Backyard Grill

The food at this place is all very good and fresh. Never a long line or a wait and it is not because nobody is there. The food value and portion sizes are also excellent. Very good Greek salad and there chicken is fantastic. For a place with quick service and good food, I would highly recommend BYG.

The north shore and in particular highland park is in dire need of a restaurant with high quality Greek/​American classic food and quick service. Backyard grill definitely hits the mark for all of the things we ordered from spinach pie to gyros and Greek chicken souvlaki plus the sides of tzatziki, Greek potatoes and rice. Everything was perfectly cooked, delicious and packed professionally for carry out. Will definitely be coming back for more!

I had the BYG burger and it wasn’t the greatest in the world. The fries were very good tho. If you want an actual meal, find a different place.

I wish I could be more generous with my assessment of this place but to be honest it’s just not that great with respect to price and ambience.
Yes huge menu but almost overkill. My burger fries and drink were decent but pricey for what it is. I think I get it. They are trying to poach the older crowd from Michaels down the street but what else do they really offer that is unique here?
It’s not s place I would go out of my way for given all the better choices out there.

Firstly, I’m happy to see a joint give Michael’s in HP a run for their money. The folks at Michael’s are rude and inconsiderate, so I won’t give them my money. So I was intrigued by BYG.
I don’t normally eat this kind of food, as I try to stay with healthy eating. But I saw that their menu said «homemade Gyros». Homemade??? I just had to try one. Now, I grew up in a city with a lot of Greeks, and there was a Greek church around the corner from my house. Gyro joints were everywhere when I was growing up; and I’m Armenian, and I speak Greek. So, I’m not a gyro snob, but an aficionado. I KNOW a good gyro. Most gyros, even the «good» ones, come from one of two restaurant suppliers, and they’re pre-​formed, on a vertical spit, and pretty much they all taste the same — they’re good, but the meat is the same everywhere. What varies is the sauce and the amount of meat they put on.
A good gyro has been missing from Highland Parks’ diverse, yet bland and predictable repertoire of eateries. So, diet be damned, I wanted to try a homemade gyro.
It was a Saturday around 5:30 pm, and I ventured the couple of miles to BYG. They had a sign up saying that they were closing early for a party that had reserved the place. Duly noted. The place is clean and spacious, and they have a fountain for their drinks. It’s a great place to bring the young ones for a quick meal, take out, or dine-​in.
I ordered three sandwiches to go. I know that if I eat a good gyro, I want to do it in private where I can strap on the feed bag and hose down afterwards. So I ordered an Italian Combo, a Pork Souvlaki on a pita, and a gyro — to go. No fries, no drinks, and the order came to $ 23. I rushed home to enjoy the sinful gyro I had ordered.
Sadly, when I got home, I discovered that there was no gyro — there was some kind of chicken in a pita (most likely, a «chicken gyro», which isn’t a gyro, btw). I was SO disappointed, and not about to run back out and point out their mistake — too much of a pain for fast food. So I called the place, and happened to speak with the guy who actually took my order. I don’t know why I called, I shouldn’t be eating this anyway, but, hey, they should know, and let’s see what happens.
The guy was very apologetic and offered to remedy it if I wanted to drive back over. I didn’t. He offered to give me a credit for a free sandwich on my next visit. I was appreciative of his efforts, but I told him that it wasn’t likely I’d be back — not because of the incident as much as I don’t eat this sort of thing often enough to make it worth his while. I’m not really a customer worth keeping, because, well, I don’t eat this stuff normally. He kept on, politely, and even offered a $ 10 visa credit card to make up for the mistake. Okay, he tried really hard, really wanted to do right by the customer; I couldn’t be obstinate. I accepted his offer of a free sandwich, he took my name for the next time.
I decided today to eat that gyro for lunch. The guy wasn’t there, but when I told the cashier that he had offered me a sandwich to make up for a mishap, I was not questioned in the least. She rang it up and I was off with my gyro.
This was a GOOD gyro! None of the post-​consumption salties that one sometimes get from eating food with too much salt. The meat was piled high, nice onion and tomato on a modest pita — as a gyro should be. Their tzatziki was homemade and authentic. It was quite nice. Reminds me of the line in Pulp Fiction about the «tasty burger». And I’ll tell you, it WAS different than the typical gyro meat. It was seasoned nicely.
Bottom line? Great service in the face of a mishap, and they make fresh, meaty sandwiches. My friend loved their Italian combo and the pork souvlaki. Oh, and I DID eat the chicken sandwich. It was pretty good, even if it was masquerading as a gyro. When I get the urge, I’ll go back.
Hat’s off to that dude, whatever his name was.

I’ve been there 3 times the food just keeps getting better! The portions are out of this world, amazing prices for what they give you. The service is great, the people are very friendly, Jacob, one of the cashiers, took my order and did a fantastic job! Refreshing to have a restaurant that serves quick, is friendly, and serves great food. Would HIGHLY recommend.

Broad menu, really good/​fresh ingredients, big servings. The platters are bargain for ¹⁰⁄₁₁ bucks with a potato side and soup/​salad and some even have garlic bread too. Gyro plate is massive, shrimp souvlaki plate is my favorite.

The beef was loaded, but lacked flavor. Consistency of Arby’s beef accompanied by bland fries.
The décor is nice, flat screens mounted up high, but food does not deliver.
For ~$ 11, the value meal was ok, but not even on par with Portillos.

Decent tasting burgers. Got a chili cheese dog as well. That was kind of overly salty.
They try to make it look like Portillos with extra items that they don’t have i.e. Gyros etc.
But it’s just not as good. In a pinch I would get the burger again. Many other choices in the area.

I would give 4 stars for the food; 1 star for the service and cleanliness
Pros: Good food, large portions
I have been to BYG about six times. I keep going back because the food is very good and the portions very large for a «fast-​food» restaurant.
Cons:
I would go more often if their customer service was better. There are always two people (sometimes the same, sometimes different) at the order counter, which is straight in from the front door. They have NEVER looked at me to greet me, when taking my order or my money. I have never received a thank you. Often the owner is there; same lack of any acknowledgement of a customer.
Your name is called when your food is ready and you go to the counter to pick it up. Each time I’ve asked the person giving me my food if I can get a to-​go container (as I mentioned, the portions are very large), she (the same woman each time) points in the direction of the containers next to her for me to get myself. It would be really nice if she would reach over a couple of feet and hand it to me.
The women’s bathroom hasn’t been clean on each visit.

We went with friends and the food was good. We ordered cheese saganaki it was so yummy with a squeeze of a lemon. The chicken kabobs we had was really good and moist so as the beef kabobs. One of us got the italian beef loaded with peppers and that was really good as well. They give you a lot of food in here so be careful on ordering because some of it comes with side dishes like the greek potatoes, rice and veggie and a salad. And their price wasnt bad either. We are definitely coming back in here.

I stopped at BYG tonight to bring home a quick dinner. I ordered souvlaki platter and half a Greek chicken. I’m so impressed! Portions were significant, the price was very reasonable and I haven’t had a Greek chicken that good since I worked at a Greek restaurant in Highschool. It also came with salad which was very fresh. And potatoes and rice that was also really Delish. For the price and for carry out or family in it’s perfect. I will be back I want more Greek chicken.

Pro: convenient location, large portions and reasonably priced.
Cons: I live in Highland Park and was excited when BYG opened. I’ve now tried the food 6 different times and continue to be disappointed. The entry is disheveled and used as a office, bad first impression. They spent a lot on LCD menu boards but there are no descriptions of the items. The soup of the day which has always been egg lemon is more like flavorless paste. Food is very mediocre. Just ordered Greek chicken it was bland and just average, the decent rice was topped with cold Greek potatoes and half raw undercooked oily veggies. The food is always just thrown together. Nobody seems to care about quality, just get the food out. I’m shocked people actually eat here and can’t believe they will continue to stay open with the poor quality of food and bad
service they provide.
As stale Michaels is, they provide a much better product.
BYG Is so close to being really good but there is no attention to detail, quality or customer service.

BYG was the only place open at almost 9pm on a Sunday. I walked in 5 minutes before closing and Jake and the team served me gladly. I used to work in restaurants and hated when customers did that (I was desperate for food). I appreciated the customer service. Food was great too.
The only complaint I have was that the owner called the phone next to the register and asked the cashier what I ordered while I was right there. Kinda weird.

Decent food. Not great. Fries a bit bland and BBQ sauce just okay.
But the acoustics suck; hard to hear your name/​number being called
Cool thing they allow you to hang out as long as you want. Saw a group of 40-​something, botoxed, stay at home moms whose kids are probably at school practicing to be 70 in Florida playing Maj Jong — but no judgement here

Great food, huge portions, reasonably priced. Been here 5 or 6 times and everything is really good.
I usually get the quinoa salad and add gyro chicken. Delicious.
Highly recommend.

We love this place!!!
What a great addition to Highland Park. We have been looking for a place that would be good for a dine in and take out that is good and priced well. We have found it! We went in a Friday night with our two kids and the service was great, food was great and we all had a great time! We are even getting takeout only 3 days after first giving it a try.
The menu is huge and I was really excited to try their Greek options. I had the Grecian half chicken… it comes with 3 pieces of delicious chicken, potatoes, rice and salad with pita for $ 10.00! I even saved some for lunch the next day. My husband had the homemade gyro plate and love it! Our kids both enjoyed the kids burger which was huge with fries! 4 of us ate for $ 38.00
We moved up to this area from the city had have missed this local Greek restaurant where we could get takeout, especially the Greek chicken and we have finally found a replacement… SO HAPPY!
I am sure the other options on the menu are great too but it will be hard to order anything else.

Huge menu and huge portions to match! I had the baby beet salad which was delicious and enormous. I finished it even though I wasn’t that hungry when I got here. The whole family had pounds of leftovers to take home, all for the price of a regular lunch.
I do wish they had a few more vegetarian options besides salads, but otherwise this is a really great addition to DTHP, which is such a great center for casual cafes and family-​friendly grills. Good destination for lunch hour or post-​soccer practice!

Even though this place hasn’t been open long I have been a number of times, both for lunch and dinner. It might be our new «family casual/​grab a bite» go to place.
The service here is friendly and pretty quick considering the multitude of dining options. The menu is so large that even with all of my visits I haven’t begun to crack the surface of trying work my way through. Here are my assessments so far:
Soulvaki Plate-​Great! I have had the chicken and it was grilled to perfection. Plus it is huge amount of food for the money, really enough for two. Comes with two skewers, rice and potatoes, soup or salad.
Hummus-​not to my taste. This is the Greek style which is more chunky and less creamy
Soup-​love it! I have had two different types, the lemon rice and another that I can’t remember the name, rosa something. Both are outstanding!
Burger –Okay. Nothing special here. There are other burgers to be found in HP that are better.
Grecian Chicken-​Outstanding. This is huge! Definitely serves more than one. Chicken is delicious, seasoned just right. Also good cold as a leftover. Comes with lots of sides.
Gyros-​Really good. In full disclosure, I haven’t actually had this, but a couple of people I have dined with, have and they love it. Stuffed chock a block full of meat you could get two meals out of it.
Kids like the soda machine that gives you so many choices of flavors it’s insane!

Okay, here’s the low down on my first experience here.
First of all, this place is new, and it’s important to give them enough time to work out the kinks. The lady behind the counter was super friendly and worked hard to offer up suggestions for my vegetarian hubby off their expansive menu with a Greek flair. He’s not much of a pasta guy, so he ordered up the Greek salad wrap. It was ginormous! I shared a few bites and, though I’m not a wrap fan, I would come back and order it in the salad form. Great for lunch!
I ordered the pulled pork platter for $ 9 that was packed with meat and a great value with fries and a drink included. The pork was good, a little dry, but I ordered extra sauce and that made a huge difference. I’m not much of a gyros fan, but I have a feeling that might be a real winner here. And, the chicken kabob looked really great on the menu — might have to get that the next time around.
Note: The rice pilaf was beyond amazing… so soft fluffy and flavorful.
My kiddos ordered cheeseburgers off the kids menu. They both came home with tummy aches after eating a portion of their super undercooked burgers. We sent the burgers back on the grill, but by the time they came back, the boys were over the whole thing :-(
The main room was super chilly, of course the freezing temps didn’t help, so I suggest grabbing a seat in the back.
Things seemed to get backed up pretty quickly with customers. Though there were only a few that came in after us, it seemed like something was keeping the ordering process from running smoothly. Can’t put my finger on it.
I’ll be back for lunch! Great stop with a large menu!