Eleven City Diner
Chicago-City
Eleven City Diner
1112 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60605
www.elevencitydiner.com
Visited: October 2025
Reviewers: Andrea and Rich
It's big, noisy, touristy, pricey, and serves the best corned beef we've had in the Chicago area. And it's absolutely worth it.
The Place
Eleven City Diner is a unique combination of old-fashioned Jewish deli with the ambiance of New York's Times Square. It's bright, eclectic, and full of people and energy. Located in the South Loop area of downtown Chicago—a neighborhood that's been revitalized with local residential traffic—it offers a great deli experience.
11 City Diner is on busy South Wabash Ave. Note: This is not Michigan Avenue. We walk from the train station where we get in , as we avoid downtown Chicago via car due to traffic. On-street parking is available if you're lucky, and there are several parking lots nearby. Most patrons we've observed arrived on foot, from wherever they parked or took public transportation.
We've dined between 11 AM and 3:30 PM, and it's always busy with a bit of a wait, though the line moves quickly. And honestly, a big deli meal at 3:30 PM serves as our dinner.
The Food
The menu offers everything you've ever seen at a Jewish deli and more—traditional meats, other deli sandwiches, deli fish platters and a full range of breakfast selections.
We've focused primarily on the meat: corned beef for Richard, pastrami for Andrea. Living in the northern suburbs, we've tried all the local delis, but the quality has declined over the years. Once we discovered Eleven City Diner's cured meats, we were hooked— in moderation.
When we were younger, we could each finish a whole sandwich, but those days are behind us. Fortunately, Eleven City offers a perfect combo: half a sandwich with your choice of soup or salad.
The Meat: Both the corned beef and pastrami are flavorful, tender, and perfectly balanced—not too dry, not too fatty. The sandwiches remind us of the delis we loved growing up in Chicago.
The Salad: We’ve had our half sandwich with their amazing kale salad, featuring fruits and nuts. It's like a healthy meal plus dessert all in one bowl. there's an incredible amount piled into what appears to be a modest serving.
The half sandwich provides plenty of meat on excellent rye bread to satisfy us completely. Before ordering ,we also imagine getting a dessert—cream pie or carrot cake—but that idea never survives past the first few bits of the sandwich.
The Latkes: These wonderful potato pancakes deserve special mention. We've had latkes everywhere—the Stage and Carnegie in New York, Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, every deli in Chicago, plus spots in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Arizona, and Florida.
We don’t have a scrapbook of latkes we’ve eaten over our history, but I can confidently say Eleven City Diner serves the biggest, best, freshest-tasting latkes ever. Like everything else here, they're not cheap—a single latke is $4.95—but I gladly splurge three or four times a year.
The Experience
As mentioned, it's a bustling establishment. Be prepared to wait up to half an hour for a table. The restaurant spans two floors with constant motion, numerous servers, and plenty of ambient noise. The background music is a bit loud, but you'll forget about it once the corned beef and potato pancakes arrive.
The Service
Service has been consistently excellent—friendly, quick, and congenial. Management has clearly set the tone for a pleasant server-customer connection. And, while we might wait 30 minutes for a table, once we place our order, food arrives within 10 minutes.
The Verdict
If you're in downtown Chicago or passing through and want a late lunch or early dinner, try Eleven City Diner. The prices seem somewhat high compared to other delis, but when compared to a typical dinner restaurant where we could easily spend $100 or more, a $60 deli bill for a truly wonderful, first-class meal feels like a bargain.
Rating Highlights:
⭐ Food Quality: Excellent
💰 Value: Excellent
🕐 Early Bird Experience: A late lunch will fill you up.
🔇 Atmosphere: Colorful, bustling, noisy
👍 Would Return: Yes
