Hero’s Submarine Sandwich Shop

My favorite sub shop ever always good people are always nice go when I can there’s a line but it goes fast worth the wait

Don’t waste your time. This place serves up hot garbage for subs. I ordered a turkey sub and the gelatinous faux slimmy white floppy substance they called turkey angered me enough to write this review. Subway serves artisanal turkey by comparison. How this place has stayed in business for so long baffles me given how poor quality of product they sell. This place makes Arby’s seem like a viable alternative.
Seeing all the positive reviews, it makes me wonder how much of the population was born without taste buds.

I pass this sub shop on the daily, so cliché but so true. So often and for decades even, without ever venturing inside. Always wondering, until.
Wondering whether it could match the great experiences I had shared with my Dad (during childhood) at a submarine shop near Little Italy. The sub shop by UIC, was old school. «I-​talian» owned and run, They didn’t share their ingredients lists or what went into their «special sauce», it was (just) a great submarine sandwich shop with windows busied with colorful writings of all their special sandwiches. I was talking to the old man about that sub shop recently, he said «those Italians were expert sandwich makers.»
So some weeks back, I was caught in the rain on the «606» trail. A straight hour of inconsistent rains poured down atop of me. Some hard rain and some soft rain. I now know how a wet dog feels after rains. Heavy! Why am I sharing this? I dunno, cause I was hungry. Not hungry but hongry! I had a long walk, I was thoroughly wet to my core and wanted a good meal to make me «right as rain». I decided a submarine sandwich would give me that.
So I stopped in and ordered a sub. I was hongry as mentioned earlier and asked if they could double up on the vegetable toppings. They charged me extra for double veggies and the oddity is that it didn’t look like it had extra veggies. It looked like it was a normal amount of shredded veggies. I won’t bore you with extra details but the sub was pretty average. I don’t think a second go is needed.
One and done.

Awesome subs, made with premium deli meats, and fresh Turano bread. Please note: CASH ONLY.

This review is several months overdue. This is one of those no frills sub shops, but I found the meat to be that slimy weird type of meat. The bread seemed a little stale also. I wouldn’t go back.

My favorite sub shop in Chicago. Pick your meat, cheese, and get it with everything; hold the pickle, add a little mayo.
High school across the street. Good to avoid noon on weekdays. Line does go super fast though. Parking too.

Love the smoked turkey with everything very very delicious. I’m going to have them cater my daughter outdoor birthday party.

I just moved up the street and stumbled across Hero’s. This is your classic, no frills, sub shop. By no frills I mean, nothing on the walls, no seats in the shop, and a couple windows to watch the suckers who aren’t stopping in.
No, this place isn’t going to knock your socks off with a new sandwich you’ve never heard of, but it will give you consistent and good subs. The ingredients are fresh, the bread is fresh, and you can’t really ask for more from a sandwhich.
The Monster can easily be two meals, a meal and a snack, or just a really big sandwich depending on who you are.
CASH ONLY!

Can be a good place for an old-​style Sub…

This is just what I was in the mood to eat for lunch today. I had a turkey and roast beef sub, which included cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, oil and oregano. I added mayo and giardiniera, which added a little spice. The veggies looked and tasted fresh. The bread was a little on the hard side. Overall, it was really good. I would go back and would probably order the same exact thing.
Also, to note, the sandwiches were made by a lady wearing gloves.

Favorite sandwich place in all of Chicago. Them taking cash only is the only knock against them, but I wont go anywhere else.

Very overrated. Had an italian. Bread was tough to bit through (felt more like ripping through), sandwich was less flavorful than I had hoped.
Much prefer other places

I have to wonder what kind of other sub sandwiches people have had in their lives to give this place such high praise. I don’t understand where it all the comes from; maybe Lane Tech alumni who’ve never had the chance to try something else because this is conveniently located right across the street?
I’ve given this place many tries thinking that maybe I’ve been there on an off day, or maybe a dozen off days. Nope, it’s consistently mediocre. The Turano bread they like to advertise has never once been fresh, which is a shame because fresh Turano bread is quite good and while some establishments bake Turano products on site daily, Hero’s does not. If you think this is fresh bread, you need to get out more. Pretty sure they just get the same kind of sandwich rolls any one of us could buy in a bag at the grocery store.
The vegetables lack color and texture, and the meats are Hormel. You know, the near-​discount brand you can buy for cheap at your local grocery store. They’re so slimy that they slide around on a strange layer of mucous so much that when you bite into one end, the meat and toppings all slide out the back and the sides because even the bread can’t hang onto them, probably due to the fact that it’s a bit stale as mentioned. It should not be considered a point of pride to advertise that you serve cold cuts that anyone can pick up for peanuts at the local corner store. Same can be said for most of the toppings and condiments. Nothing about these sandwiches stands out and makes them any different than one you could make at home.
Do any of the people giving this place glowing reviews know what fresh bread, quality cold cuts and crisp vegetables taste like? Based on what Hero’s is serving, I have no reason to believe they aren’t just going down the street to Mariano’s to buy their ingredients. I get it, they’re a small place and they’ve been there since 19XX and they don’t have a website or take credit cards and I guess that’s all supposed to be part of the charm. Sure, fine, but I’ve been at total holes in the wall where they at least took debit cards and provided food that amounted to something they actually made and not something that could be assembled from the exact ingredients anyone can LITERALLY get at a grocery store.
There are better sub options around Chicago, and I’m not just talking Jimmy John’s, Subway, or Potbelly, although I’d still take any one of those chains over Hero’s, which makes no attempt to set itself apart and do something unique or distinctive, much less fresh. Sorry, but two stars is actually being incredibly generous given the other options that are available.

The best ham sandwich in the USA! (Tourin crispy Italian bread, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, oil, vinegar, cheese, fresh ham, oregano!) Crazy people were waiting in line at nearby Hot Doug’s for hours. I went to Hero’s! 5***** quality! (Back in October)
I’ve been enjoying their subs for at least 50 years! (I’m in my 60’s now) How many high quality places last that long? There is a reason for their longevity: high quality food, dedication and a clean environment. My favorite sandwich is ham. I get everything on it and add sliced jalapeños. Sometimes I try the turkey sandwiches. The ingredients are top notch. I think they have the best ham sandwich in the USA!

I have been going to Hero’s for over 20 ears since I was a lane tech student and the sandwiches have never changed. Some who are not from Chicago may not understand the hype but I’ve always said its a Chicago thing. The combination of the Turano bread, shredded lettuce, oil and oregano, is what makes the sandwich in my opinion.
I usually go for the mixed cold cuts or the Italian as they usually has the most flavor. I’m really into mayonnaise so you have to let them know to add it. I try to go early in the day as that’s when the bread is the freshest. They keep it simple with the side dishes as you can either get a bag of chips or nachos.
This place is very small but you can always find counter space to eat your sub. The steady stream of regulars that walk in there is amazing.

I grew up in Rogers Park and used to frequent their shop at Touhy & California which is long gone now, but I still crave the sandwich of my youth and I go back to relive the memory. It is as perfect as the first time I went there. I always get the same thing, the bologna sub. Where else can you get that? I bought it then because it was all I could afford as a kid in 7^th grade, but now I am 47 and drove from the far west suburbs in my Cadillac and still love that inexpensive sandwich. I spend $ 10 in gas for a sandwich that costs $ 4 and change.
It is perfect in its simplicity, a great Turano roll, lots of thinly sliced bologna, lettuce, tomato, onion, American cheese, pickles, Italian spices, and Italian dressing. So simple, yet a unique flavor I can’t get anywhere else.
I will keep coming back as long as they don’t change a thing. A true Chicago original.

Let me first say that I have been eating at this place for the last forty years, I used to go to school and work nearby this place. Now I have not been here for awhile, but I always had a great sandwhich from here. I used to drive quite a distance to get a sub here.
Until today, I ordered a american sub with everything on it. I don’t recall them putting mayo on that particular sub. But there was so much mayo on the sandwhich that every bite was a Heilman’s experience, and it would just squirt out and all you could taste was the mayo. At the end of the sandwhich there was a huge pile of mayo sitting there on the wrapper. Must of have went through about a dozen napkins while eating. Also it seems to be a little more costly to eat there since my last visit.

I always hear everyone that went to Lane Tech say that this was their place growing up. So luckily I got a ride home from a party and we decided to go here because my cousin who took me said the same thing. I really wasn’t thrilled. I ordered the roast beef and to me it tasted like cheap packaged deli meat. I mean it wasn’t bad but it is a overhyped place.

Hero’s makes very basic sub sandwiches and they take cash only. They use fresh Turano bread (baked daily) and fresh vegetables prepared daily.
I like the turkey and ham with everything but pickle and add mayo. It’s just under $ 6 for a full sized sub (roughly equivalent to a subway footlong). I love that it’s close enough to my work that I can pick up a sub in a short 10 – 15 walk whenever I get hungry.
The workers are friendly even when they’re busy. There isn’t exactly a line and you don’t need to stand at the counter except when you pay and pick up your sub. The waiting system can be a little confusing if you haven’t been there during busy times like lunch.

I have to admit that it has never occurred to me to enter this sub shop. It always looked closed though the signs would indicate otherwise.
However, today I stopped in for a quick sandwich pick up. It’s very sparse inside… two friendly attendants/​sandwich makers and not much else. My sandwich was made quickly and efficiently with fresh meats and cheeses (and who doesn’t like Turano bread).
Tasty and for about $ 6 for a sub and chips, this may be one of the best values in the area!