Branko's Sandwich Shop

I’ve never been here but I always pass it when I’m walking to class and thought I’d give it a try. Went by myself before class and it was amazing. Although there weren’t that many people inside the atmosphere was chill and the service was great. I met Joe (which I’m assuming is the owner) and he is the most enthusiastic person ever, super friendly and loves to chat. I ordered a classic cheeseburger and fries with a large bottle of water and it delivered. The fries were crispy but not greasy and the burger was filling. And as a sophomore in college the prices are pretty good, all together it was about $15. Will 100% come back next week before I have class! This spot should definitely be on your radar.

Such a great place! You must stop here for lunch or early dinner if you live or work or go to school in the area. Homemade recipes and everything is fresh and made with care. Amazing friendly service and fantastic food! My son loved the grilled cheese and the grilled chicken sandwich and homemade soup was full of flavor. Will be our family’s go to spot to grab a quick meal!

Hands down best meal as a local I am discerning and never dissatisfied here! Hamburger and chicago dog, staff was excellent, food fabulous

Very friendly owner and the food was great! The grilled chicken sandwich is simply prepared, juicy and delicious. It's hard to do the simple things well but Branko's absolutely nails it!

Overall 4.5 stars Food 4.5 stars Staff 5 stars Environment 4 stars A nice little restaurant for a quick bite. Food tastes good. Friendly owner.

It's a cozy family-owned sandwich spot with a super fun younger guy running the whole show for the past couple months (early 2023) The food is good for the price (affordable for the area) but can be a bit on the slow side so be prepared for that. I've tried burgers and beefs and both were a solid 4/5. The fries were tasty as well. Hope he gets some help soon and the menu can expand a bit more.

Food was good, but the service was GREAT, I had a big order and it was ready sooner than I expected. Who I assume is the owner was extremely welcoming and friendly. Loved the atmosphere. I'll go back anytime I'm in the area.

Went here for lunch for the first time today. They had an amazing white bean and veggie soup. The price is also great for the larger portion size. And the owner is super nice and you can tell he cares about making the customers happy. Will definitely be back!

This spot has been in the neighborhood forever (1976) and finally went in to try it since it reopened from COVID. We are so thankful we did as this local place is excellent! My wife raved about the Italian Beef which looked excellent. Loads of beef, fresh bread and a perfect amount of beef juice. I went with the Vienna Beef corn dog and double cheese burger and both were just as I expected them to be. Perfectly cooked, lots of flavor and well priced. Not to be forgotten - the owner was excellent. He made lots of great recommendations and was super friendly. Do try here if you need something quick and tasty!

Very good family owned burger/italian beef/hot dog place. Food is freshly prepared. Italian beef was packed with flavor. Ordered it dipped it was awesome. Basically your typical Chicago staple food spot. Staff was super friendly and very knowledgeable with the menu. Place was very clean. Great place to grab a bite to eat.

Small family owned business that you will absolutely fall in love with!! Great bites at fair prices whipped up by some of the friendliest people you will ever meet! Stop by for the food, stay for the conversation.

We are in town for a few days and have been on a mission to find the best Italian Beef in Chicago. As soon as we walked in to Branko's, we knew we were going to be happy. The interior of this place is awesome - a perfectly preserved snapshot from our childhoods, chock full of authentic Branko's and Vienna Beef history. The food was awesome, and the service even better. We ordered a combo and a beef both with hot peppers dipped, and they were sooo good. Our kids didn't leave any of their hot dog and grilled cheese on their plates, either, which is rare for a couple of picky toddlers. The fries were perfectly crunchy, and there were a bunch of them. Thank you, Joe, for an awesome lunch! We will absolutely be back next time we're in town!

Freshly made food to order, old family recipes All deliciousness! A step above fast food And Joe, the guy who runs place is carrying on the family tradition! (manager/cook and entertainer!) Everyone is treated like a friend. Just go there!

Authentic Chicago style roast beef. Freshest of the fresh! A one man operation that does a fantastic job. Can't say enough good stuff about the place! Everything was just wonderful!

Super friendly people great options and customizations and really nice place to hang out

Please go here it's delicious and the employees are very sweet and accommodating. Not to mention it's extremely clean and homely feeling

This little Mom & Pop run sandwich shop is an iconic Chicago spot for a reason...the same family has owned and run the place for decades, and it shows! The lady serving us behind the counter was genuinely one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, and she'll make any of her sandwiches any way you please, just ask for it! My daughter and I were on a Spring Break college visit trip (can you guess which school we saw?!?!?) and needed sustenance, so sandwiches it was! we ordered two and split 'em so we could try more stuff. The traditional Italian beef sandwich was wet, warm, sweet and spicy (we got both kinds of peppers on top). The au jus dip was perfect and the bread held up well through all the squishy deliciousness the bread turned in to. The gyro was fully packed with meat, onions, tomato and tzatziki sauce. It was a creamy mess by the end, but that didn't stop us! Two shared sandwiches was plenty of food for the two of us. i'd heard their fries are rock solid, but we mustered all our energies just to get through the two sammies. Oh well, next time! Thanks for a great meal experience!

Amazing food, super charming and personable service, and wonderfully vintage ambience. Definitely a place to check out, delicious food so down to earth that you will feel like it's a home cooked meal.

Joe was incredibly nice. Totally feels like an old school Chicago place. DePaul students need to come and support. The Italian beef was also super delicious and super wet.

Wonderful local family owned spot! Everyone's super nice and they make damn good sandwiches. I've had their Italian Beef many times now and it's the best I've had in Chicago.

So glad we stumbled upon this great family owned local restaurant. Between Christmas and New Year we wanted to take a little college tour while visiting family In Chicago. We drove down to De Paul to start searching for something to eat for lunch. We are asked in to a warm restaurant, the friendliest guy, Joe and he hopes up to change the music for us and tell us about his menu. We had an amazing Italian beef, a combo with the best tasting Italian sausage, and a hot dog. Super friendly, tasty food, nice conversation and very nostalgic photos and memorabilia on the wall. Right across from the De Paul quad. Apparently they were closed for a few years but from the sound of the people that popped in, the locals are happy to have them back open again! Thanks Joe for lunch and a friendly chat. See you next time!

Family owned shop and you can tell. Feels straight out of The Bear. Great beef and service

Food was pretty good and the service and atmosphere was amazing. The Italian sausage was amazing and well cooked

Quick, tasty, and a great deal. Guy behind the counter was incredibly nice and good to chat with while I waited. Glad they have reopened!

This was a great experience! We came by on a Saturday afternoon and the place was mostly empty. The woman behind the counter ("Mama") was so nice and made us feel right at home. She didn't even worry about the money until after we were finished eating. My friends got a gyro cheeseburger an Italian beef, and a grilled chicken, and I also got the grilled chicken sandwich. So often grilled chicken sandwiches are very dry, but this one was not! It actually had a ton of flavor and was juicy. We also got tater tots and jalapeño poppers which were solid. Overall I really enjoyed my lunch here and I will be going back for sure! Places like this are sadly disappearing and little neighborhood joints are becoming tough to find. "Mama" said she'd been there over 40 years, and she still goes out of her way to make your visit pleasant. 10/10 would recommend

BRANKO's is back!! After waiting nearly 3 years wondering what is going on at the famed storefront on Fullerton Ave, I noticed lights on and people inside today and stopped in. Joe, the guy managing the store is from the original family and his service and food does not disappoint! After a great Italian Beef and Fries to go I can confide say that I will be back... often. Thanks for bringing Branko's back, Joe!

The service makes you feel at home. It's not just someone making your food because it's their job. It's your favorite aunt or grandma or mom making you for favorite dish - however simple the meal - nobody makes it they they do. It's just special. I get something different each time and am never disappointed. Today I ordered a polish dog... with that said, I have never been more compelled to write a review. It's unreal. Branko's is truly a gem.

I was working in the area when I looked on Yelp for a place to eat everybody gave this place a thumbs up. I can't pronounce his real name but Joe was great customer service was spot on . I ordered a beef sandwich to go Joe made a fresh batch for me it was pretty damn good it's up there with the big boys. And I don't count portillo's as one of the big boys

Branko's is my go-to lunch spot at the Lincoln Park campus! I'm a DePaul student and let me just say, our cafeteria food is not the best. So a lot of times, I come here to endulge in a beautifully made GYRO and/or mozzerella sticks. I usually HATE mozzerella sticks, but the way they make it there, I just don't know what it is! I'm addicted that it just melts in my mouth! I think the best and I mean THE BEST thing about this place is the staff. I always see this one woman who is working so hard! She is the kindest woman I have ever met. This place just deserves so much more and I hope to see this place become more popular.

This is not a health food store. I try not to come here unless I'm hungover. It's all fried. And it's not really high on atmosphere. Ok that said, the woman who runs this place is the nicest, most awesome person in the world. Her awesomeness and sincere niceness makes me feel less guilty about eating grease. Great place for a quick greasy fix. And hey, they make their own veggie burgers from scratch! Yum.

I used to live around the corner from this place. The chicken sandwich is the best! One of the owners is Mama. She always remembers you and what you order.

How great is the woman who runs this place? She handled a crowd of 20 people by herself: cooking, taking orders, ringing up sales, etc. and all with a smile! We were in town for college orientations and she put us at ease - giving advice, telling my son to come in if he needs anything and that "my cell phone number is on my website." She said she's a mom first. What a gem. And the Greek salad, chicken and tuna sub - great taste for a decent price.

Amazing mom and pop burger place. I had the Chicken Gyro and fries. Tasted awesome and was huge--so I had leftovers! There was only one woman working, but she was killing it. Not sure what the dynamic is there or if they were short on staff, but it was worth the small wait. If you are in a rush, maybe go somewhere else. Decent prices for the amount of food and the obvious time that goes into it. Not a ton of seating inside, definitely more of a quick bite place. Mostly students inside but it seems that they do pull other customers. Can't wait to try again!

To off the review I'll let your know that looks on the outside of this place are so decieving. While the outside is a standard look for a resturant the food and service here is top notch. The sweet woman taking your order and making the food opens up her compassion and it shows in everything she does. I went here to get some lunch on my hour downtime between classes and had decided to try multiple different items to get a real feel for this place. This place is a greasy spoon resturant that has plenty of different options. I ordered a Italian Sausage, Bacon Grilled Cheese and Grilled Chicken Sandwich. All of them were really good. I would definately recommend giving this place a try.

Went for lunch today for an Italian sub. It was pretty decent, but why oh why was my 20 ounce Diet Coke $4.88.... and why oh why when my 20 ounce Diet Coke was empty, did it cost me 2 dollars more for a simple refill! If somebody could tell me why oh why I paid a total of $6.88 plus tax for a single drink during lunch, I would be eternally grateful. If I had ordered fries, my total would easily been over 20 bucks for lunch. In other news, the woman behind the counter was amazing, and makes me wanna go back. I'm extremely happy to support local businesses, within reason. I'll just drink water next time.

Walked in being overwhelmed by the menu and the lady who worked for the family business comforted me in such a motherly way and said pretend you are at home, be happy. I ordered the Chicago hotdog combo since I hadn't had a proper hotdog in Chicago yet. I loved the meal. We ordered too tots and fries which was too much but the fries were above average. This place is perfect for lunch and they have such a variety on the menu. The service is amazing and I just wish I could clone this place and bring it to Houston.

Mama is the bomb. When we asked a couple of questions about the menu, she said "ill make you whatever you want". And she did. The service was great, the prices were reasonable and the food was fantastic. We had a number of different things (Italian beef, polish sausage, gyro, breakfast) and everyone in our group left full and happy. Even if the food hadn't been good (it was great) it would have been worth the visit just to meet the family that runs the restaurant. They were very welcoming and fun to talk to. The next time we're in Chicago, I'm certain that we'll hop off the train at Fullerton and ask Mama to whip something up for us.

The woman behind the counter was so sweet and accommodating! Great food :)

Branko's is a greasy spoon sandwich shop. A family-owned, been-there-for-40-years greasy spoon sandwich shop that doesn't look like they've changed a bit since it opened. They won't dazzle you with trendy ingredients, aesthetics, or even a credit card swiper, but it'll give you a full belly for a fair price. I had a Ruben which wasn't bad, but definitely pales in comparison to any place that specializes in corned beef. It was so no frills that they served it with a bottle of thousand island dressing that I'm pretty sure was Aldi brand. Upset I was not cause altogether it was under ten bucks. The best part is they have a really nice family feel since the owner is behind the counter slinging the sandwiches herself. For this reason I can rally behind Branko's, but I wouldn't call it my favorite for the food.

Went in on a Sunday, they were supposed to be closed but omg Im so happy they were open. When I walked in there was this sweet lady that took my order of a Gyro. She was so polite and whipped it up fresh and quickly. I highly recommend coming here, the food was made with fresh ingredients and most importantly, lots of love! 10/10 and I will be back!

I could wax poetic about the food at this place. The grilled chicken gyro is one of the best sandwiches I've ever had, and it's a staple in my diet now. But, as other reviewers have mentioned, the woman who runs the place is the star of the show and makes Branko's what it is - which is truly awesome all around. 10 years ago, I stopped in for a sandy and didn't realize it was cash only. With a kind smile, she said she knew I was good for it, and to get her next time. A few days later, I popped in and paid my tab. I moved away shortly after and just recently moved back right next door to Branko's. My family now eats there weekly. Never mind the guy who said everything is fried - their grilled chicken is to die for and incredibly healthy. Branko's is a very rare gem. I can't recommend it enough.

What a delightful step into 1970s interior decor. Warm service is not the hallmark of divey places such as Branko's, but warm service is what you get here. Actual conversation I overheard while snarfing down a charred Polish: Customer: ...and, do you have iced tea? Cashier: No. But I'll make hot tea and put ice in it! Atta girl! My Polish was perfect. Charred off and splitting just a bit. The bun had that really cool semi-soggy feeling that buns get when they are blasted with steam. Loved that , too. Then, there's the menu board. A masterpiece. Right down to the upside down "W" substituting for the "M" in GRIL HAMN CHEESE Beautiful wood paneling that matches the the walls of my grandpa's basement. Magnifico!

This place has been here for so long for a reason! As soon as my coworkers and I walk into the restaurant we were greeted by the sweetest woman who said "Let me know anything you want Mama's got you," from there I knew we would have a great experience. I ordered a fried chicken sandwich which was fresh made and sooo delish. My friend ordered a veggie pita and he said he even went back the next day to get another because it was so good. I tried this place on a whim because of the yelp reviews and was soo happy the see that the rating was well earned. Super convenient for DePaul students, great variety of food, and very intimate, I definitely recommend!

Great service and quality Chicago style-food. Feels more like 'Chicago-style fast food' rather than a full sandwich shop but has a variety of sandwiches to choose from as well. Ordered the Breaded Chicken Sandwich with fries which was cooked well, and was exactly the quality I was hoping for. Very friendly and inviting staff.

This is an awesome sandwich shop. The students at Depaul certainly have it good here! I truly enjoyed the ginormous grilled chicken sandwich served on a kaiser roll that was made to order. I have never seen such a high quality grilled chicken sandwich. Very nice family owned shop. Would love to come back again to try their other items like the chicago dog and italian beef.

I went here today after graduating from DePaul many years ago. I have many fond memories of this place from those days. The same sweet lady is there serving all the customers, it still has the same solid Chicago style food, and I still enjoyed it after all this time. Branko's is a family owned and operated joint - the same family since it opened back in the day. The food hits the spot and it's not expensive. I had a great chat with the lady. I wish her and her family all the best!

Can't say anything but good things. Every visits here great! If you're a student at DePaul this is great to stop by for lunch. You must try it! The service by itself is beyond good. I am always greeted upon entrance and helped with the menu if needed. Id definitely recommend the gyros, chicken sandwich and mozzarella sticks. Just bring cash ! You won't regret it.

This sandwich shop is next to DePaul and has a very retro feel to it. Students come here all the time. The decor and the staff are the stars of this restaurants. I didn't think I'd find something like this in Chicago. The atmosphere was so friendly and calming. The staff was by far the friendliest restaurant waitress I've met and she was really nice and polite to everyone. We went in around 6pm for dinner, no wait. We ordered a Italian beef sandwich and a Italian beef and sausage combo sandwich. The Italian beef tasted old, like it was cooked in the morning old. It was also overly watery such that it soaked up the bread and caused it to fall apart. The Italian beef with sausage was significantly better, according to my brother, as he thoroughly enjoyed his meal. The staff and decor are good, but the food quality is not worth a 4.5 star on yelp.

Branko's remains my favorite restaurant in Chicago since moving here in 2011. Simply the best experience each and every time.

the bomb. saved my life on many occations; love he food and people . YES . get there.!!

The lady treats you like her own child. You go in, take your time with your order. She'll make it however way you want it. Best part, you pay after the meal. No worries with the transaction until after you're well fed. Definitely a cozy place to be during the long Chicago winters. Branko's tries to stay open even on snow days. There is a reason this place has been around for 40+ years!

DePaul is privileged to have such an amazing place on-campus. The food is great, the atmosphere is perfect, and the family that runs it is to die for. Just bring cash!

Best Gyro ever! Delicious bowl of homemade soup. Woman (owner) is always there to greet customers and makes much of the food herself. No credit cards accepted. Bring your greenbacks.

By far my favorite place to get a Gyros in Chicago. The gyros meat is fresh and juicy compared to other places that I've been to in the city. Plus the size of the sandwich is incomparable. Also I like the atmosphere of this place, I felt very homey here. Took me a handful of visits to realize this is a family run business, so it made sense why I felt so welcomed and cozy.

I wish I had stopped by here when I was a student, but I finally got to try it for myself recently and I was floored. The menu is huge, you can find just about anything you'd want depending on your mood or hunger level. Most importantly, the atmosphere. The owner (who refers to herself as Ma) helped my boyfriend and I out with two delicious burgers and fries on a cold day when neither of us were feeling great. That meal turned my day around. If you're a student, work nearby, or ever in the area, do yourself and your taste buds a favor and check this little place out!

Super attentive service. Would come back alone for the great service! The woman behind the counter made us feel so at home! It is so refreshing in this day and age.

The lady behind the counter is very nice. Sandwiches are just ok. They only take cash however and the sandwiches aren't good enough to justify the hassle or the ATM fee so I usually go somewhere else when I'm hungry.