PJ's Restaurant: The Oldest Mokena Business You Might Never Have Heard Of

Hot dogs are a staple of American cuisine, Chicago is known for its Chicago-style hot dog and Mokena is known for , which serves up an array of hot dogs, hamburgers, gyros and other American diner staples.

According to Pauline Stevens, owner of the business, PJ's Restaurant has been serving up American cuisine for 23 years in Mokena. The restaurant will celebrate its 24th year in business next month.

Stevens said that she used to sell real estate in Mokena and the outlying areas. In time, her heart was set on opening a business.

“I thought it’d be an up and coming area for a business, and I saw this one was for sale, so I bought it,” Stevens explained.

A restaurant once called The Space Shuttle was converted into PJ's Restaurant, coming along with a whole new menu. Stevens said the P stands for Pauline and the J stands for Joe, her husband.

After her husband passed away, Stevens continued running the business with her son, Dan. The two of them now solely take care of satisfying appetites at their diner in Mokena.

PJ's Restaurant is open Monday through Saturday, with different specials offered each day. For example, the day I visited, there was a hot dog and fries special for $1.99 and an Italian beef sandwich, small fries and small drink for $5.99. Then there are the specials available for a week at a time, such as the double cheeseburger, medium fries and medium drink for $5.49, and the cheeseburger, small fries and medium drink for $4.09.

Other menu items include polish sausage, fish sandwich, poor boy, pizza puffs, fried shrimp and chicken cordon blue.

“Customers’ favorite items change up everyday, along with the specials,” Stevens mused. “One day it’ll be the double cheese, the next it’ll be the gyro.”

Stevens stated that many of their customers are industrial workers, located in the close proximity to the restaurant, and also customers that have been coming for as long as she remembers. Some even move away and come back to visit.

“We’ve made so many friends, and we’ve seen young children come in here that grow up and have children of their own. It’s really remarkable what we’ve seen in the 23 years we’ve been here,” Stevens said.

Though Stevens said business has gotten slow the past few years, she said they’ve been in Mokena for so long, they just plan on continuing to hang in there.

“We just take it a day at a time,” Stevens said.

Why do customers keep coming back? Besides the comfort of getting to know the people serving the food, and aside from the daily specials you can’t find anywhere else, the food is also cooked up fresh to order every time.

“The food is freshly made and you get personal service,” Stevens said. “We try to do our best to serve the people.”

Check out and support one of Mokena’s 23-year-old businesses while getting to know Pauline and Dan, both Mokena residents.

PJ's Restaurant is located at 19414 La Grange Road and offers indoor seating and take-out. Call 708-479-1750 for more information.