Chicago’s Best Comfort Food To-Go: AJ Hudson’s Public House

Julio, comfort for a lot of people, your mac and cheeses and your meatloaves. A.J. Hudson's had something else that I find very comforting, which is soccer. Pre-COVID days, we could fill the room, all patio full, standing capacity, people singing, chanting, they're a favorite team. Grab a beer, watch a game, and enjoy great food. Can we talk about your fabulous grilled cheese sandwich? It's delicious. Comes with caramelized onion, three different types of cheeses, very portable, you can have a beer in one hand or a piece in the other hand, celebrate a goal. If the opposing team has scored a goal and you spot someone in a replica jersey, you can possibly toss pieces of cheese at them. I don't know if you would want to do that just because the grilled cheese is so good. Maybe you want to toss something else. What are you guys doing during the current rounds of rollbacks with things like takeout and delivery? We're trying to keep everyone very comfortable, keeping the air flowing through our windows. We bought heat lamps, have TVs outdoors so you can watch, try to make the outdoor warm and comfortable as possible. Jerome is the chef in the kitchen. He's the one that makes me look good. He's the midfield maestro who sprays the beautiful passes in order for you to score goals. Yes. Jerome, Julio describes you as kind of a midfield dynamo who has great vision in terms of cooking food to deliver to the masses outside A.J. Hudson's. Especially in these times, very important to have food on the menu that travels well, that's going to have the same quality when people are staying home and getting delivery. It's really important. We have multiple ways that you can order us. We're on all the major platforms and you can order right off of our website as well. I heard a lot from Julio about this elevated, more adult version of the classic grilled cheese. We use a local bakery, Alpha. Their local sourdough panini gets made fresh every day. It's going to get the aged cheddar and the shredded mozzarella. We're going to brulee a little Swiss on top. Give it that kind of French onion feel. You're telling me the Swiss goes on the outside? Three cheeses. Now we're adding a layer of crispy, salty, fatty deliciousness in the shape of bacon. We're also bringing some nice caramelized onions to the party as well. The layers just keep on happening. You can see we've got a little caramelization on the bread here. We're going to add some Swiss, melt it in the oven, and then we're going to hit it with some fresh chives right at the end. You blow my mind. Well, that's what we try to do. Regular bar food that's kind of stepped up a notch and it's going to hopefully blow people's mind and make them want to come back. Getting starving here. We've got caramelization on the cheese. Bread is nice and toasty. Bacon looks crisp. I think it's time to go ahead and add the chives. We're going to slice it on the bias and serve it with some French fries. That's our dish complete right there. Bacon, onion, and grilled cheese. Jerome, the midfield maestro, opens up the oven, loses two markers as he spins with the grilled cheese. He places it down, throws on the fries, and it's a goal! Do we have to wait for VAR? No, I've just called it. It's a goal. And you were right, Julio, about Jerome in the kitchen. Instead of using his feet like a soccer player, it's his fingers that are nimble. He's basically a little messy in the kitchen. And I don't mean like he makes a mess. I mean like Barcelona player, M-E-S-S-I. He is a true magician. People here love him. The neighborhood loves him. He's elevated our food. I've been asked to invite our executive chef. Should we dive right in before the match starts? Clean. What makes this a champions league winning team is the caramelized onion adds that delicious, sumptuous French onion soup element to it. And then the Swiss on the outside with those chives sprinkled on top. It just enhances the familiar flavors, but gives it an adult elevated level that's just comfort perfection. Divine, is it not? Puts you at ease. Forget about the outside world. Forget about what's going on. You're just at peace with your sandwich, your game, your beer, like you're resting at home. We all need a little bit of comfort right now in our lives. We may not all agree on which team to support, but we can all agree to be on team grilled cheese because this bad boy, if it hasn't won the world cup yet, it's going to in the next four years. Very true.