Mystery Diner: Chefy’s Kitchen and Catering in Joliet has great food, great value

Right on the landing page of the website for Chefy’s Kitchen and Catering in Joliet is this promise: “Homemade food so delicious you’ll swear your mother made it!”

I can’t speak to the cooking of anyone’s mother. But a friend and I discovered Chefy’s a few years ago when we wandered inside on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

We had poor boys, fries, and onion rings. We spent half of what we expected to spend, especially for such generous portions, and we’ve been hooked ever since.

Four of us ordered food on a recent cold night and picked up carryout. Here is what we ordered, what we paid and what we thought.

First up, the original friend had the original order: the classic beer poor boy, tenderized, char grilled and then “smeared” with homemade roasted garlic for $10.30.

It came with fries (standard for the sandwiches), although one may substitute onion rings or macaroni and cheese for $2.10. Or you can turn most of the sandwiches into a wrap for $1.

The friend’s view of the food? In a word: “Wonderful.”

“Fries were golden brown,” the friend said. “And the poor boy was grilled nice and tender, and the garlic butter complemented the sandwich nicely.”

I love Chefy’s poor boy, but because I was writing a Mystery Diner, decided to follow the words of a chef I once interviewed: “You can tell the quality of a restaurant [any restaurant] by its burger.”

So I ordered the half-pound, freshly ground burger with lettuce, tomato and onion – hold the mayo (I like mustard on hamburgers and had a nice Dijon at the house). I substituted the onion rings and shared them (being rewarded with a few fries from the other orders in return).

I chose the pretzel roll (I love pretzel rolls), which was excellent with the burger. The onion rings were perfect: crunchy and lightly salted on the outside, not too soft on the inside, and they reheated really well and retained a bit of crispness. The burger was a tender well done, as ordered.

Now the other half of our carryout party had never eaten from Chefy’s. Here are their thoughts. First up, our chicken expert (meaning this person loves chicken).

So this person ordered the ¼ chicken dinner $7.20. It came with a leg and thigh (white meat only options are available), homemade soup (cream of turkey on that particular day), coleslaw, choice of potato (this person ordered fries) and bread and butter.

This person also arrived a little late to get the food but said it reheated very well.

The friend said, “The chicken was well-seasoned crispy on the outside and moist and tender on the inside. Even reheated, the chicken was still moist and didn’t dry out. The fries remained crispy and were well-seasoned. Even cold and then reheated, they were really good.”

Comments on the coleslaw included praise for its bright, “super fresh” vegetables and its “nice and creamy” texture.

The turkey soup was hearty with good flavor overall but needed a little more salt.

The last person in our party ordered a turkey and bacon wrap that came with oven-roasted turkey breast, thick-cut bacon, smoked Gouda cheese, and lettuce, tomato and mayo – along with a side of fries for $10.30.

This person said, “That was probably the best wrap I have ever eaten. It was the perfect size, jam-packed with turkey and the right amount of everything else, including just enough mayo to hold it together.

“The tortilla was super fresh and the chew on it felt like it was a freshly cooked tortilla, although it probably came from a package. It was not dry or crumbly and that’s important to me when ordering a wrap. The fries were a perfect golden brown.”

One of us (not sure who) also ordered two slices of cheesecake, which we all shared.

The cheesecake: creamy, perfect amount of crust, not overly sweet.

Total bill? Sixty-five dollars for four people, who were so full after all that wonderful food, we could only nibble at the cheesecake over the course of the night.

That included the tip.

And here’s a tip from me: For even more value for your money, consider paying cash.

Chefy’s is giving its cash customers a 3.5% discount off their food bill, its website said.

• The Mystery Diner is an employee at Shaw Media. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff when ordering or picking up the food. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Chefy’s Kitchen and Catering

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday

WHERE: 1511 Plainfield Road, Joliet

INFO: 779-225-8608, chefyskitchen.com