Carms Beef

I stopped in here instead of Fontano’s for once, since I always pass it up, and I instantly regret it. The service was super rude and they were barely paying attention to anything I was saying. I had to repeat myself at least four times. The older lady straight insulted me to my face asking if I had a mother because she saw visible tattoos. Like, really lady? I understand this place is a neighborhood staple, and that’s great — it’s at least clean and the food isn’t terrible, but super bummer on the atmosphere.

The rating I’m giving is for their service, not their food. My kids go here as a treat from their school once in a while and when I picked them up today was curious enough to try them out. They’re a very friendly, down to earth local fast food joint and are fast… food? Was not impressed. Had cheeseburger… on thick bun and very thin patty… think white castle thin patty. Fries were so so… Nothing spectacular about the food.
Quality food? No… but for all those school kids who don’t care and have $ 2 – 3 bucks to spare? Who cares?

The meatballs and bread evaporated the instant they hit my tongue, graciously leaving behind their taste. I ate rapidly in hopes of a continuous stream of meat, sauce and bread into my mouth. I knew that my current place in time and space had been selected on the menu just as much as my side-​order of fries. «Meat, Grain, Vegetable…», I chanted over and over in my mind. A substantial critique of America’s over-​indulgence through a satirical amount of meat. Can you join the masses who have over-​acquired mass in America? That was the challenge stated in the meatball sub.
Cash-​only, four stars.

Carm’s is good a very quick bite. If your looking for quality, this isn’t your place.
You can definitely come here from class in BSB, grab a hot dog and fries, and get to your next class in SES right on time. Plus they serve Italian ice for the 60 degree November days.

Italian sausage, Italian beef sandwiches delicious and a bucket of fries wow! Fast service and neat place when visiting UIC.

Decent and cheap food! If you’re looking for a quick bite to eat around the UIC campus, this is a good place to go. The menu is limited but it’s all you need for a fast food joint. The service varies from time to time. Sometimes they are rude and sometimes they are nice, and when they are nice they load you up with fries and other food. Finally, they only accept cash which is a real bummer, although there is an ATM inside. There isn’t much space to sit since there are no tables and chairs inside (only outside) They only have the high stools like a bar where you can eat your food.

If you are close by and want a good Vienna dog and fries, this is the place. Just your typical fast food joint.

This is a ghetto place where we usually come and eat together with my friends.
I usually get the double cheeseburger and the Hot Dog with fries. The Tuna & cheese here is also good so I would also recommend that one.
A fine place to eat with fun.

After reading the other Unilocal reviews, it seems like only regulars like the place while those who went out of their way to come here didn’t. Honestly, I too wouldn’t drive here from the suburbs just for their food, but if you’re on the UIC campus and you want food quickly without walking far, then Carm’s it is.
The owner is mostly at the register (old lady) and she always recognizes me even though I don’t come as often anymore. There were a couple times I didn’t have cash (they are CASH ONLY), and she gave me the food and said pay her later. Now, I always get the Fish sandwich (with giardiniera) and it tastes really good! I love it. I don’t get anything else besides that, but my UIC buddies never complained about their other food. However, I gave a minus one star because the fries aren’t that great. They don’t taste horrible, but you have to dip it in ketchup to eat it (like I can eat McDonalds fries without Ketchup but not these).
Also, I don’t think this place is really made for others besides UIC students, you can’t park outside the restaurant because it’s all zone parking (you need a residential sticker). So you would have to park on Taylor street and walk here. Also, this place is surrounded by Apartments, so it stands alone (I guess they were trying to be as close as possible to UIC). There aren’t tables and chairs inside, they have those high rise wall tables with stools. They do have some tables and chairs outside though.

Gave this place a few tries and I’ve been consistently disappointed. Bad service and bad food. Maybe it’s time to get a cashier under 100 years old so I don’t have to repeat my complicated order of «HOT DOG» 3 times and then get attitude for asking for a soda that should’ve been given with my girlfriends meal. I asked for a hot dog with everything and it had like half of the things a Chicago dog should have. Too lazy to chop tomatoes and throw a pickle and celery salt on there? Come on, man. I guess this place stays open because of the steady stream of UIC students. Apparently they think college kids won’t know the difference between quality food and doing the bare minimum. It will do the trick if you’re hungry, but you’ll feel like an idiot for giving them your money!
Just because you have 70 items on your menu doesn’t give you the right to make 50 of them badly.

This was my go to place as a student at UIC once one of my friend’s told me about it. If I wasn’t introduced to this place I would have continued eating the sub-​par food at school. I risked my life walking on the icy sidewalks to this place in the winter in order to eat some hot dogs instead of the cold pizza from Sbarro, sad looking subs from Subway, or wait 10 hours to get a burger at the Wendy’s in school.

I think you might have to attend UIC nearby to really like this place.. . I didn’t go there but I indulged an out of town friend who wanted to visit this old haunt from his school days. Not sure we should have bothered.
Some people seem to love the staff, and maybe you get better treatment if you’re a regular. My experience was of the «you’re making me get off my chair and put away my cell phone and I resent you for it» variety.
I ordered an Italian beef with french fries, and both tasted like the beef and fries came straight from a freeze dried bag. Granted, the food was cheap, but come on, these aren’t pricey foods to begin with.. . charge me an extra $ 1.50 and upgrade the ingredients.
I teased my friend about choosing this of all places for having a nostalgia meal, and he sheepishly said «it was better when I was in college!» So, if I ever get a chance to eat here in 2005, I will be sure to update this review.

I visit here whenever I’m at school, since I go to UIC it’s 2 mins away. Their service is great! Food is really good, the burger and fries always hit the spot for me. Pricing is perfect for college students somehow the dollar goes a long way here. If you are ever in that area I recommend stopping in, you are transported to a family run diner as soon as you step foot inside.

I visited Carm’s with my girlfriend, sister, niece, brother, and two of my cousins who are locals.
We were greeted by Stevie (I believe) who I think owns the place. He was really cool and recommended different foods for us non-​Chicago people. My brother and I were trying to pay and he said to relax and eat and we can pay later. He also told us to shut the door if we wanted since it was cool out and we had a baby with us, what a nice guy.
I had the special of two dogs and fries and a drink for something like $ 4.95. Dogs were delicious and spicy and the fries were crisp and tasty. My sister had a beef sandwich with house-​made peppers and it was good and had a lot of kick (if you’re not keen on spicy food you might not like the beef)!
After we ate, we tried some of the flavored ice and lo and behold he comped all of the ices for us! They were all good, even the chocolate one which sounds weird initially but is actually quite nice. My favorite was the cantaloupe. We paid and tried to tip him but he wouldn’t take it! What a gentleman.
Cash only, but I don’t blame them. Small neighborhood place and probably keeps the overhead down.
Overall good comfort food, friendly and warm atmosphere, and delicious flavored ice. Will definitely come back next time I’m in town.

We had a great lunch at Carms. The owner took incredible care and time with my family and threw some Italian ice our way as well. This place is a Chicago Classic while retaining its freshness and not to mention cleanliness. Must visit again!

I went to UIC for a few semesters a few years ago and this place became my mainstay for cheap food. I love hotdogs, and this place has cheap hotdogs. I mean sure it’s your standard dog but when you can get two of them and two orders of fries for five bucks then what else can you really ask for?
I enjoy the burgers a lot too. If you’re a health nut, you’ll want to avoid them, but if food is an adventure for you, this is a fine flat top burger to try. Very juicy and greasy.
After not being in the city for a few years, I went back recently. All the same people worked there, which was nice since they’re all great people. I found that they started serving tacos recently.
Now see, I’m from Texas, so nothing really compares to the guys selling tacos out of their trucks on the side of the road at five for a dollar, but I’m always going to hold Mexican food in the south on a pedestal above all Mexican food I eat in the north. But as far as traditional Mexican tacos go, I can’t ask for more. They’re better than the ones in the UIC cafeteria.
When I start going back to UIC, I’ll probably become regular here again. Nice people, decent food, great prices.

Big mistake.
I came here for lunch after reading the great Unilocal reviews. The cashier was very rude and I decided to take my food to go after ordering. I had two hot dogs with everything and fries for $ 4.50. The fries were wrapped up with the dogs, and the steamed buns were warped around the few toppings. The fries were awful and you could taste the freezer burn. They also did not include ketchup packets.
The Vienna hot dogs looked sad, barely any toppings (only onion & relish), a bit of mustard, and packed with sport peppers.
Where’s my tomato & pickle?
These were NOT Chicago style hot dogs.
Needless to say, I will be recommending a strong PASS.
The only plus was that it looked clean and the kitchen was open.

A favorite place of mine when I went to UIC and walked back to my apartment.
Food is more than decent, but what’s great is getting an italian ice here if you don’t feel like going to Mario’s. Also, I did like their chocolate italian ice quite a bit.

Italian Beef Crawl Stop #2: Carm’s Beef
Carm’s. Beef. Hungry, we all unwrapped our sandwiches to get the first crack at the inaugural beef. The first thing I noted was the lack of juice on this sandwich. I mean Italian Beef dipped is supposed to give you bread that’s soaked up in juice melting in your mouth with the intoxicating beef. This sandwich was inferior beef lacking this defining quality of well-​dipped beef and caused many heads to shake. The one redeeming quality of this beef was the spiciness of the peppers, they didn’t have a great texture but the spice was undeniable. As for the rest of this beef, I will gladly deny eating any of it.

Yummy Italian Ice.
I picked up watermelon, She picked up «Blue».
The watermelon was refreshing and a small is the perfect size!
With little delicious chunks of watermelon on the inside I was craving more.
Blue was good. Full of sugar and exactly what you would think it tastes of.
Definitely give it a try in this very cute Italian neighborhood… with the older men sitting in a circle talking, children playing in the pumps and great all around vibe.