sandwich with au ju on the side 2 weeks ago and was really good. Got another one last week and told them I want the au ju on the side because I don’t like soggy bread which they forgot so I got a soggy bread that I could not even hold. Had to fork the sandwich. Today I decided to give another shot. Once again they forget to put au ju on the side and again a very soggy bread that I could not hold and the peppers they used changed to some sort of spicy pickle. It overpowered the beef’s flavor. Was really disappointed. They did have good fries though.

Do you like it HOT & WET? Then get it dipped. Entirely. Not just the tip. It’s sooooo good.
Got an Italian beef sandwich for lunch and I liked it. I’m not an expert on it’s authenticity, so I’ll defer to my Windy City Unilocalers on that, but the sandwich is tasty. The carryout menu mentions the bread as a Gonnella French (not Italian… typo?) roll. My sandwich held up well to the juiciness dripping throughout from all that au jus goodness. The hot giardiniera added some texture, but was mildly spicy. Others may want more peppers to dial up the heat.
First time visit and as mentioned in another review, it’s nice that JJ’s filled the void from the previous failed bbq imposter. This strip mall is a competitive business challenge since it’s typically a Mon-​Fri lunch spot servicing the surrounding industrial plaza companies. I’m not sure about this value menu only during limited hours 2pm-​6pm. Run it all day so fans can enjoy the food anytime every day.
I’m curious to check out their Chicago style hot dog and other inspired snacks. Also, hearing cute cashier gals asking if you want it either wet or dipped is always good for a smirk without getting called into the HR office.