Merichka’s in Crest Hill now selling its house dressing at Berkot’s grocery stores

Devotees of Merichka’s Restaurant in Crest Hill can now purchase the restaurant’s signature house salad dressing at Berkot’s Super Foods.

Joe Zdralevich III, Merichka’s co-manager, said he was told all Berkot locations should have the 12-ounce bottles on their shelves by the end of the week.

“We are beyond excited,” Zdralevich III said. “Unfortunately, my dad passed [in 2020], because this is something he’d really be glad to see.”

When Merichka’s announced the news Monday on its Facebook page, hundreds of people commented.

“This was a long time coming,” Zdralevich III said. “The outpouring of support has been really nice to see.”

Merichka’s has been family-owned and operated since 1933 when Mary (Merichka) and her son Joe started the restaurant, according to the Merichka’s website.

Zdralevich III said Rose Kolenc, Merichka’s head cook and chef in the 1950s, created the house salad dressing along with “most of the staple items we offer still today.”

Through the years, customers have asked to purchase some of those staples for home use, such as the house salad dressing and the garlic butter, Zdralevich III said.

Customers who’ve moved away have asked if Merichka’s can ship some of those staples – including the restaurant’s famous poor boys – for “a little taste of home,” Zdralevich III said.

So for a long time, Merichka’s wanted to get some staple items to customers unable to dine at the actual restaurant building, Zdralevich III said.

Yet to do so meant stepping “outside of our comfort zone,” he added. That was challenging because customers appreciate Merichka’s consistency, he feels.

“We never change,” Zdralevich III said. “We keep doing the same thing over and over. … That’s why we’ve been around for 91 years and why we’re even able to do this.”

“The outpouring of support has been really nice to see.”

—  Joe Zdralevich III, co-manager of Merichka's in Crest Hill

The logical test product was the house dressing, since “we have always sold it at the restaurant,” Zdralevich III said, but the process for making the house salad dressing for restaurant use is different than making it for shelf storage.

“But it’s a simple process,” Zdralevich III said. “And around 2019, we found a cold packer that was able to make it. They sent some samples, and it was great.”

The entire project went on the back burner with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Zdralevich III said. Joe Zdralevich Jr. – Zdralevich III’s father – also died in 2020, further dampening enthusiasm for the project.

However in 2024, Merichka’s was finally able to revisit it, he said.

“We’re hoping it does great,” Zdralevich III said.

If it does, Merichka’s might distribute another popular staple.

“The garlic butter is another thing customers ask for,” he said.

Making the garlic butter in-house starts with fresh garlic that’s been aged for three weeks, he said. Adapting the garlic butter to sell outside the restaurant would be more complicated than adapting the house dressing, he said.

“We’re taking it step-by-step,” Zdralevich III said. “We’re starting with the house dressing and seeing how it goes from there.”