Posted by Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle on May 14, 2009
It's breakfast time, and we're a little tentative as we ask our waitress if we could possibly get a side of the house chili to go with our eggs. "We're a chili house, hon, we start selling chili as soon as we open." Great! Now, there are choices to be made when ordering chili: do we want it with or without beans, with or without macaroni (chili mac)? Chili mac seems like lunch to us; we chose chili with beans. This is a classic Midwestern brew, soupy and packed with flavor, with pebbly beef and a touch of sweet spice. Unlike similar Midwestern chilis we've had elsewhere, this chili comes without a pool of oil collecting on top. It makes a truly superlative topping for the potatoes that are served alongside your breakfast eggs; a focused breakfast of a double order of potatoes and a bowl of chili would be a terrific idea!
Ramova Grill is actually a little more than a chili house. There's a menu of breakfast eggs (and OJ squeezed to order), and sandwiches and burgers for lunch, all at low, low prices. Opened in the Bridgeport section of Chicago in 1929, Ramova's roomy and high-backed wooden booths and row of counter seats appear to be little changed from opening day.
Ramova is thankfully not a hipster's hangout; it's more of a no-nonsense old-school urban grill. We stopped to chat with our friendly and eager-to-please waitress as we paid our bill. Our effusive praise must have been just a bit too much for the owner/cook silently preparing breakfasts nearby. He turned to the three of us: "OK, thank you." Time to move on.
Overall: Worth planning a day around
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Reviewers "Must Eats" List
"A steaming bowl of Ramova chili is a fine companion to an eggs-and-potatoes breakfast."
Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle
"The Ramova is an ideal place for an old-fashioned city breakfast."
Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle
"Order OJ, and your waitress will squeeze oranges as you watch, an unexpected treat in a place like this."
Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle
"You can choose to sit on a stool at the counter..."
Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle
"... or at one of the handful of boxy wooden booths."
Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle
"Just beyond the Ramova Grill is the closed Ramova Theater, opened in the same year as the grill. There is currently some local effort to save the theater."
Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle
