New Joliet Restaurant On Essington Rd: 'I Recommend The Whole Menu'

JOLIET, IL — If you're in the mood for Wisconsin cheese curds, a bacon-wrapped all-beef hot dog or perhaps a smash burger, a new Joliet restaurant is now open at 1003 Essington Road, right next door to the Double J Sports Bar.

Although Street Kitchen has been open since summer, Friday marks its official grand opening celebration, according to chef William Meiners.

Street Kitchen is affiliated with the same Joliet entrepreneurs who run the Cork Wine Bar on Essington Road, Forno Pizzeria & Bar on Jefferson Street and Tazza Coffee on Essington.

Street Kitchen is closed Monday and Tuesday and open Wednesday through Sunday.

Its hours are: 11 a.m. to midnight Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.

People can order online, use GrubHub for delivery or stop in to place a carryout order.

"We're going to have some chairs out front soon, so we can do seating," Meiners explained.

To place a carryout order, the Street Kitchen phone number is 815-714-2258. A photo of the entire menu is at the bottom of this Joliet Patch story.

Patch asked the chief what's been popular on the menu so far.

"The Philly cheese steak, the cheese curds," he answered. "The smash burger. I recommend the whole menu. Everything here is made from scratch, all our tenders, all our sauces and the burgers."

Meiners said that one of the great pluses for Street Kitchen is that it stays open late into the night five days a week. Many Joliet restaurants close by 8 or 9 p.m., he pointed out.

Moving forward, the key to the west side restaurant's success is just getting the word out, letting people in the Joliet area know that Street Kitchen is open, Meiners explained.

Street Kitchen is drawing a substantial amount of business from Jeff Reid's Double J Sports Bar next door, he said.

"It's like upgraded bar food," Street Kitchen's chef said of the menu. "We are going to be adding on a few more things (to the menu) down the road."