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newlenoxpatriot.com DINING OUT
the New Lenox Patriot | April 26, 2018 | 25
The Dish
College town favorite McAlister’s opens in Orland Park
Max Lapthorne
Contributing Editor
McAlister’s Deli in Orland
Park does not look like
a typical college-town eatery,
but its opening has many
customers reminiscing about
their glory days.
With locations in close
proximity to the campuses of
Illinois State University and
University of Illinois, McAlister’s
has built a strong base
of customers who enjoyed
dining there during their
college years, including coowner
Ravi Patel, who first
discovered McAlister’s at his
alma mater, Purdue University.
“It’s been super-cool to see
people relive their college
days with McAlister’s,” Patel
said.
And it is not just recent
graduates who have been
stopping by the Orland Park
deli, which opened April 9.
“We’ve seen moms and
dads come in and other people
who say, ‘25 years ago,
I used to eat McAlister’s at
college, too,’” Patel added.
The Orland Park deli, located
at 14309 S. LaGrange
Road, had a line that extended
out the front door the day
after it opened. In addition
to the newly minted Orland
spot, Patel and his brother,
Raj, also own a McAlister’s
in Naperville, which they
opened in 2015.
“As we were picking out
suburbs we wanted to go
into, Orland Park was always
on our list,” Patel said.
“When we knew this [area]
was being developed, we really
liked the intersection [at]
143rd and LaGrange, and we
thought this would be a great
spot for a McAlister’s.”
The restaurant’s namesake
sandwich, the McAlister’s
club ($7.49), is among the
most popular menu items.
The 13-layer sandwich boasts
McAlister’s Deli
14309 S. LaGrange
Road in Orland Park
Hours
10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily
For more information ...
Web: www.
mcalistersdeli.com
Phone: (708) 966-0941
an impressive array of meats
(smoked turkey, ham and bacon),
topped with both sharp
cheddar and Swiss cheese,
lettuce, tomatoes, mayonnaise
and McAlister’s honey
mustard on wheat bread.
It is no surprise that a classic
deli sandwich is a top seller
at McAlister’s, but those
who are not familiar with the
restaurant may not know that
it is well-known for its sweet
tea ($2.09). The tea can also
be ordered unsweetened, or
Arnold Palmer-style (mixed
with McAlister’s pure cane
sugar lemonade for $2.29).
Other dishes not to miss
on the eclectic menu include
the Savannah chopped
salad ($8.49), which features
grilled chicken, dried cranberries,
Gorgonzola, honeyroasted
almonds, tomato and
cucumber, and the Spud Max
($7.99) — a giant baked potato
stuffed with ham, turkey,
bacon, cheddar-jack cheese,
green onions, black olives
and sour cream.
One of the primary focuses
of Patel and his brother as
owners is to maintain a welltrained
staff to ensure highquality
customer service for
patrons. One of the ways
they do that is by preaching
“LSE” to their employees,
which stands for “little something
extra.”
“We want to make sure our
guests get exceptional customer
service every time,”
Patel said. “We try our best to
go over and beyond to make
sure all our guests’ needs plus
The spud max ($7.99) is a giant baked potato, stuffed with
ham, turkey, bacon, cheddar-jack cheese, green onions,
black olives and sour cream.
more are fulfilled.”
McAlister’s currently
has 60-65 employees, all of
whom Patel hopes to keep
for the long haul. Some of the
part-time employees are high
school students who have
never had a job before, and
Patel welcomes the chance to
provide them their first realworld
job experience. And it
is that opportunity to foster a
new team and get them working
toward a common goal
that is the most rewarding
part of the job for Patel.
“Within our staff, one of
the best things I get to do is
we get to grow our staff,” he
said. “We get to grow our
individuals. We get to grow
our associates into managers,
managers into general
managers, and it’s very fun to
see that whole experience go
through.”
Allowing employees to
grow into leadership roles
and getting everyone on the
same page go hand-in-hand
when it comes to building a
team atmosphere at McAlister’s.
“We try to treat our team
like our family,” Patel said.
“We try and make McAlister’s,
every store we have, a
family oriented store. ... We
have one common goal, and
our goal is to see McAlister’s
do the best it can do and serve
our guests the best we can
serve our guests, so getting
everyone to buy in is fun.”
The 13-layer McAlister’s club ($7.49) features smoked
turkey, ham and bacon, topped with both sharp cheddar
and Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and
McAlister’s honey mustard on wheat bread. Photos by Max
Lapthorne/22nd Century Media
The Orland Park location
is the eighth McAlister’s in
the Chicago area, and Patel
has plans to open another
near Route 30 and Wolf Road
in Mokena later this year. But
for now, the main focus is on
diving headfirst into the Orland
Park community.
“We want to get involved
in Orland Park and the surrounding
community as fast
as possible,” Patel said. “We
want to be at school events.
We want to be at park district
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events. We want to be at different
types of events and be
able to be a part of Orland
Park.”
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