Chicago sandwiches, Philly cheesesteaks highlight menu at now-open Coast eatery
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Chicago 6ix Street Food openes for a soft launch at 1224 Bienville Blvd. in Ocean Springs.
- Cheesesteaks use Amoroso rolls are cooked to order.
- The full menu will roll out over the next few weeks.
The soft opening of Chicago 6ix Street Food in Ocean Springs is making a big impression, as customers old and new pour in for a taste of Chicago classics.
Former customers are back for the food they enjoyed when the restaurant was Smoke-N-Hoagies, and later was renamed Chicago 6ix when it moved to the Crave Food Hall.
New customers are spotting the restaurant at its high-profile location at 1224 Bienville Blvd., Ocean Springs, the former spot of Kenny Ward’s. The 50-cent wing opening special on Wednesday also drew a lot of people in the doors this opening week.
While enticed by the price, many customers never ordered the wings, but instead went for the favorite.
“They came to get my cheesesteaks,” said Erik Robinson, who operates the restaurant along with Dennis Johnson and Dre Whittle, who does marketing and photography.
Those cheesesteaks are better than ever, Robinson said, since they now are made with Amoroso rolls — “The same legendary rolls used in Philly cheesesteaks.” They are available in 6-inch and now foot long size.
The opening menu is a sampling of what’s to come as the restaurant powers up to its full selection. Catfish plates and po’boys, shrimp baskets and po’boys, burgers, chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches also are available now and, once the staff is familiar with the systems, the entire menu will roll out over the next week or two, Robinson said.
Chicago street food, made to order
Robinson was born and raised in Chicago and moved to the Coast when his brother was stationed in the Navy in South Mississippi.
His mother taught him how to make authentic hoagies and dogs, and they are part of the six main types of dishes on the full menu, and what gives the restaurant its name.
Along with his Chicago original hot dog, he’ll be serving a Polish sausage sandwich and Italian beef sandwiches popular in Chicago. He uses his secret sauce to make his Chicago chicken special and makes his own hand-battered boneless wings and fresh chicken tenders.
“There’s just a lot of love and care going into everything that I’m doing today,” he said.
Made to order
The full menu highlights the Chicago street fare while bringing in gyros, pork chop sandwiches, catfish steaks, burgers that customers say are some of the best on the Coast.
Robinson came up with a recipe for pizza puffs. “That’s a pastry filled pizza that’s deep-fried,” he said, and served as a special.
“Every order that comes in is cooked to order,” he said, so customers can expect to wait 10 or 15 minutes even if they are the only one in line.
“I think it’s worth the wait,” he said.
“I don’t pre-slice the meat. I slice it when you place your order, that’s when I put the chunk of meat on a slicer, and I slice it, slice the cheese, and I build a sandwich out,” he said.
“Or when I’m doing the cheesesteaks, I throw the ribeye sirloin on the grill,” he said, adds his own seasoning, sautés the onions and bell peppers and toasts the rolls.
“The way they dress it in Philadelphia, they just do cheese and onions,” Robinson said, but so many people in the south ask for bell peppers and mayo that he adds it automatically unless someone asks for traditional or orders jerk chicken Philly, a Greek Philly or chicken bacon ranch Philly.
The restaurant has some tables for those who want to dine in and take-out for those who want to call ahead at 228-334-5070 instead of wait.
The opening hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and until 9 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday.
Robinson said they are tossing around the idea of offering the wing special for now and franchising Chicago 6ix as the concept continues to grow.
