Food preferences are usually pretty subjective. People tend to like an assortment of different things, whether it be burgers or gyros, the range of different foods is vast, and everybody has their own unique tastes for certain things. Despite this, there is one piece of food that is the pinnacle of food, and if you eat it, you will like it. Of course I’m referring to the famous sandwich from Ricobene’s.
Located on 26th and Princeton, Ricobene’s is a family owned restaurant established in 1946. They offer a multitude of different options on the menu, ranging from pizza to hotdogs, but there is one particular choice that stands apart from the rest: the King. The King is a footlong breaded steak sandwich that has brought Ricobene’s the fame that it has today. The King also has red gravy and cheese placed on top of the steak, which adds even more flavor to the already delectable sandwich. It also comes with a choice of a side and a drink.
As for what I like from Ricobene’s, I get the King of course. I order it with the cheese fries, which are freshly cut and fried, and a large coke. With the King, I usually order it easy on the cheese and gravy because otherwise the bread will end up too soggy. They have multiple other options for food of course, but I have tried very little on the menu because the King is just that good. The only other thing that I have really tried off their menu was their deep dish, which was also very good as it was fresh out of the oven.
The King is what I would call the Swiss Army Knife of sandwiches, mainly because there are so many instances that you could eat it in. The first one being in the actual restaurant. Once you order it, it takes about five to ten minutes, but it is by no means fast food quality. Once you pick up your meal, it stays hot for the whole time you are there, but I would advise not eating the whole sandwich in one sitting. Although the sandwich isn’t very large, being only a foot long, it is very bulky. What I usually do is eat one half of the sandwich and the cheese fries, and bring the other half home. Once you do that, you have a few options. You could either eat it cold, or you could reheat it. Both options taste great, and due to the fact that you could eat it cold anywhere, its convenience makes it one of the most useful sandwiches to eat on the fly. Literally no prepwork goes into eating it after you initially bought it.
The actual restaurant is very nice as well. It has a pretty decent seating capacity, unlike some places where you either stand or have to leave. The service is good, the food is made well and quickly, it’s clean, etcetera. Pretty much everything that you would need in a good, high quality restaurant is there in Ricobene’s. I have had only one problem ever with the service there over the course of the seven years: this was when the cashier accidentally got my order wrong. Overall, the service of Ricobene’s is impeccable and if anything happens where they get your order wrong, they will give you ample compensation.
The only real complaint that I have is very minor, that being that the food is a bit pricey. The King is a $15 sandwich, plus the cheese fries which are $3, and then a drink for an additional $2, which equates to a $25 meal for just one person. The food’s price is reasonable, considering the quality of the food and the cost of getting the ingredients. However, I know for a lot of people, more expensive food is a big turn off, especially if you decide to eat there regularly, which I would advise against because the food is obviously not the most healthy option. Another minor nitpick is that sometimes getting to Ricobene’s can be a bit of a pain. The drive is about twenty minutes long, which isn’t that bad, but if the highways are busy, or if there’s a White Sox game or some other major event, it can end up being a half hour long drive.
Overall, I think that Ricobene’s is a great restaurant that everyone should try at least once. If breaded steak isn’t your thing, they have a plethora of other options on their menu, which are all guaranteed to have the same quality as the items I’m most familiar with. Although the drive can be tedious at times, and the food is a bit expensive, I implore you to check it out.
