Mr. D's Shish Kabob [A Couple Who Care]

My wife and I did not intend to lunch at Mr. D's yesterday, yet when we found ourselves on this stretch of far West Chicago around that time of day, who could resist this Couple who Care. As well noted on this Forum*, Mr. D's rises well above its ilk because of the Couple who Care, Mr. and Mrs. D.

They have that silent communication, practically extended conversations, of the long married. They divide the labor. Most orders just come over the short counter. She'll get the meat and condiments ready and later take the money. He mans the grill and fries the fries. Unlike, say Gene and Judes, the potatoes are not constantly cut. Rather, you can see the same levered device as Gene and Judes to the side, but there are bins a-ready. He works the two fryer system, aided by a long, square-headed spider, that he uses to both pat down frying potatoes, maintaining submergence, and straining out any fallen bits.

As the illustrative Da Beef notes on his blog, these are "most likely the best batch of fries in the city." These fries, praised in many quarters including the Tribune, sure raise Mr. D's to GNR level, but the rest of the menu stands tasty in the Chicago way. EvilDoc calls the namesake shish kabobs "really good." Vitesse98 says the steaks are even better. Midas settles the argument in true Chicago fashion, "Well I won't argue about whether the steak sand. is better than the shish-kabob, I like both. But I usually get the shish-kabob. Both are marinated and share a lot of the same taste profile. You can't go wrong with either." Then again, maybe you should get the burger as Louisa Chu remarks, "I actually always get the cheeseburger...Mr. D's is the place I dream of when I'm stuck in cheeseburger-and-fries forsaken places like Paris and Spain." And what about the Italian beef, my wife actually has found that to be her favorite sandwich. Me, I'm ecumenical, rotating through several items as per whim, or who can stand splitting with me that day. Now, I've actually heard good things about their chili, and I've seen it look good too, but that's something I've never tried. It's a good menu for a good place.

Still, for all the tastiness in the fries and the rest, what makes Mr. D's is Mr. and Ms. D. Last summer, when we had that new climate change induced typhoon that knocked down many tall trees in the area, we took shelter from the storm in Mr. D's. He was about to close down but stayed open to serve us. Mr. D exudes warmth and comfort, his way with the fries extends to his easy way with the clientele. We felt safe that night at Mr. D's. Ms. D mostly stays in the background, but her smile can light up the barebones shack when needed. They manage to take a simple operation and create a Great Neighborhood Restaurant.

*It seems that one cannot LTH search on "Mr D.", so the best way to find previous threads on the place was to search on the address. I believe if one looks at the embedded threads therein one will find ample Board love for this place.

Main Mr. D's thread

6656 W Diversey Ave
(between Natoma Ave & Normandy Ave)
Chicago, IL 60707
(773) 637-0042