Mid-Michigan Dining

• 5219 W. 95th Street
• Oak Lawn, IL 60435
• (708 ) 423-0484
• No Known Website
• Menu

Deja Brew on 95th Street in downtown Oak Lawn, IL

After taking care of some things this morning, my girlfriend, her family, and I headed out for lunch.  Our first stop was Palermos 95th (review HERE), but they were even packed for lunch, so we went to J’s parents favorite bar in downtown Oak Lawn.

Deja Brew Bar & Grill is located on 95th Street in downtown Oak Lawn.  It fronts the busy highway, but the parking and main entrance is actually in the back which is accessible by an alley.  When you walk in that back door, you come into an enclosed courtyard.  From there, there’s another set of doors to actually enter the establishment. 

Inside is a typical sports bar.  There are LCD’s hanging from the ceiling.  There’s a large, odd shaped bar that takes a good chunk of the space.  The shape of the bar is a little hard to describe.  Around the bar are a few pub tables.  Along the opposite wall is a step up with more tables.  We took a table near the windows and waited for a watiress.

The waitress actually came over pretty quickly to get our drink orders, but then took a really long time to come back with them.  She spilled a little bit of J’s mom’s beer and went to get something to clean it up with before taking lunch orders.  It took a good ten minutes for her to come back with a bar towel.  Once we got the spilled beer taken care of, we put in lunch orders.  Another half hour later and we finally got our food.  During the time, J and her uncle both ran out of Diet Coke but there was no refilling until the food came out.

I had eaten at “The Brew” one other time and really liked their hamburger, so that’s what I ordered.  I added bacon and bleu cheese.   The thing I really like about Deja Brew is their hot chips.  The burger was really good.  It’s a rather large burger coming in at 12 oz and there was a lot of bleu cheese on it.  I actually had a hard time getting it in my mouth.  The hot chips are something else.  They’re thick cut crinkle cut potato chips that are seasoned with a cajun seasoning.  They look innocent, but they are actually pretty spicy.  I love these things.  I wasn’t sad at all when we changed plans and ended up at Deja Brew just so I could get some hot chips.

Deja Brew in downtown Oak Lawn.

J went with a appetizer sampler platter as an entree.  It came with onion rings, deep fried pickles, chicken tenders, jalapeno poppers and mac ‘n cheese bites.  She saw the mac ‘n cheese bites on the menu and really wanted some and figured she’d get the most bang for her buck with the sampler platter.  It was a lot of deep fried food.  She ate quite a bit, but left the pickles and most of the onion rings.  I was hoping she’d leave one of the mac ‘n cheese bites, but no dice.

J’s mom got her usual.  Even when she’s in the mood for a burger, she ends up ordering “Jen’s Salad”  They switched from mixed greens to iceburg lettuce when ownership changed a few months ago, but the rest of the salad stayed pretty much the same.  The salad comes topped with raspberry marinated chicken breast, honey roasted walnuts, granny smith apples, and bleu cheese.  She ate about half and took the rest home.

J’s step dad also got the burger and hot fries.  He got cheddar cheese on his and only ate half.  I always feel like a pig when I eat out with them because J’s parents usually take half their entree home while I eat all of mine and half of J’s. 

J’s uncle got the Midwest Favorite.  You get your choice of chicken cooked one of four ways and your choice of a wrap or bun.  He chose the bun with the cajun seasoning.  He was a little hesitant with the cajun at first worrying it would be too hot, but ended up really liking the sandwich.

Once we were finished, it took quite a while for the waitress to come back.  Overall, we were there over an hour and a half.  It was fine because we weren’t in a hurry and there was a lot of storytelling going on.  Our bill was just under $50 which, when you think about it, comes to about $10 a person.  We all left full and everyone except me either skipped or had a light dinner.   Deja Brew is a go-to for J’s parents.  They used to know the owners pretty well and really raved about the place.  That’s changed some since the change in ownership, but they continue to make The Brew one of their regular stops.