Ken's Diner
3353 Dempster St.
Skokie, Illinois 60076
(view map)

Phone: 847.679.2850
Fax: 847-679-0687

www.KensDiner.com

SANDWICHES: All Sandwiches come with steak fries and your choice of soup or salad

BUGSY BURGER       A half-pound choice ground beef burger grilled on an open flame and basted with our own BBQ sauce, served on dark rye with lettuce and raw onions CHICKEN CHARLY       A boneless charlbrioled chicken breast served on sourdough bread with lettuce, tomatoes, and grilled onions BIG BOY STEAK       A char-brioled hanging tenderloin served on sourdough with lettuce, tomatoes, and grilled onions RIB-EYE SANDWICH      A thin cut rib-eye, steak, charbrioled and served on a fresh bun BURGER BUDDY     A half-pound beef burger served on a fresh bun with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, grilled onions, and our own thousand island special sauce.   SIDE DISHES Baked Potato, Mashed Potatoes, Steak Fries, Grilled Vegetables, Sauteed Zucchini, Sauteed Mushrooms, Baked Beans, Corn and on the Cob

STEAK AND CHICKEN All Steak & Rib Dinner come with 2 side dishes & your choice of soup or salad. TENDERLOIN & CHICKEN A full cut charbroiled hanging tenderloin, basted in our own BBQ sensation, and a 1/4 rotisserie chicken, cooked or BBQ'd. RIB-EYE STEAK An 12 ounce cut rib-eye steak, char-broiled on an open flame. HANGING TENDERLOIN Probably the best cut of kosher meat ever. This dinner is a 10-12 ounce cut steak, char-broiled on an open grill, basted every time it's turned with our famous BBQ sauce. STEAK or CHICKEN SHISH-KA-BOB Tender pieces of steak or chicken, char-broiled and served on rice with grilled mushrooms, tomatoes, green/red/yellow peppers, onions, and BBQ sauce. CHICKEN ITALIANO VEAL ITALIANO Chicken or veal breaded in our own home spun breading mix, served over angel hair pasta and topped with our Italian sauce. Served with sauteed zucchini. BETTIE'S SPAGHETTI A five- vegetable & meat sauce or Mariana sauce over deliecious spaghetti noodles, served with two pieces of seven inch garlic bread

QUARTER ROTISSERE CHICKEN DINNER      HALF ROTISSERE CHICKEN DINNER             HALF BBQ CHICKEN DINNER                         All Chicken Dinners come with two side dishes and your choice of soup or salad

RIBS RIBS RIBS RIBS RIBS

All steak & rib dinners come with 2 side dishes & your choice of soup or salad.

BBQ Beef Ribs char-broiled and BBQ'd on an open grill, basted everytime it's turned with our famous BBQ sauce.

FULL SLAB OF RIBS                            HALF-SLAB OF RIBS                          DA BEDROCK                                      HALF-SLAB & CHICKEN

A SELECTIVILY SEASONED, THEN BOILED AND GRILLED SLAB OF BISON RIBS, AGED OVER 65,000,000 YEAR TO PERFECTION, IF YOU THINK YOU CAN FINISH THEM. THINK TWICE.

Special Steaks

30-oz. RIB STEAK      Prime cute charbroiled rib steak. This steak will filleven the hungriest of men or women. Cooked just that way you like & smoothered with sauteed mushrooms

24-oz. RIB EYE A thick cut rib eye, char-broiled on an open grill, served with two side dishes and your choice of soup or salad.

Fish Platters

BAKED WHITEFISH          BAKED SALMON                GRILLED TUNA STEAKS

Fresh daily, lightly seasoned baked fish, served with slivered carrots, yellow & green zucchini and baked potato with your choice of soup or salad.

Specials Specials Specials All Specials are served with soup or salad and bread

POULET DE JUILIAN. SAUTEED IN A MIXTURE OF VIRGIN OLIVE OIL AND SEASONINGS, WE COMBINE CHICKEN, WITH JUILAN VEGETABLES, PASTA AND A HOUSE RED SAUCE TO CREATE A TASTE EQUAL TO THE FINEST.

APRICOT CHICKEN. SWEET AND SOUR CHUNKY WHITE BREADED CHICKEN SAUTEED IN A OLIVE OIL AND APRIOCT SAUCE, ON A BED OF JULILIAN VEGETABLES AND RICE.

LAMB CHOPS. THREE GRILLED LAMB CHOPS, LIGHTLY SEASONED, SERVED WITH TWO SIDE DISHES, SOUP OR SALAD, AND OUR HOT SOUR DOUGH BREAD.

TRIPLE PLATTER. HANGING TENDERLOIN, LAMB CHOP, AND BONELESS CHICKEN BREAT, SERVED WITH TWO SIDE DISHES. SOUP OR SALAD AND BREAD.

Cuisine: Steakhouse
Avg. Check (PP) w/o drinks:
Attire: Casual

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RABBINICAL SUPERVISION
CRC

RESERVATIONS


CREDIT CARDS


HOURS
Ken's Diner
Sun-Thurs: 11AM-9PM
Friday: 11AM-2PM

Succah On Succot: No
Nine Days Menu: Yes
Open For Pesach: No

It was pre-Passover 1976 when Ken Hechtman first found himself coming to 3353 W. Dempster Street in Skokie, Illinois. Kosher City was the first name attached to what is now the most popular Kosher-eating establishment in the world. This grocery, deli and sandwich store was the first of its type on the North Shore of Chicago. Ken did not have a fluent understanding of Kosher, but felt that it was by far an under developed industry for such a large Jewish market place.

Kosher City remained the only store of its type on the North Shore until 1982 when two much larger deli and groceries opened within one mile of each other. At this point, Ken needed to change his way of thinking and bring something to the North Shore that others would not so quickly imitate. His idea was based on a little deli in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin called the “Pop or Shop”. As a child, Ken use to frequent this shop and sit for hours playing music on the jukebox and downing french fries and milk shakes. It was some of the best times Ken can remember about his childhood.

At this time, Ken had this idea of giving the Jewish community something that they never had and might never have if he didn’t become proactive and take a huge chance. When Ken approached the Chicago Rabbinical Council with his idea of a 50’s diner and grill, they told him that they would approve such a venture. The CRC warned him that the Jewish community in Chicago probably wasn’t ready to accept this kind of establishment. Nevertheless, Ken went ahead and began building what would become an icon for kosher restaurants all over the world.

I think what our customers remember most about the Ken’s Diner era, was that it happened in bits and pieces. I had very little money back then and had to build the diner in sections. As shelving units from the grocery store came down, new red and white-checkered tiles went on the floor, landscaping the future of Ken’s Diner. As more money became available, four new tables were bought. Finally a new kitchen was built and the fifties music rang, while the first Burger Buddy made its magnificent debut.

By this point, Ken had been at this location t
en years and worked seventy plus hours a week to keep the diner open. The rabbi’s had warned Ken that this would not be an overnight success story and they were right.

The big turning point for Ken and his business was in 1989. It was the thirteenth anniversary of Ken’s Diner at 3353 Dempster in Skokie. Some of the biggest Rabbis in Chicago found it appropriate to be seen both dining in and carrying out food from Ken’s Diner. This opened the door for all of the religious people standing on the sidelines wondering if they should be seen entering this Kosher but very radical food establishment. Ken has spent every day of his life since then looking back. Ken knows what it takes! It takes time, money and sacrifice of family to do what he did at Ken’s Diner. I still work hard every day and count my blessings for my wife and my family and the best customers in the world.

When Ken is asked what is the best part of the success of Ken’s Diner, his reply is always the same. When Ken opened in 1976 a lot of his customers were just kids, sixteen or eighteen years old. Twenty-eight years later those same customers are forty-six years old and he watched them grow up, their children and now their grandchildren. Ken said, “These are actually not customers, these are extensions of my life, friends that have watched me grow up, as I have watched them.” Ken and Ken’s Diner are a story of success both in his family life as well as business that was never planned or expected.