Epic Deli

JOHNSBURG??? How is this place in Johnsburg and not on a cool college campus or in a trendy neighborhood in a big city? I’ve been 5 times since I heard of it, never ordered the same thing twice, and everything has been great! So many fun combinations on their sandwiches and amazing side dishes (with super generous portions).
I wish I was eating their fried pickle chips and cheese curds RIGHT NOW!

Awesome sandwich!
Great people.
You can’t go wrong…
Try the Doritowich… trust me!

Have been to Epic Several times but have never wrote a review. The last time they had the Primetime as a special I raced up to try it. It was waaay too much but so yummy. I am glad its a special or I would be at Epic Way more then I should.
THE PRIMETIME– a heaping portion of bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheddar, and bacon aioli! Served in between two soft pretzels and served with a side of nacho cheese!

Great unique sandwiches! We are wondering how they come up with some of these ideas. The quality and quantity are both good. The long wait can be a problem. We usually carry-​out the food so we always call ahead and the food is ready upon our arrival. I have seen 12 – 14 people in line waiting to order. Do yourself a favor: call in the order and you’ll be much happier.

Been eating here for a couple years and it is a special place. It takes a lot to get me to drive over an hour for a sandwich, but THIS PLACE delivers the goods. From the huge menu, to the interesting sandwich combinations, to the fact that the days food is made and prepped that morning. Have not had a problem over the years and the one time I did have a small issue it was handled and made up for right away by the friendly staff.
When it comes to your tasebuds, these people are evil geniuses. Love the place, keep up the excellent work Ty and family

Great, creative sandwiches.
Stopped in the Epic Deli after hearing a ton about it. The food did not disappoint for sure.
I had the Screech with a side of loaded tater tots. Could barely finish half of it proportions are so big.
If you are a hearty eater and want to try some sandwich combinations you would never think about… definitely try Epic Deli!

Never fails to impress me! Absolutely delicious. I had the bohemian rhapsody and it was incredible. My boyfriend likes the Emily and it was delicious as well. Ghost pepper ranch has delicious flavor but is mild. I want to try more of their dishes. We only eat it when my boyfriend works in the area, but I might make the trip just to eat there. The bread is so a+ and fresh. Love this place!

Not only are the sandwiches Epic and amazing creations of mouthwatering goodness, the service is great too! I recently had a mishap that made me wait a little longer then I would have wanted, but not only was I given a full refund. I was also given an extra sandwich on the house. Every time I go into Epic Deli, I am never disappointed, unsatisfied, unhappy, or hungry!
I never review, but how I was just treated made my week and I want to Thank them!

Great food with different types of stuff but really one sandwich to go and it takes 20+mins come on
I tried to call it in no answer on phone get it together cause this is just wrong

Epic deli is one of the best places in Illinois to get a sandwich.
I love all of their interesting ingredients, and inventive combinations.
Sandwiches are huge. Fries are delish.
Service is quick and friendly.
I happen to enjoy the hipster staff. And I’m old.
This part of Illinois has too many rednecks, and the young
hip, tattooed staff is refreshing and welcome.
Keep up the great job!

Really the only downside to the business is one of the ladies behind the counter (the one with the green hair, and septum piercing). She just seemed really pissed off the whole time. And rude. On more than one occasion I watched her get snippy with the fryers (men in the back) complete with eye rolls and snarls.
The food–
I had the Lucky Man, paired with potato salad.
Hubby had– a Italian sub. Not sure what it was called.
Dessert– Kit Kat Poutine
My sandwich was great. Corned beef was flavorful and sliced thin. The panini bread was crisp, and the sauce/​sauerkraut were a perfect tang.
The potato salad had a good flavor. Just wish they were a little softer.
The kit Kat Poutine I didn’t really care for. But the hubby loved it. Bill was around $ 34 for the both of us. Pricing was pretty accurate for the food.
The downstairs is a great seating option.

This is not the place to go if you are on a diet but damn was it tasty! We were wandering around out in the Chain-​o-​Lakes area scouting some kayaking locations & thanks to Unilocal we found our way to Epic Deli at lunchtime. We wouldn’t have noticed the place otherwise. They have a really unique large menu with some crazy sandwich combos and it was fun to read through all the options. In addition to the large regular menu they have a handful of daily specials written on the board as well. Since we still had a lot of hiking to do we opted to share a sandwich from the daily specials («The 209») and small fries. «The 209» sandwich we tried had pastrami, bacon, horseradish, spicy mustard, fries, cheese curds, brown gravy AND a fried egg on it all on an onion roll. Wowsers! It was big but not as gigantic as it sounds — still perfect for the two of us to share along with a side of fries. Oh, and their «small» fries are pretty big with plenty for two to share as well. The place was pretty busy with a line to order and it was probably 10 minutes before our order was ready — a reasonable wait considering the time of day & the effort they put into each of their unique sandwich creations. Bonus points for them having Red Cream Soda at the soda fountain as well.

Haven’t been here in a while because I’ve had mixed service in the past. I guess it’s about time to try it again. Looking at a lot of the photos folks have posted make me a little queasy because they take good meats and drown them in goop. Not always tasty goop.
The counter staff are some of the most pretentious hipsters I’ve ever dealt with outside of Wicker Park. I often get the hairy eyeball from the 20 somethings like I’m some sort of tourist. This is Johnsburg for crying out loud — get over yourselves.
They have really tasty corned beef, but don’t get the Ruben, their sauerkraut is terrible. I like The Dolly and The Stackhouse, they have good fries, onion rings, and mushrooms when the fry oil isn’t old, otherwise they smell like butt.
And they have some sort of fried bacon … no. Just, no.
If they’re busy, prepare to be judged and to wait.

This place is right out of diners, drive ins and dives. I went with my boo because she talks about it all the time. I was excited to try it even though it’s 42 miles from my home because one night she brought me home a waffle sandwich with honey and brown sugar cream cheese with sauteed apples, ham, chicken, shaved apples. OMG it was so delicious.
We got there right before a big rush hit so we were lucky not to have to wait in line very long. But waiting in line is good because it gives you a chance to read over their extensive MENU.
Each sandwich is filled to the brim with a HUGE LOAD of ingredients.
I got THE JOHN BENDER —pulled pork, fried chicken strips, cherry coke bbq sauce, bacon and mozzarella sticks! Served on a toasted sub roll!
Boo got the AVO (???) which had a lot of similar ingredients as mine but was on CORN BREAD. Minus mozz sticks plus fried pickles.
I’m embarrassed to say I also ordered the smores fried sandwich with ice cream.
I took half of my sandwich home and ate it the next day cold. Was delicious.
This place is out of the way but deserves a try!

Mighty tasty and creative combo of sandwiches. Aporkolypse was great, the Rick Grimes very nice too. Try one of their sandwich inventions, you’ll be happy.
The poutine fries were not so hot.

Wow. So I’m eating at their shop hoping my bad experience was a fluke and I ordered the Dollie. I was given the gillie or whatever. I didn’t order that so I gave it back. And the lady with pink hair, tattoos and blue gage’s said I didn’t pronounce the name properly… Like okay… I don’t think she knew I was standing there and over heard. I said the Dollie. Regardless maybe u should confirm your orders with your customers when there’s something that sounds similar to it on the menu and I’m pretty sure she shorted me change. But I wouldn’t know cuz their receipts don’t have your order on it… Lol.
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Old review :
Blah. The sandwiches were so mushy and overly salty. I got the Strange Brew, the Fries on the sandwich were so mushy. The entire sandwich was all the same texture. They should put some giardinara or something crunchy so that it’s not so gross. The flavors didn’t go well together either. The gravy had too much black pepper. The meat didn’t taste of very good quality. I’ll come back if I’m in the area but I’m not going to be ordering the same sandwich.

Great sandwich shop with some really originally options.
I stopped in at Epic deli for lunch the other day. The place was slammed! I had the Screech and a coke. In a word… Awesome!
I can’t wait to go back and try some of the other items on the menu. If you are looking for something different than subway or JJ then I think Epic Deli is the place for you.

Got The Soulman sandwich here on Saturday. It’s supposed to be turkey, bacon, pepper jack cheese, avocado and tomato with jalapeño aioli. Look at the photo posted below of the inside of the sandwich: It was basically 99% mayo. Was disgusting and inedible. My husband and I basically picked off the turkey and bacon off the sandwich, ate that, and threw the rest away. And there wasn’t any avocado on the sandwich — it was a glob of avocado SPREAD. This was the 3^rd time we tried Epic Deli sandwiches — the first 2 times were disappointing too, but we decided to give them one last chance. Never again.
Atmosphere…if you’re a 20-​something year old guy, this is the place for you. Off-​the-​wall sandwich concoctions, deep-​fried everything, and blaring 95WillRock radio station.
The ONE good thing about Epic Deli is the potato salad; I have to give them that. I am a home cook and I thought I make darn good potato salad… well, Epic actually gives me a run for my money. It’s one of the best potato salads I’ve ever had. Not heavy on the mayo, full of flavor and crunchy celery, and even has pieces of bacon in it. This will be the only thing I’ll ever be buying from Epic Deli in the future. Wish I could give two different ratings: 1 for the sandwiches; 5 for the potato salad.

Heard about this place from a coworker. Had to bring the whole fam damily.
All 8 of us left happy, stuffed & with leftovers.
So many delicious choices… from truly epic sandwiches to the deep fried bbq chicken pizza to the ‘merican poutine.
Seriously good stuff.
We’ll be back. For sure.

I’d been wanting to check out Epic Deli since I saw it on Chicago’s Best and (bonus!) noticed that it’s close to my mom’s house.
It was pretty busy at 3pm on a Saturday, but lines moved quickly. I sat at a table to look over the menu first since it’s pretty extensive. The tables we had to choose from were sticky and needed to be wiped down. Don’t expect to get good cell reception (even 3G was spotty), BTW.
The décor is nice and modern/​casual/​slightly funky. There are several 2 and 4-​seater tables on the main restaurant area, and then more tables and booths in the «sunken» area down a few steps.
Bathrooms were physically located at the (defunct?) business next door. They were clean, but dimly lit and kind of creepy.
I got the Delilah panini ($ 8) and an unsweetened tea; Mom got The Jeraldino sandwich ($ 8) and a Diet, and we shared Cheese Curds ($ 5). The damage after tax was $ 26 and change.
When I got our order from the counter, I had to inquire about our drinks. It took a few minutes for the girl to double-​check our ticket and then have another guy fill them.
The Delilah (my first time getting tuna outside of home!) was good but, though it was denoted with TWO peppers on the menu, was not spicy at all. Mom’s Jeraldino was HUGE and enough for two meals easy. The Cheese Curds were ok, but as soon as they got lukewarm they were «meh.» The dipping sauce was also kind of «meh.» I wouldn’t order them again, but would liked to try the fried pickles and/​or mushrooms.
I’m sad it wasnt the huge orgasmic sammy experience I’d hoped for, but it was still «A-​OK!» I’ll be back to try The Plain White Cheese.