Happily located in the bustling streets of Lincoln Park, Minnies offers a new, bite-sized look at dining out. The nostalgic, diner-like restaurant serves an assortment of gourmet sandwiches no bigger than the traditional White Castle slider.

I arrived with two friends a little before 6 p.m. on a Wednesday. The bar and dining area were pretty empty at first, yet as our food arrived the atmosphere livened up. The fact that the restaurant serves tiny portions means the it can become infested with small, loud and obnoxious children. The kids don’t ruin the overall dining experience though. Besides, since Minnies is open daily from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. (with a convenient 24-hour take out window) and provides delivery, the kicking and screaming crowd can be avoided.

The menu offers 20 different gourmet sandwiches. At first, choosing which ones I wanted seemed like an overwhelming task. I thought I was going to spend more time ordering than actually eating the food. Then, like an angel sent from above, the waitress appeared and explained the stipulations for ordering.

Sandwiches can only be ordered in pairs of three ($7), six ($13), or 12 ($24). Luckily, you can mix and match your selection: one order of three sandwiches could potentially contain three different sandwiches.

The waitress recommended the pulled pork, the cheeseburger, and the beef tenderloin…all quite appealing.

After discussing amongst ourselves, we all agreed to order three sandwiches apiece. I decided on the barbecue pulled pork, the beef tenderloin, and the pesto chicken. Some of the other items my friends ordered were:
- The Mykonos (roast chicken, tzatziki sauce, kalamata olives and feta on a baguette),
- The tuna Minnie melt (homemade tuna salad, melted gruyere cheese on a baguette)
- Melted brie (imported brie cheese, apricot spread and toasted almonds on a baguette)
- Classic grilled cheese

The food was delivered only ten minutes after ordering. The sandwiches came on a small bento–box-like tray.

First, I tried the barbecue pulled pork. As I took the first bite, I began to regret the fact that I didn’t get a trio of pulled pork. The tender and savory meat was tightly packed between a warm and soft brioche bun.

Next, I grabbed the tenderloin. It didn’t match the high expectations set by the pulled pork, but it was still decent. It had a small piece of roast tenderloin, lyonnaise sauce and baby greens on the brioche bun.

The pesto chicken was last on the plate. On it was a good portion of chicken (for the size of the bun) dressed in basil pesto and topped with melted mozzarella cheese. A very good choice, I must say.

Other menu items include: skinny Minnie salads, infamous frites, classic chili and a fairly large assortment of alcoholic beverages (poured from mini bottles). The house special, nestled in the bottom corner of the menu, offers 3 sandwiches with infamous frites and an 8 oz. carafe of wine.

The trays were now cleared and it was time for dessert. I was not stuffed by any means, just satisfied. If you’re a little hungry, the portion sizes are perfect: not too big and not too small and a whole lot of flavor. If you’ve got a real appetite though, go for six sandwiches instead of three.

The waitress told us about the three, somewhat skimpy, dessert options: a butterscotch freeze, five small mint chocolate chip cookies, or a hot-fudge cookie sundae. My friends and I of course ordered the sundae, which ended up being surprisingly big compared to the sandwiches. Another good choice.

Then came the moment of truth: the check.

The total for three (nine sandwiches and two sundaes) was a little less than thirty dollars. Not bad in my opinion, but definitely not the bang for your buck that Olive Garden offers.

I left happy. Minnies was a great and unique escape from the same old Evanston fare. Certainly worth a visit.