CREST HILL, IL — The Joliet area remains the proud home for one of the oldest sit-down restaurants in the Midwest — and this week marks the 90th anniversary for Merichka's Food, a restaurant at 604 Theodore St., known for its delicious, "world-famous" poorboy garlic butterine sandwiches.
"There is a nostalgia," co-manager Joe Zdralevich III said. "Old places are attractive to the new generation. Since their parents brought them here, they're bringing their kids here. Seeing our customers happy leaving, I'm so appreciative. It makes everything worth it."
According to the Merichka's menu, "On April 18, 1933, when Prohibition was repealed, Mary (Merichka) Zdralevich and her son Joe started Merichka's ... As business grew, so did the size of the restaurant, with son Joe doing most of the remodeling himself."
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Today, 11 employees are fourth- and fifth-generation descendants of the original owner. Ryan George and Joe Zdralevich III are co-managers.
Ryan's mother, Mary Kay George is the owner of Merichka's.
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Poorboy Sandwich Idea Came From Kentucky Derby
Back in the 1930s, "they were selling to construction workers who were building Route 7 and shift change workers at the factories," explained Joe Zdralevich, 40, during Thursday's interview with Joliet Patch's editor. "(Merichka) was selling sandwiches off her porch basically."
And, believe it or not, for about the first 25 years of the restaurant's existence, Merichka's didn't have its signature poorboy sandwich on the menu.
That creation would not come along until around 1959.
According to the family history, Joe's grandfather and Rose "Rosie" Kolenc, who ran the Merichka's kitchen for 46 years, introduced the poorboy to the menu after attending the Kentucky Derby during the 1950s.
In Kentucky, the two came across a sandwich and eventually created their own version.
"So they kind of came up with 'poorboy,' a play on the word 'po'boy,'" Merichka's co-manager explained.
The poorboy was added to the menu in 1959 and the rest is history.
"So the story we've been told is that it hit off real quickly, almost immediately. My dad always said that," explained Joe Zdralevich III.
Merichka's poorboy is made from cube steak and every sandwich is about 6 ounces of meat.
"And it's all the same cubing and the machines are still the same for all our tenderizing," the fourth-generation manager explained.
Since the 1970s, Len Bluth "makes our poorboys," while Mike Zelinski has been a head butcher for decades. Zelinski came to work at Merichka's out of high school, joining the restaurant in 1967. To this day, he still works part-time.
"Mike does a lot of steaks," Joe Zdralevich remarked.
After Joe Sr. passed away in 1989, the third generation of family consisting of Joe Zdralevich Jr., Mary Kay George and George Zdralevich took ownership and continued the tradition. George Zdralevich passed away in 2017 and Joe Zdralevich Jr. passed away in 2020.
Merichka's can seat about 175 people in the main floor dining areas, plus another 130 to 150 in its banquet hall. Unlike most sit-down restaurants, you won't find a single booth inside Merichka's. It's always been that way.
Tables. Tables. Tables.
Everything's tables. And it's staying that way.
"Expansion-wise, for here, we're maxed out," Joe Zdralevich remarked.
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2020 Pandemic Was Challenging Time For Merichka's
Over the decades, thousands of people from the Joliet area have been employed at Merichka's and their names are memorialized in index cards kept by the family ownership.
Nowadays, Merichka's has more than 70 employees, both part-time and full-time.
The 2020 global pandemic and the shutdown of indoor bars and restaurants for several months signified troubled waters for Merichka's, but Merichka's loyal and faithful customers came through, keeping the landmark restaurant going.
"They really were fantastic, and our employees were so loyal," Joe III explained. During the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, "carryout business was fantastic," he noted.
Right now, "Carryout is about 25 percent of business," Merichka's manager noted.
He said that Merichka's has always strived to be known as a steakhouse-supper club, similar to the popular longtime supper club tradition in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.
Now, it's 90 years old and still going strong.
"People love the nostalgia fact. It's great. We're extremely proud that we're still around, and hopefully for many years to come. I think a lot of people look for places like this," Joe III told Patch.
Where Do Merichka's Famous Poorboys Come From?
The answer has been Whittingham Meats in Alsip, for at least the last decade.
"They've just been really great to work with," the co-manager said. "They supply us with the inside rounds that we trim. Also the steaks, chops and chicken."
As far as the poorboy's smashing success, Joe III said, "every poorboy is a little unique. It's each made by hand and we try to be consistent as possible, but it's not coming out of a big factory."
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One of its most popular seafood selections, the Icelandic Cod, comes through its supplier, Sysco, which is based in Villa Park. Merichka's has been using the same brand for decades.
Another interesting footnote in its history: Merichka's was originally in Joliet when it opened in 1933. During the 1960s, Joe III explained, the property was incorporated into Crest Hill, and it's remained that way.
To this day, the other side of Theodore Street opposite of Merichka's remains part of Joliet.
How Many Poorboys Does Merichka's Make?
So, how many poorboys does Merichka's sell in a given week?
"We average around 2,000," he said.
During the past 20 years, Merichka's added a grilled chicken poorboy and a spicy chicken poorboy to the menu. However, Merichka's does not count those two different items as part of their tally of regular poorboy sales.
Menu Expanded About 20 Years Ago
Since the early to mid-2000s, the Merichka's menu has expanded to offer pork chops as well as salmon. There are no plans to make any sweeping changes to the 2023 menu.
"The early to mid 2000s was the menu expansion," Joe III explained. "We didn't want to fix what wasn't broken. We're like a supper club, with the homemade double-baked potato."
Fried chicken and the steaks are two of the other top sellers on the menu. As for a third menu hit, "the Yodel Burger is right in the ballpark," Joe III said.
Merichka's is known for its steaks, notably the filet and ribeyes.
"Since we have our own butcher shop, we are also known for our cuts of red meat," Joe III remarked.
And when it comes to appetizers, there's plenty of choices, but the giant onion rings typically win out. Making the onion rings is very labor-intensive.
"We cut them and we bread them. It takes days and days per week."
The last major remodeling effort took place in 2009 with the front entrance. The 1993 renovations involved the bar entrance and porch seating area. On Thursday, Patch toured the kitchen and the basement.
"It is a labyrinth," Joe III said. "My grandfather pieced this place together."
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There are giant sacks of potatoes and onions stored in the big walk-in cooler downstairs.
And the basement is also keeper to one of the great treasures of Merichka's poorboyland —it's where the garlic butterine is sent to age for at least a few weeks.
Why do the poorboy sandwiches taste so good? It's all in the garlic butterine. "That's where the flavor is," Joe III said.
"The garlic butterine is made by hand to age. Fresh garlic has to be from California and the potency can change based on the seasons. But it's a fresh-grown item."
One of the recurring requests from people across the United States is shipping the garlic butterine poorboy sandwiches and Merichka's famous house dressing, which Joe described as "a French/Russian concoction."
"Right now, it's a work in progress," he said, of shipping Merichka's food. "We've done trial runs, but it has not worked out. The big problem is just the cost. And dry ice doesn't last forever."
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