Windy City Grille
5751 Byron Center Avenue SW #FThere are very few things, food wise, that get me as excited as Italian beef. Everyone knows about Chicago-style hot dogs and pizza, but most don’t realize that Chicago has another specialty that’s better, when done right, pizza and hot dogs combined.
Windy City Grille is in Wyoming on Byron Center Avenue SW near Metro Hospital in the Bayberry Plaza. I really have no idea how I even heard of the place because this is not an area of Wyoming that I’ve ever been to. It’s not too far from US-6 so it’s pretty easy to get to from Grand Rapids.
Chicago-style food is something that can either be done right or it’s a total failure. Being a native Illinoisan who grew up close enough to Chicago to have been immersed in the food since a young age, I tend to find failure’s more so than true, authentic Chicago-style food.
Windy City Grille is a pretty typical strip mall restaurant. The small order counter is in the back and the remaining space is filled with tables and chairs. There is a large menu board behind the counter and they also have paper menus on the counter. Specials are written on a dry erase board next to the cash register.
I was pretty much set with what I wanted before I ever walked in so I didn’t even really look at the menu. I ordered the Italian beef with hot giardiniera and mozzarella cheese. I asked for the sandwich dipped which is the only way to get an Italian beef. The sandwich comes with a bag of Ruffle’s potato chips for a little over eight bucks. If I was a little bit smarter, I would have checked in on Foursquare BEFORE I ordered, but I checked in after. I mention that because they actually have a Foursquare check-in special for a free order of fries with every check-in. Stupid me.
I took a seat near the register and waited for my sandwich which didn’t take very long at all. Less than five minutes. I decided to take it back to work with me to eat, so it was wrapped up in a Styrofoam box.
If you read this blog often, you know I’ve already explained over and over what makes a good Italian beef sandwich. I won’t bore you again. To make things easy, this was a good Italian beef sandwich.
The bun was a soft, flaky hoagie roll that was totally saturated with the au jus from the meat yet it didn’t completely disintegrate even after the 15 minute drive back to work. The meat was tender and the giardiniera was perfect. There was just enough that my lips started to feel the burn, but not so much that it took away from the flavor of the sandwich.
Windy City Grille was a good find. It’s a little farther from work than I normally go on my lunch break, but it is so hard to find a good Italian beef so I will most likely get a craving that I will need to be filled at Windy City Grille.
Italian beef with Hot Giardiniera
SW Michigan Dining 
Windy City has become one of the favorite lunch stops for the guys in my office. The Italian beef sandwich, the real Chicago Dogs and the gyro’s are favorites of my crowd. Will, Val, Bessie (Mom), and the frequent visitor, Henry really make the place memorable.