The husband and I have been here many a times , so a review is due! The basic philly with white American cheese is the way to go unless you do a special and my recommendation is.....I can't remember the name, but it has mushrooms, onions and I believe Swiss cheese. We tried the wings for the first time this last time we were there, buffalo, and WOW, now I know why they are known for their wings. They skimp on the carrots and celery initially but if you ask for more, they bring you a helping three times bigger than the initial offering. Great beer list including IPA, wits, and ciders. I'll be back for sure! read more

This place is AMAZING!!! I always get the boneless buffalo nuggets and the cheesesteak hoagie with white american and ask for spicy mayo on top. I could literally eat this everyday. Great service and a ciders too. read more

Super friendly and speedy service. Delicious steak sandwiches too. Would highly recommend.

I just. I can't. I mean, it's the best. Consistent as all get out. Never a bad sandwich. Love. Love. Love. Rocky forever. read more

I just ordered from uber eats and I'm crying. Why is this so good??? I LOVE YOU MONTI

Great family friendly spot. The food is good but our server Brittany really made our night! She was super sweet to our toddler and attentive with our table. Hadn't been in years but will be heading back soon! read more

The rocky brings me back every single time. It is the most amazing philly I've ever had!! I tell everyone about it.

Day 527: Monti's: Sometimes you just need a cheesesteak. Unfortunately, sometimes that occurs when you are in Chicago, the home of Italian Beef. So where does one go when one wants a sandwich whose goopiness comes from cheese than au jus? Well, it turns out that Monti's is a great place to start. Walked in, and took a couple of seconds to get our bearings, either because it was unusually bright outside or unexpectedly dark inside. I mean, I don't really expect romantic ambiance from a cheesesteak joint, so it took a while for the eyes to adjust. We were seated and ordered drink and an order of soft pretzel nuggets and buffalo wings for starters. Both of which were great, but maybe not so much that you would say "Hey, let's go to Monti's for Wings and Pretzel Nuggets". Indeed he real star on the plate was the Aged Cheddar Sauce which, surprisingly, was not Cheese Wizz, but rather a Wisconsin Cheddar Fondue that went quite nicely with the pretzels. Though I went with White American on my cheesesteak, I stashed the cup of the cheddar sauce for later. The cheesesteaks arrived, and they were excellent, not merely grading on the "for Chicago" curve, but indeed, by the standards of the Philadelphia Local Pizza Joints I have partaken in. Thick Amaroso rolls, shaved beef with just the right amount of sauce to juicily bite into, gooey cheese and onions just-a-little-more-crunchy-and-carmalized-than-merely-grilled. I also tried the South Side Johnny that Allison ordered: the horseradish sauce that accompanied it was creamy and just the right amount of strength, but almost unneccesary. A good cheese steak is a formula that doesn't need to be messed with. Also very much enjoyed the fries: nice and potato-ey, perhaps for mopping up any extra cheese or sauce. We left in high spirits and with a sticky bun that was... okay, I guess. The main thing to consider is that they HAVE sticky buns in the first place. And Water Ice. And Hoagies. And most things that generally dominate Mid-Atlantic that are usually unavailable in the Great Lakes region. The craving for a good cheesesteak may be a twice-a-year kind of thing, but I'm glad Monti's is here to solve it. read more

Wow. I can't speak to how authentic it is, but the "Authentic Philly Cheesesteak" is delicious! I got the eight inch and can't imagine what kind of beast could devour anything more. Along with a porter, fries and pretzel bites I'm totally wiped out. The ambiance is chill without blaring music or sports (but sports on multiple flatscreens). Seating is limited to mostly pub tables with a few booths. The service was friendly and helpful. As mentioned, the food was amazing. They set a high bar and clear it with ease. read more

My husband, myself and two kids went here to have dinner. The food was soooo good! We order the "flight" of cheese steaks. We got the hoagie, authentic and horseradish also we ordered the boneless buffalo bites. Everything was a amazing from food to service. It looked like a bar when I initially walked in but it was very kid friendly. They had coloring materials for the kiddos. Myfavorite was the cheesesteak hoagie and the buffalo bites. My husband does not normally like hot but the amount of spice was perfect. Def will be going back. read more

We came here because we were in the mood for wings. I wish we went somewhere else because the wings were drenched in the sweetest BBQ sauce, that tasted like ketchup. The fries tasted Frozen and the turkey grinder just tasted gross. Left a lot of food and took none home. Will not be returning read more

The wings were nicely fried. However, this was ruined by the sauce. We chose spicy BBQ. But it was too acidic and was reminescent of ketcup. It was hard to eat because the sauce was overwhelming. We also ordered the turkey grinder. The turkey was bland, the cheese was tasteless, and the texture was, how do I put it, squishy. The fries were probably frozen, explaining how tasteless they were. The only high point was the excellent selection of hot sauces. Unfortunately, no amount of hot sauce could save the sandwich. I would recommend the plain wings and the Philly cheese steak. I'm assuming that would be more flavorful than the turkey grinder. read more

Best Philly cheesesteak in town the only better is actually in Philadelphia as pats But for Chicago got to give it to them the best Philly cheesesteak the pizza is awesome as well the Philly cheesesteak pizza was really good read more

Soo lucky that my wife and I have stumbled upon this gem. The two of us like to take trips into the city and visit different breweries and eateries and came across this great place. We have had the BBQ wings and the cheese steak sampler and they were phenomenal. Definitely worth checking out. read more

Hands-down the best Philly you can get outside of Philly. You can do half and half with your cheese selection, which I love. Fries are also delicious. You won't be disappointed! They also have a nice beer selection if you dine in. read more

My husband and i been wanting to try this place for awhile. We finally made it over. My husband got calamari, we both got cheesesteak sandwiches. They were sooo good. Definitely coming back. Its a plus its 3 minutes walking from our house. Our waitress was a really nice lady as well. read more

Monti's - Cheesesteaks Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Food is decent but over priced for the size of things .. this photo is their 'mini' which is $9 .. not even as big as the palm of my hand . That's crazy read more

Monti's - 3 inch $9 sandwich - Cheesesteaks Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Tried Monti's for the first time recently for take out - can confirm the South Side Johnny sandwich is killer! Highly recommend a try - will be back again 10/10. read more

Cheese steak was delicious. Had the 12" with the cheese sauce. It was so hot I nearly burned my mouth because I was so excited to eat it. This was only my third or fourth cheese steak sandwich, but first one from Montis. I've never been to Philly, but something tells me the locals would approve. Montis has a cool dive bar atmosphere. Not a huge place but I was here for lunch during the weekday. I'll have to check it out during a weekend and get some drinks next time. read more

This is a great place to get a Philly Cheese steak if you're close to the Lincoln Square neighborhood. Cute place with a couple of televisions , a bar area and enough tables. I ordered ahead because I was taking it to go. The food was great. I ordered the Rocky, which is the hot and spicy cheese steak. The fries were above average. I will definitely go back. read more

The absolute best sandwich in the city, possibly the country. The perfect peppery shaved rib eye melts in your mouth. I've tried hundreds of Cheesesteaks across the country and its easy to screw up. Ive eaten 100+ Cheesesteaks from Monti's and never had a subpar sandwich. Always great draft beer selections as well read more

First off I'm not Mexican but how are you on the border of Albany Park and don't have any Mexican beer?! No one wants that hipster crap beer! The Philly steaks are good but not great. Our server was anything but friendly. Also how do you not have giardiniera? I honesty rather take the ride to Phillys Best. Better Phillys and I'd rather have a sprite with my meal than any of the beers on your drink list. read more

So my boyfriend was raving about this place all the time! Finally we went together & I'm so glad we did! Their cheesesteak is probably the best I've ever had! Amazing! Perfect amount of ingredients, tender beef! & their wings are in my top 5..so crispy & juicy, the sauce is mouth watering! Just gotta try it if you haven't, this place has it! Plus their beer list is great! Nice variety read more

Best damn cheesesteak I've had in Chicago so far. The Southside Johnny is delicious and meaty and so flavorful. The fries had a nice seasoning on them too and delivered pretty well. Will definitely be ordering again. read more

Great food and atmosphere! Staff is always friendly and place is always very clean. Would recommend!

Tried this place out for the first time yesterday and it was soo good I ordered it again today. Everything I ordered tasted super fresh and the portions were really generous. I wish I found this place sooner! read more

Hidden gem in Albany Park, I'd definitely recommend this place to any one who love a philly cheese steak. read more

Monti's - Cheesesteaks Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Damn good Philly cheesesteak! The combination of bread, meat, onions, and cheese was exactly what I needed to cure my hangover. Also, loved the dark interior and the service was great too! Thanks again for that delicious sandwich from heaven, Monti's! read more

Monti's - The authentic wit onions white and aged cheddar & old bay fries! - Cheesesteaks Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Went here because I saw something on tv about this place and was really hungry at the time. I went on a cold day and got a table in the back. The waitstaff and owner were really nice and chatted us up. We ordered two cheesesteaks which come with fries. I felt that they took REALLY long, about 20 minutes to hit our table. The fries are seasoned with celery salt. Normally I am a fan, but this really wasn't tasting right. The two cheesesteaks were really off. Mine tasted super funky. I didn't finish mine because of this. My friend finished his. We both were really sick from this food. Not even 10 minutes later we were sick. Even the thought of it makes my stomach churn. I don't know what happened here on this day, but it was not a good experience at all. _______________________________________ *** In response to Jennifer's unprofessional and angsty note: Firstly, there is a trend which anyone can recognize. Any slightly negative comment is attacked with a barrage of negativity from Jennifer of the establishment. In an attempt to give an honest review complimenting the wait staff, and even the manger/owner chatting with us, I was bombarded with a nasty and inaccurate response from Jennifer. While you claim you cannot get sick from food immediately after consumption, you are only referring to food poisioning, in which case you are right. You did not account for the fact that perhaps contaminants (feces, chemicals...) could have been present, in which case, you could easily feel sick right away. Rather than acknowledge that the customer might be right, you go on a ego trip accusing me of not alerting anyone else. Sorry, Jennifer, I was too busy rushing home to use MY bathroom. Thanks though, for the concern. Yelp is a place for people to voice their opinions and thoughts on their personal experiences of places. While some people are here to hurt businesses, I am not. I tell my experience. I did say positive things about your establishment, but you refuse to acknowledge those. It's really sad and unprofessional the way you handle customers. BUSINESS ETIQUETTE 101... take these reviews as a way to improve, not rip apart the people who don't say what you want them to. Your handling of this post was so inappropriate, but I see that you treat anyone who writes a remotely negative review that same way. read more

On evenings when I am too lazy to cook, don't want to do takeout, but also don't want the more formal dining-out experience of hearing about the specials or being asked if I want still or sparkling water, a fast-casual restaurant like Monti's fits the bill perfectly. My bf and I grabbed dinner here last night. He spent years in Philly attending graduate school (and lived just blocks from the famed warring factions of Geno's and Pat's), so he was anxious to see how Monti's would compare with the "real thing." We arrived on the late side (about 8) and were greeted enthusiastically and given menus. They have a nice selection of beers and cocktails, and of course, many variations of cheesesteaks. We started with the calamari and we each ordered fairly classic cheesesteak sandwiches, an 8-inch for me, and a 12-inch for my bf. I ordered mine "hoagie style," which comes with lettuce, tomato and mayo, but opted out of the mayo. You can get your choice of white american, provolone, or aged cheddar sauce. I don't think they offer Cheez Whiz (nor am I brave enough to eat that), but apparently, that is what makes a cheesesteak "authentic." The calamari was really good and came with sliced fried lemons and banana peppers which added a nice contrast to the calamari. Good stuff. Our sandwiches arrived soon after and came with a heaping pile of crispy fries. We both really enjoyed our sandwiches. The steak was tender and flavorful and all the other ingredients (provolone and grilled onions) were balanced perfectly. My bf was highly impressed that they used genuine Philly Amoroso rolls. I could only eat half my sandwich as four inches is plenty for me (wait, what?!) but my bf scarfed down the entire thing. We were so full that we had to pass on dessert, but we'll be sure to save room next time. They offer italian ice (one of my faves) and Tastykakes (another beloved Philly thing). Instead we just relaxed and watched the end of the Hawks game as the owner and his adorable son watched at an adjacent table and we exchanged commentary. Monti's is a great addition to this part of town. I'll be sure and bring my mom (who lives just down the block). She's a vegetarian so she can enjoy the soy sausage sandwich while I devour a cheesesteak. Keep up the good work, Monti's! read more

The new façade at this frequently changing store front in the outskirts of Lincoln Square has become a brighter, much cleaner and overall more welcoming place. Monti's has put a lot work into this place and after tasting their delicious Philly Cheesesteak I know Monti's is here to stay. After a warm welcome from the bartender I bellied up to the bar to talk shop. The bar is bright and fun with a few kitschy knickknacks thrown about. This place is very homey. Even the bathrooms got a fresh makeover. The bartender who was friendly and informative went through the menu and their array of alcoholic beverages with me. Everything looked good, but I really just wanted a beer and a cheesesteak. I ordered a Daisy Cutter draft, it was a steep $7 a pint, but the owners have informed us that they are working on changing the prices of their beer. The pour was perfect and accompanied my meal quite well. I ordered the Coconut Chicken as an app and,of course, I ordered the Authentic Philly Cheeksteak with both White American and the Aged Cheddar Sauce. While waiting for the food to come both the owners/chef chatted it up with me at the bar. They are very warm and friendly. Since I work the cooking industry, Chef even gave me a tour of their new very polished and sparkling kitchen. What a great use of such a small space Chef. And after a few minutes my Coconut Chicken arrived. It consisted of delicious all natural juicy chicken strips freshly battered and serve crisp with a wonderful sweet, tangy and slightly bitter housemade horseradish yuzu marmalade. A great accoutrement to the chicken strips. I devoured those Coconut Chicken strips. And a few minutes later the Pièce de résistance, the Philly Cheesesteak, came out. Oh my! Juicy, Tender Black Angus Rib-eye quickly cooked on a flat top served over gooey melted White American Cheese and Aged Cheddar Sauce and perfectly caramelized onions all on a soft Philly Amoroso Roll. Does it get any better than this? No. I do not know if I even took a breath while devouring that delicious Philly Cheese. It is everything a good sandwich should be. I had a very good time at Monti's. So good I stayed there a whole three hours chatting it up and drinking beer. I even ran into some friends who were checking out the new joint. Monti's you are a keeper. I have never had a cheesesteak in Philly, but after having the cheesesteak at Monti's I have no reason to ever have to venture out to Philadelphia. read more

We ordered delivery during the stay at home order. Hubby got the Rocky and I got the pizza philly and both were awesome. Add old bay seasoning to the fries for free. Will definitely be ordering again! Great local spot for Philly Cheesesteaks! read more

I don't remember how I heard about Monti's, but when my friend planned her birthday at a bar nearby, Monti's was an old bookmark of mine and happened to be only a few blocks away. When you're a suburbanite, you don't pass up these opportunities. The cheese steaks are super filling. A lot of the reviews gripe about the prices, but you don't NEED a 12" sandwich for $15 anyway. The 8" left me feeling stuffed, and I was borderline hangry when we arrived. I really liked my sandwich, but I opted to order it without onions. Unfortunately, that left the meat tasting kind of flavorless. I still enjoyed my cheesy, meaty sandwich though. My husband had the "sampler," which is three smaller cheese steaks (although they were STILL massive). His favorite was the hoagie, which is like a traditional cheese steak, but with lettuce and tomato. The pizza cheese steak looked like a hybrid between a cheese steak and a chicken parmesan sub - mozzarella for miles! I ordered a raspberry cider, but only after debating between several on their lengthy cider menu. I've never seen so many options for cider! This made me very happy. The rest of the beer list has lots to offer too. With a Yelp check-in deal, we had a free Italian ice. Our options were rainbow or lemon. Obviously, we went with the rainbow, which was the perfect texture and almost creamy without any ice chunks. Like a steak aficionado with their ribbon of fat, I was mesmerized by the beautiful rainbow marbling. I did feel that we paid a smidge too much for our meals, but Monti's uses quality ingredients, so you have to keep in mind that, yes it is a sandwich, but the steak, bun, and cheeses are quality. read more

I was saddened to hear Cinners closed, but I wondered how long a niche restaurant would last in a mostly residential area. When I heard this joint was replacing it, with a cheesesteak concept, I annoyed everyone around me until I was able to obtain said cheesesteak. I came here last Saturday night with the nephew and rest of the fam in tow. It says the place is good for kids - I will say it kinda is. Separate kids menu with crayons, but the mood, candles, and ambience strikes me more as a casual place. Still, since it was not too crowded the kid was fine. The cheesesteak did not disappoint. The best part is that the bread isn't soggy and are actual Amoroso rolls. Thus it wasn't messy. I got the classic Philly since I figured if they messed this up, the rest of the menu would be bunk. It definitely was good. I added bell peppers then realized they come on the South Side Johnny. You fooled me, Monti's! Next time I know what to get. We also ordered the Ice Cream Sandwich Sundae thing (don't remember the actual name), and it was pretty good. They also have Tastycakes if you're into those. Beer prices seem to have come down a little bit after it was noted in previous reviews that some drafts were going for $9. It's progress, I think we paid no more than $6 for our Daisy Cutters. Service was friendly and attentive. The waitress let us know right away that we could add any pizza toppings onto our fries for $ .50/per topping. I added bacon and cheddar cheese, with a side of shamefulness. But it was damn good. read more

VERY good service (GREAT waitress) and nice looking place. However, VERY overrated food and VERY overpriced food. By way of comparison, I think Susies on Montrose west of Elston makes far better steak sandwiches and for about half the price. I didn't think the food was anything special at all. In fact, I thought I coulda made a better sandwich at home and I'm not a stellar cook. I''d go elsewhere............ read more

Ahhhh, Lincoln Square... An excellent neighborhood to visit for charming restaurants, friendly people, and delicious cuisine ranging from my favorite Thai restaurants to traditional German establishments. That being said, Monti's just don't fit! I'll start with the food. If the service was on par with the food, this place would get 3.5-stars. I had one of their classic Philly Cheese-steak sandwiches and a greens salad with balsamic dressing. All in all pretty good food, perhaps slightly overpriced, but still good. Now time for the downward spiral to 1-star... Service was very rude and actually confrontational. Let's describe the scene - steady late-dinner crowd on a Friday night (8:30-ish) with only four people waiting for a table. I was admittedly a late joiner to a table of two friends, and they had already had dinner, drinks, and dessert. I show up and didn't have my order ready in 4 minutes (got there and hit the bathroom immediately). The server told me "yeah there is a bit of a wait right now so you should order soon". Awesome! How often do you hear THAT from a server? When the guy came back I was ready to order, but was pretty enraged by his comment that I had to ask for clarification... "Did you mean that by "you have a wait" that I should order more quickly so that I get my food faster, or because you want to turn-tables faster?" He responded with a meek apology and said that no, it was the latter more than anything. Pretty ridiculous considering this was the pace/attitude he was going to set my dining experience at from the get go. I even told the server "I am amazed that you would actually say that. In fact, I'm impressed". Holy wow. I was so darn hungry though that I caved and ordered (weak I know, I was hungry!!!). After getting the decent food, we were constantly pestered by the waiter if we wanted anything else. Not him being attentive, but like an economist looking at our table and determining that the dollars-over-time rate was very low with us. I eventually hailed down the owner and described the scene to her thus far. I was expecting a surprised look to come over her face, however she defended the waiter (who evidently was complaining about us to her) and she also upheld the "we have a wait right now". OKAY you have a tiny wait of four people, big deal! Furthermore, what happened to the customer is always right! My table overall has given you a lot of business! I can honestly say that I left the lowest tip for this guy of any restaurant that I've ever been to. I'm usually an easy 20%, if you're good 25%. I think I gave him 8%. read more

Tonight I had my very first Philly Cheesesteak sandwich and I loved it. The meat was flavorful and tender. The bun was very good. Mom and I split the 12 inch sandwich. I added on fries for us, because I was not sure if the sandwich would be enough for 2 people. The sandwich, with a very small order of cheese fries, (there was like 20 fries in the order) came to $14.45. Holy crap!!!! I ordered a smaller sandwich for Christopher and that came to over $10.00. I got him an order of soft pretzels, mom had a ginger ale and we got 2 tasty-cakes. With tip and delivery, it came to $50.00. Now, I loved the sandwich, the fries were soggy, but ok. The pretzels were not very exciting. Of course we loved the tasty-cakes. If the prices weren't so high, we'd order from here again. As it is, we just did not get any bang for the buck. From reading other reviews, I gather this is a nice neighborhood spot and I do recommend the Cheesesteak, but I doubt we will order delivery from Monti's again. read more

After reading review after review about their cheesesteak I am going to go down that often-avoided cobblestone road and talk about their wings. A hidden oasis of LARGE, juicy, succulent, scrumptious, tender, moist, meaty ( enough adjectives?) wings. I have been here 6 or 7 times and all but one I have had the wings. These wings are some of the best wings I have ever had and I consider myself a wings aficionado. If you don't believe me they were listed in Timeout Chicago's Top 4 list in 2014. Chicagoist had them in their Top 7. The Chicago Travelor had them in their Top 13. Even more importantly they are #1 on my list. I have also heard their Nuclear Wings have won awards. Unfortunately I wont be trying those as Im a pansy when it comes to heat and I don't usually eat things with the word "nuclear" in it. I just don't get radioactive like that! Anywho, these wings are beast-mode and so flavorful I could eat 1000 of them. They are not crispy like many other wings which I think throws some people off, its more "soft"? However you describe it they are the best hands down. They are a little pricey $7.50 for 6 but they use top quality ingredients and Im willing to pay a premium for the best wings I've ever had. Their service has been Impeccable. I ordered 24 of them for the Super Bowl as well as last years Super Bowl and both times they were done right and on time. Natalia took my order as she did last year, she even remembered me. She was polite and very knowledgeable. She is an absolute boss when it comes to my Super Bowl order! Overall great little neighborhood place that makes the best wings ever! Apparently the word has not gotten out on their wings. Keep doing what you guys are doing! I will be back and I will eventually try the cheesesteak. Lets not forgot the $1 Fireball shots heh! read more

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I REALLY wanted to like this place. So much so that I sat tight and waited while we sat with menus for about 10 minutes and NOBODY helping us. I'd read the reviews and hoped that the food would live up to the billing. So let me take this with balance: The Good: The cheesesteaks are AWESOME. So were the fries that I had. I could have eaten one more, easily. I had the Southside Johnny and my wife had the Gyros sandwich with salad. We all liked our steaks. The Bad: And it was AWFUL... the service. I cannot think of a meal where we consistently were ignored or not served. Employees would come by other tables and we'd have to flag them down for more water or to take our plates. Just bad bad bad service. The ice cream sandwich sundae was just one of those little ice cream sandwiches with a pile of can sprayed whipped cream and a cherry. Really a sad finale to a very poor experience with great food. So what to do... do I give them another chance or do I realize that there are THOUSANDS of restauranteurs in the city who might also want my business. I shall ponder this for a while. For you, if you dine there, maybe sit in the FRONT of the restaurant and keep your hands moving. read more

This is the neighborhood's (and maybe the city's) best kept secret. From all of the reviews, you already know the cheesesteaks are the best in the city (and they live up to the hype), but don't sleep on the buffalo nuggets, fried calamari (yes, really-it's so good) and the PIZZA! This is not just basic bar food. And beyond the food, the atmosphere is a laid back neighborhood spot with a great staff. Takeout/delivery is also always great! read more