Over the last 15 years or more I've been to this establishment maybe 4-5 times; each time I go, I…read moreremember why it's been years since my last visit and I tell myself it wasn't worth it to return when there are so many other options available. This place is incredibly expensive for what you get with regard to the food and the service (or essentially lack thereof). At this time, full simple sandwiches are $12-14 with no sides included (think typical ham and turkey with cheese, tomato, and lettuce with mayo on it that you can make at home), and soups are nearly $8 for a cup and $9 for a bowl. The sandwiches (and "Mexican" fare) have fresh ingredients, but are very mediocre and bland tasting given their simplicity--not remotely worth that price. The high pricing isn't to cover wait staff/cleaning staff or maintaining the facility itself. Orders are taken at the counter and you await to hear your name called to get your food yourself, then rid of all your waste yourself before leaving. The entire dining room was dirty with crumbs on all tables, chairs, and the floor. The trash was full, and the bathroom toilet and urinal both had unflushed waste in them. The place was not busy as it was later afternoon; there were plenty of staff available to keep an eye on the dining room to ensure, at the very least, that the tables and chairs were clean and the trash wasn't full. The building itself is old with a lot(!) of unfinished and inaccessible areas, basic/old tables with cheap "decor". So for over $52 today my spouse and I had two very basic sandwiches, two bowls of semi-warm soup, and two large drinks in a dirty basic dining room after ordering and retrieving the food ourselves. With that price, you'd think the place would be minutely updated and certainly should be cleaner, there would be wait staff, and the food would have much more flavor with much more to it. There are several other places in Monticello to get great tasting food with included sides, cleaner facilities and wait staff, all for less than the price of a basic sandwich that you get here. I love to support small businesses and the staff were certainly friendly so I feel a bit guilty for this review, but this needs to be said about this incredibly overhyped place. This time I won't forget why I infrequent this establishment and won't be back.

Thanks to Yelp, I found the Brown Bag Deli in Monticello while there for visit to Allerton Park one…read moreSaturday, and enjoyed our lunch there. First off, there is a bit of a wait for your order, but trust me, it's worth it. We were there at a prime Saturday lunch hour and the wait was a bit long but I have to tell you, these are REAL 'sandwich artists' that work for this great little place, and they take great care with your order. Plenty of sides to choose from, drinks and homemade pie for dessert, too! I do not order Tuna Salad out bcz I'm always disappointed but I took a chance here at the BBD, and wow did I enjoy my meal. White bread, Tuna Salad, onion and pickle...SO DELICIOUS!!! I was very full after eating the sandwich too. Hubs had the Dagwood Special and totally enjoyed it. Bypass the fast food across the street and visit this great little diner in downtown Monticello. You will be happy you did!

The running joke of the ice cream machine not working started at this McDonald's. Jokeread more

The service is terrible especially for DoorDash drivers. Waited an additional 20 minutes after the…read moreorder was supposed to be prepared.

The food price just keeps going up. You seem to get less and less for your dollar at this…read morerestaurant. The sandwiches aren't bad but nothing I would get excited over.

It took a long time for us to place our order and receive our food. It was very hard to understand…read morethe people working there. I am a senior citizen. I asked them if they had any senior discounts. They said no. Most restaurants have senior discounts of some kind. Why doesn't Subway have that?

The hamburgers are seriously REALLY good! The fries can be ordered without the "garlic salt" (for…read moreit tends to be a WHOLE LOT), the servings of fries given is MASSIVE so be prepared,ha. Small dining area but an interesting one. Service is actually pretty quick along with being friendly.

My sister and I stopped here on a road trip from Iowa to Kentucky. We like to use Yelp to find…read morelocal establishments to eat at. The food was average. It was tasty but average. The french fries were actually really good. Very large portions of french fries. My sister and I could've shared one order. I had the grilled cheese sandwich and my sister had the chicken sandwich. The crust on the chicken sandwich was perfect. The grilled cheese sandwich was just average. The people were really nice. I don't have any regrets about stopping. They have a large variety of shakes, drinks and a great burger menu. I'd recommend to stop here if you're in the area and you like burgers. It is a smaller establishment. The ambience is just average too. Nothing fancy nor gross. Just average.

Ordered a $10 chicken salad on white bread....i got chicken salad on two pieces of white…read morebread....no lettuce, no tomatoes no nothing. I should have known as I was the only one in the place at lunchtime today, July 16, 2024. I should've gone to Subway.

This place is mid. We stopped coming back from Chicago since it had good reviews…read more The lady at the counter was nice. Our food took a pretty long time to come out considering we got sandwiches. When we did get our sandwiches, one was completely wrong. We decided it wasn't worth waiting another 15-20 minutes for a new one. The sandwiches themselves were fine. Nothing amazing, nothing terrible. Personally I didn't love the environment. If you don't like nonstop Christian music and groups of women loudly cackling in the corner, this probably isn't your place. They did have cool snacks in their store and the desserts looked good but we didn't try any. Edit to add the bathrooms were really clean and they also had Narcan in both the men and women's which I think is a really cool way to keep an eye out for your neighbors.

Best catfish I've ever had! Light and crispy! I don't know how they do it…read more Friendly staff. A real Midwest atmosphere.

Fantastic fish dinners. I had their catfish filled dinner with fries. Very good at a great price!!read more

Meh. Expected more. The meat was dry and the taste was uneventful for as long at the line was...read more

I have been there 2 times in the last week. New owners have changed the food…read more Hamburgers the first time had a weird flavored bun. Steak sandwich tonight was cubed steak not ribeye like the previous owner used! It was tough and hard. Not good. We won't be back! Milkshake was delicious, haven't changed.

After seeing this restaurant pop up on commercials as the best burgers in central Illinois 100…read moretimes on a Cardinal Cub game, I decided to give it a shot and see if there was any validity to their claim. There was not.... Pulled up and ordered a double cheese burger with everything and a French fry and large Coke. Their pricing is way more expensive than any other independent burger joint and they nickel and dime you pretty hard on the items. 70 cents more for lettuce and tomato each, which I understand and that's typical for most restaurants anymore. $4.35 for a French fry that was old and tasted like it had sat under a heat lamp for an hour wasn't worth it. Their large drink was a medium and it was like $4-5 too, but the coke had the worse metallic taste to it like the lines were serious dirty. Was undrinkable. So you are looking at $20 before tax just for a "combo" which they don't offer... Let's get to the sandwich- it wasn't special and for $9.35 for just the meat, cheese and bun wasn't worth it either. They put condiments on the bottom bun which made it a soggy mess and when I went to pick it up, it was like wet dough because how soggy it was. Pretty sure it was one single slice of cheese and the burgers weren't thin and crispy but seemed like they try to make them like that, but I am guessing the size of each patty was 5-6 oz each maybe, so that is more meat than other typical independent restaurants. It almost tasted like charred or burnt and just wasn't special. Would I return? No, it's not worth the drive or the price for their products because everyone of them Had issues and was the most expensive "combo" I've bought at a tiny local burger joint.

Amazing food, great prices and wonderful workers. We live down the road and eat here awful.read more

We were so glad to find a Portillo's on our vacation. We had visited them in Florida a few years…read moreback and really liked the food. This one in Champaign was just as good. I got the Italian beef with sweet & hot peppers with the gravy on the side (I don't like my sandwich falling apart on me) and french fries. My husband got the hot dogs, which came dressed with a dill pickle, tomatoes, and hot peppers, and a side of onion rings. We also splurged with the yummy-looking desserts (strawberry shortcake and lemon cake) in the cooler near the register. Everything was so good. The beef (which there was plenty of!) had so much flavor even without the gravy. The bun it was on was hearty enough to hold it. The hot dogs tasted good quality. The fries were good (not at all greasy), and the onion rings had such a good flavor, not overly breaded. The desserts were a perfect ending. The restaurant was very clean (including the bathrooms). There was someone cleaning something (including the walls) the entire time we were there. I wish we had one closer to where we live here in Ohio!

I've been eating at Portillos for over 30 years. I tell everyone about them. I don't know if times…read moreare tough or what but it's not the same. Or maybe it's just the location. I ordered a big beef. And it had close to the same amount of beef a regular had on it. When I ordered the kid that was at the register seemed lost. How do you want your beef. To me there's three options. Dry, wet, or dipped. I said wet he said so dipped. No just a little extra wetness. So you want it on the side no. Just wet. So on the side. So I had to add my own gravy. Why do I have to make my sandwich. Cause if I did I would've put a lot more beef on it. Then they completely had the bathrooms closed for cleaning how's one supposed to wash their hands after eating.

Every single time I go there they NEVER disappoint. Food is always very good, atmosphere very…read morepleasant

Love this place! People are incredibly sweet, everything arrived quick, bartending staff nails it…read moreevery time, food is probably some of the best and most unique you can find around, and by the far one of the best decorated restaurants I've been to.