Our Maiden Voyage to the White Palace Grill

Two weekends ago we got our first taste of an infamous South Loop mainstay, the White Palace Grill, which is located on the corner of Roosevelt and Canal.  Although we've driven by it many times, we've never actually stepped foot inside.

To level set and make sure everyone understands where this review is coming from our memory is a little hazy since it was 4:00am and we were at a wedding prior (...open bars are dangerous for the memory).  Anyway, as we jumped out of the cab it was impossible not to notice the bustle going on within the White Palace Grill (1159 S. Canal).  Upon entering, it was obvious we were a little overdressed (suits and formal dresses are not needed at this establishment).  The place was packed with a wide range of patrons.  There was the old man reading his newspaper.  Two local college students getting a late meal.  And a ton of larger crowds that were loud, having a good time and presumably intoxicated.

There was a wait for booths, so we opted for the first available seat which ended up being the counter by the cash register.  The menu was pretty standard, but for some reason I was having a tough time making a decision.  The rest of the group didn't have that problem as they quickly ordered country-fried steak, jalapeno poppers and some roast beef sandwich.  In a last second decision, I made a mistake and went for a hot dog.

It was busy, so the food took much longer then it should have.  Maybe the waitress didn't put our order in or maybe they just had a ton of orders, regardless the food took awhile.  Regardless, the scene was entertaining so the time passed.  Once we got our food, the winner seemed to be the fellow with the country-fried steak.  The hot dog was pretty gross (especially how it looked) and the roast beef sandwich although good, wasn't what our friend wanted (it was open face style).

With that said, the place was fun but probably somewhere I wouldn't go back to unless I was craving some diner food (which tends to happen every so often).  A couple of other interesting tidbits.  The diner has a picture of Guy Fieri, the host of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  So apparently he's been there.

Also, when we were leaving it got a little dicey as the cops were called on a man who was trying to skip out on a bill.  The on premise security guard had to run out of the place to stop the man.  Luckily for us we were also leaving so we didn't see what came of that situation.