TLDR; No vibe at all. Weak car turnout. Mediocre food. Don't waste your time. I feel like I need to write this to speak to the car guys and gals who have fond memories of the original Duke's. This is going to be long and you're going to be disappointed. I'm sorry. The History. I went to the original Duke's Drive-in with my dad for the first time when I was 6 almost 50 years ago. It was magical. The yellow lights, the sign, the soft serve ice cream, the oldies playing on the diner speakers, the full lot of hot rods and American muscle--moments etched into my brain for my whole life. I have some great memories from those cruise nights. I was sad when the drive-in closed and sold the lot, but with the retirement community across the street, it was always destined to end. Fast forward to the new location, some 20 or 25 miles south of Bridgeview. They have been here for a few years now, and I figured I had given it plenty of time to hit their stride. No longer close to where I live, it took a lot of time and effort to get there for the regular Saturday cruise night. We missed the entrance to the location twice because we couldn't see the diner behind the gas station and car wash, and the one way lanes offered nowhere to park for non car show participants. Once we finally found parking at the tire dealer next door, the fun started. The plan: food first, then walk the cars. We entered the gas station back door and found a single diner counter inside the station, between the pop coolers and the Icee machines (that were out of order). We ordered our food and waited. The floor was sticky like fly paper. The pop machine spit out flat, warm pop as if it had been unplugged for the last week. The faint smell of bathroom cleaning chemicals and fry grease were wafting in the air. Yum. We headed outside in order to not eat inside of a gas station, and found the only open picnic table 15 feet from a giant propane tank and ice bag chest. Wow. Looking around, there were not as many cars there as we expected--I figured we might be there a little early for the rush of muscle cars. The Food. EVERYTHING was beyond salty. I'm writing this a day later and my lips still burn. Holy crap, take it easy on the sodium. That's not flavor, that hiding a lack of taste. The beef was dry, cold and besides the salt, had no flavor. Even "baptized," the $10 beef was nowhere near the "Best Beef" (according to WGN). Standard fare at Portillo's is light years a better beef. Warm pop and cold beefs. Excellent. To be fair, my wife did enjoy her chili cheese dog (also super salty) and my daughter liked her Chicago dog (though, we did have to make 3 emergency bathroom stops on the ride home, so do the maths). The Cars. I explained already my memories from Bridgeview. I also mentioned that I thought it was a light turnout for a beautiful Saturday night at 6pm. Turns out, once we sat down to eat, almost half of the cars in the lot decided to leave. I don't know where they were going, but the exodus of Challengers, Camaros and Mustangs was telling and hugely disappointing. I think I overheard someone say something about Rt66 drag strip in Joliet, but the empty parking spots they left behind was a bummer. Before we were finished with dinner, most of the cars I wanted to take a closer look at had left for who-knows-what reason. The Conclusion. I honestly went into our "new" Duke's experience with low expectations and a sense of humor about the "new" south side gas station locale. I wasn't disappointed--my low expectations were met, and the whole event made me laugh. The vibe of the old drive-in was epic, and absolutely has not been re-created in Mokena. The food at the old drive-in was great diner food with awesome beef, burgers and dogs, and buckets of almost perfect French fries. The cars at the old drive-in were overwhelming and intoxicating to a youth in the 80s. The old drive-in was the only thing on my mind the second school let out on Friday afternoon. The new Duke's is an inherited name and logo, and nothing else. It lacks character, charisma and any vibe of an old school cruise night drive-in. The food was mostly edible, and that's a low bar for a diner. The sticky floors and propane tank don't add to the mystique, they make you a punch-line. You can't recreate an icon if you are just looking to slide by using someone else's brand. read more

Ordered 5 big beefs dipped with sweet and hot, ordered 5 fries. $115. Big beefs? They were 6" long. I felt ripped off when I got home to feed my family. Beef gravy has no flavor, not like it was in Burbank. I been going there with my friends as kids since 1976, this place is way overpriced and no flavor and ripping people off with 6" big beefs. I won't be back. I don't like to leave bad reviews but this place sucks. Not the same as it once was. read more

The nostalgia is gone, the employees don't care. There was nothing friendly or welcoming about my experience. It was $20 for three hotdog and two fries. The hotdog buns are stale. The pickles are mushy. I tried to make one of them a meal they told me I wasn't allowed to with a hot dog. Unfortunately, this seems to line up with the rest of the reviews that I've read. Come on Dukes, you can do better. read more

I ordered the Chicago style hotdog and fries. The cost was upwards of $10 for the entire meal. The service was fine and I went through the drive-through. Overall, I think there are a better choices for this type of food, including Joey's out on Route six and Wolf Road, which has much lower prices for Chicago, hot dogs, and fries read more

Ordered a beef with hot peppers plus a large cheese fry. Dukes just won a contest for the best beef in the Chicago area. Supposedly very good French fries too. Beef was decent, above average but no way the best. Buona Beef is superior. French fries were lame, undercooked. McDonald's makes better French fries. No Giardiniera, hot peppers had no kick or heat. Overpriced as a whole. Total ratings, 3 stars out of 5. read more

Duke's Drive In Mokena - Beef with hot peppers, no Giardiniera. Hot peppers had no spice/kick to them whatsoever. Beef was decent, hot peppers - Fast Food Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

We will no longer be back. We have been loyal once per week customers driving from Palos. On more than one occasion the beef has been bland. This time today, I asked the order taker if they could please stir the beef in hopes of getting the spices and the flavor we are accustomed to. I thought perhaps it just needed a good stirring. To no avail. Both of our sandwiches were bland. Dukes beef has a unique tasty flavor with a hint of spice. None of it was present. As we ate, I told my wife this place has now become 50/50. The odds are you may or may not get a flavorful beef sandwich like they served for DECADES in Bridgeview. I never ever recall getting a beef sandwich that was bland. Luke I hope you're reading this. In Bridgeview, I recall seeing the same women every time I went. These were mist likely owners/family. They were involved. In the day to day operations. You need to step into the Mokena restaurant and be involved. And do some quality control. In the absence of the owner things can go south. I am not exaggerating when I say the last 5-6 visits the beef sandwich has been bland. You need to get involved. When you first opened, the Beef sandwiches were phenomenal !!!!! Now they are disappointing. And we won't chance the commute for a 50/50 chance. At least Portillos is always consistent. Dukes definitely is not. And Portillos is where we will go. Just for the consistency. read more

Ordered the catering package for a grad party and received so many compliments from the guests. Everything was so good and a great value for the price. Will definitely use them again and I know some friends will be calling as well. read more

I've lost 25 pounds eating healthy food. However, I cheated today! My husband loves this place so I gave in and thought I'd give it a try. I enjoyed reading the signs while waiting for my burger and fries. This place has a 1950's nostalgia vibe. I like it! I ordered a burger with onions, mustard and butter pickles. They forgot the mustard but the burger was charbroiled and good! The service was good, too. It's a shame I can't come more often. My waistline doesn't likey! Oh, well! read more

See all

Back in the day we lived at Dukes in Bridge view...they were the best...now its just a name that was copied. Like so many other restaurants that were reborn with just a copied name..they are now dead to me. For beefs, Pops and Buona beef will now be my go to place for beefs, etc. Very sorry to see this go, but the taste just is not the same..sad. read more

I recently have gone here three times and I came away very disappointed. I am a long time customer from the Harlem days. But during these last visits the quality has gone downhill. The first visit at night sandwich was very very light on the beef with one piece of sweet pepper and tasted as if it was sitting in juice too long as it was very tough. The second visit at lunch time again the beef was hiding in the bread. Today I changed things up and ordered a combo with sweet peppers. The beef barely covered the sausage but I got two small pieces of peppers. Their sandwiches used to have enough beef you would have to eat some off the sandwich before trying to pick it up. Even though I am three minutes from there I will be hard pressed to return. read more

Ordered beef ahead of time still made me wait almost 15 minutes in the drive thru. Beef had no favor. Will not be going back

Over $3.50 for a Tom Tom tamale that is hardly edible and hard? The only good thing are the fries even the hotdog don't taste the same.

Pulled into the drive through no one was in front of me ..order Italian sausage with onions and red sauce 12 to 14 minutes later handed a sausage with no red sauce and one sliver of onion go inside three teenagers give me red sauce on the side with zero enthusiasm or regret... obviously quality control is nonexistent. Owner must think he can just be a turn key guy nothing like the old Dukes. read more

Never again is all I can say! They've always had the least friendly staff & I overlooked it. Usually go there about once a month. My husband grew up in Bridgeview & loved the food & car shows. Guess it's been a while since we've been there because I could not believe the price increase. They took the little beef off the menu. Upped the price for the regular beef & now charging for peppers? And almost $6 for fast food fries. You've got to be kidding. Over $35 for 2 beefs, fries & 1 drink. Good luck. You're gonna need it. read more

Way over priced. Paid $17 for 1 hotdog and 2 fries. Crazy. After leaving, I looked at the menu to see why was $17 and noticed that the hotdog I ordered should've came with fries and it didn't . Also, when they opened the drive-through window, they didn't even greet me. She just said the price and then she took my card and shut the window. Could of at least smiled read more

Stopped in about 7 pm Monday night and received unbelievably poor customer service. No one else was there and the three people who were working there didnt say a word to me or respond to my questions about what I wanted to order. The lack of any customer satisfaction was hard to believe. No one would even make eye contact. When I asked for the phone number of someone to call about this I was told I couldn't have it. I then after waiting awhile for my food I asked for my money back. They asked what was the issue? I told them no paying customer should be treated with such apathy. My money was returned and I went to another establishment. I don't think will ever return to Dukes again. read more

I thought I'd try this place because there weee a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews... I thought Portillo's was bad! My beef N cheddar croissant fell apart as I tried to pick it up. And yet the meat was dry. Not much flavor.. Onion rings were good, but no offer of a dipping sauce. Very disappointing. $17.... I won't be back... read more

Duke's Drive In Mokena - Over $6 for onion rings and no dipping sauce??! WOW - Fast Food Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

I had to sit back and think about how I wanted to review this place because I'm familiar with the original, highly successful Bridgeview location closing, this is the long awaited new location. None of the Dukes diehards would ever expect it to be part of a gas station but to anyone whose been there it isn't the same..... This place has had successful car shows but I will say this place is much cleaner, it has bathrooms, a much smaller scale menu. The food is still good and try to mock the facade of the Burbank location. This place features a drive thru which is beyond amazing I will say this Dukes has potential in due time. It's just trying to bring back its original clientele or the ones who left the Chicagoland area. Prices here are fair. So give it a chance. read more

Terrible terrible terrible. Staff is terrible and disgruntled. Don't even speak to you. Terrible food. Forgot my extras. No customers inside so definitely was on purpose. Never gonna go back read more

Went to have 2 hotdogs with everything. Received 2 hotdogs and shown where the ketchup and mustard packs were, after she put her finger in the air because she was busy. Not happy because service is generally good. lady today was not customer service friendly at all. read more

save yourself the money and DONT COME HERE, when i went in for my lunch break today they had really rotten costumer service. First they tried ringing my uber eats order ready almost 10 min before the actual order was ready, then when they gave me a shake with a hole in the cup and i simply asked for another cup they took my shake back to confirm the hole i guess. Then when they gave me the incorrect burger they insisted i was lying both cashiers and the cook even though i clearly was not, and when i tried just simply asking them to remake it the correct way they scrapped the old burger off and gave it to me then the cook cussed at me when i was leaving read more

The food wasn't hot . The service was horrible. We stood there waiting for someone to take our order. Two people working there didn't acknowledge us , they talked to themselves completely ignoring us . When our was taken, it was like he was doing us a favor. Eating next to a row of snacks was like eating in the middle of a grocery store. read more

This restaurant is in a Gas and Wash gas station. The Yelp reviews were good so we decided to try it. I had a beef sandwich on a croissant and it was very good but a bit dry. There is no kids menu and we had to order my daughter a regular size cheeseburger and she could not finish it because it was pretty big. Overall pretty good but the dining inside is odd being in a gas station but they keep it looking nice and clean. read more

Duke's Drive In Mokena - a family owned and operated drive - in - Fast Food Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

Went to Dukes beef today July 3rd at 3:45 PM to try this award winning beef. Went inside and was asked what I wanted by a teenage girl that had the all to custom bad attitude, " I really don't want to be here". I said I wanted a beef sandwich with extra gravy. She snapped at me and said, "We are out of beef". I stood there dumbfounded and then she said, "Out of sausage too, only hamburgers and hotdogs ". No apologies, just a blank stare! I never thought much of quality food prepared in a gas station. I hope the award can pay the over head. Won't be getting any of my money soon. No signature Beef, No customer service. No returning by me. read more

How can you eat inside it smells bad. I bought food inside but when I paid I was overwhelmed with a smell I couldn't even eat the beef I bought read more

Service was fast and fries are delicious. Hot dogs were edible. Pop was warm (served with no ice). The lady in the drive thru was not the friendliest. Better places out there for a hot dog read more

I generally like this place but I went in to get a sandwich and nobody was working. After waiting for 5 minutes I left, went and bought a drink from the gas station and when I was checking out the guy at dukes jumped out of the corner to scare the girl at great American bagel.ill never eat here again. Extremely unprofessional!!! read more

Service is so SLOW!!! The Prices are wayyy to high for a gas station quick eat. Even just too high in general. The food is average. Not worth the extra couple bucks. Disappointing. View from the drive thru window of the inside is a nightmare. Things are EVERYWHERE. Yikes. read more

Duke's Drive In Mokena - This shouldn't be what a person sees from the window. Management needs to take the time to clean and organize this MESS of a place. Yikes. - Fast Food Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

My rating is based solely on (lack of) customer service. Online ordered and paid for beef by the pound, loaf of bread and hot mix. Went inside to pick up, 2 employees working, neither acknowledged that I was waiting, no greeting, no we'll be there shortly, 1 other customer waiting for his order. When male finally came over, I gave him my name and he told me he couldn't give me the bread because they need 24hrs notice (although I've picked up same day before). Told them hmm, nothing on website mentioned that. Female then says they know nothing about website and shouldn't even give me the beef but they will this time. I asked if they were then refunding the bread. She said no...that I have to contact the website...huh? I said IT'S DUKE'S SITE! I asked her to just give me a credit for next time. She then proceeded to the drive thru to help them. She came back and grabbed slip of paper, took my last name. I asked if I get something. She said no that they stick credits on a board somewhere so mention it if and when I return. I've since double checked their site and no where does it mention advance ordering. There's also a discrepancy in beef prices between the catering and regular menus. This Duke's needs a more mature staff and some serious training in customer service...and maybe a 3rd employee during lunch..and update your website menus. We like Duke's food, glad they won the WGN contest, but less focus on the extracurriculars going on in the parking lot and focus on improving what's happening behind the counter. It's turning a lot of folks off. read more

Nastiest food I've ever tasted. You guys forgot my drink for Uber eats and still gave me a straw in the bag. Cheese curds taste like they were fried in funnel cake oil. Y'all need to shut down and shut down quickly! read more

Duke's Drive In Mokena - Nasty food. No attention to detail. - Fast Food Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

I grew up going to the Original Dukes in Bridgeview. This new location is just like any other small places attached to a gas station. The drive thru access is horrible. That being said ordered the beef/sausage combo and fries. Natural no peppers. Sandwich was very dry and had little to no flavor. Sausage which should be grilled did not have the snap it would have and that too was rather flavorless. Beef was dry and a lot of little bits. Nothing tasted like it had any seasoning. Fries were just meh. Can't honestly say I would recommend. Did not give me any fond memories. read more

Well...decided to stop in at the new location for lunch around 11:30am. Very disappointed with what I received! Ordered a cheeseburger with everything - bun was stale and burger was luke warm. As a side, ordered a 1/2 fry and received approximately 20 cold and old fries. Unfortunately, this kind of food isn't worth a dime of my money. I remember visiting the original location - so much better! read more

Great food and service just like the original. The fries are alway cooked to perfection.

Last Sunday I ordered a beef wet with hot peppers and onion ring. Let me tell you the beef was awesome. Loaded up, great tasting beef, excellent beef. The Onion rings were very good. But they were overpriced for what you got will never order them again. read more

The food was good but pricey. The service was good as well. However, I don't like that a fast food restaurant is begging for tips. This is a fast food drive thru not a sit down restaurant. read more

Thought we'd give it a try. Standard is Johnnies, in Elmwood Park. No one can beat that. The Italian sausage itself (Russo's) was tasty but the roll was too rubbery.The fries were ordered fresh & hot and they were so soggy. Hubby had the Italian beef....too dry (the meat itself) although bun was wet. So wont be going back. Also dont like the gas station thing. Parking is not good. read more

Just had Duke's Combo Beef & Sausage which was about a tie with Buona, which is a compliment. I think Buona's shredded Mozzarella might be higher quality and more tasty, but Duke's sliced isn't that far behind. The sausage sticks out an inch from the bun on each end, so for $10.79 (8.79 plus 1.25 for cheese) can't really complain about price either. Better than Pop's but I personally prefer the beef from Portillo's which I think is best in Chicago, but like the sausage at Duke's better. Employees at Duke's are helpful and polite, unlike the Zombies from Portillo's!!! So good to give other places some needed competition! They should consider expanding into more neighborhoods. read more

We spent $59 here. They charged us $8 for their hot and sweet peppers which is included with their meals "because we ordered them on the side" we didn't want our sandwiches soggy, unbelievable. Will never go back here, solo based off of that disgusting $8 + we tipped $7, for something that's already included. And they forgot our red sauce too. Horrible. Please check your receipts, the manager should be fired. read more

They really packed their sandwiches with a lot of beef. Delicious! Now I know what the hype is about! Will definitely come back. read more

Duke's Drive In Mokena - a meat sandwich on a roll - Fast Food Near Me - Mokena, Illinois

Went for drag car night and for a new location they had a great turnout. Sausage sandwich had a little kick and was outstanding. read more

Duke's Drive In Mokena - Drag car night had a great turnout. - Fast Food Near Me - Mokena, Illinois