After airport expansion forced the Kapasouris family to close their restaurant behind O’Hare 15 years ago, they headed to South Elgin, a relocation check in hand, and bought Wee-Dee’s Fast Food, keeping the original name.
“It took three months to get a sign made and we were scared to put up a new sign because we were afraid people would think we were flipping the place,” said Peter Kapasouris, co-owner with parents Pete and Golsa.
So the name Wee-Dee’s stuck, but the menu expanded beyond what the previous owners served. “We brought a lot of our items, and all the breakfast ones are ours,” Kapasouris said.
That includes six breakfast combos and biggest seller the No. 1, with three eggs and bacon, sausage, ham or gyro meat with potato, toast and drink; or the Wee-Dee’s Skillet, with bacon, sausage, ham, green peppers, onions, tomato, cheese, eggs and hash browns.
Wee-Dee’s serves breakfast all day and also offers 20 value meals for lunch and dinner. “The gyro is the biggest seller,” Kapasouris said. “We make the sauce ourselves and go through tubs of it every two days. And our Greek chicken and half fried chicken with all the spices.”
Everything is made to order, Kapasouris said. “And all our steaks, we pick our steaks twice a week. We cut everything, whether that’s chicken or hash browns.”
Kapasouris said he enjoys serving people “quality food and hearing people tell me ‘This is the best gyro we’ve ever had.’ Good food fast, that’s what my dad says.”
Philosophy: “It’s more of to get the most for your money. You get a lot of food for the price. Our gyro platter is $8 but everyone gets that with three pitas and three people will eat it,” Kapasouris said.
Decor: In progress. The outside will have a new canopy and be painted something other than gray. “If you have any ideas for paint, let me know,” Kapasouris said.
Specialties: Breakfast skillets, omelets, platters, pita wraps and pancakes served all day. Twenty value meals with fries and a drink, from burgers to Italian beef to gyros to chicken and steak souvlaki.
We’re different because: “We sell everything,” Kapasouris said.
Price range: Breakfast from $3.49 for a breakfast sandwich to $8.25 for a steak skillet. Value meals from $5.59 for a two-hot dog meal to $8.45 for New York steak on garlic bread. Sandwiches from $4.05 for fish to $5.99 for a beef and sausage combo; hot dogs from $1.99 to $3.99 for a patty melt. Salads from $6.95 to $8.35. Subs from $5.45 to $6.45. Pitas for $5.39. Entrees from $7.55 for spaghetti and meatballs to $9.95 for half-pound of jumbo shrimp.
Logistics: Wee-Dee’s is at 3 N. LaFox St., South Elgin. Hours are 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Contact 847-741-4075 or www.facebook.com/Wee-Dees-Fast-Food-100208353393537/.
Shonda Talerico Dudlicek is a freelance writer for The Courier-News.
