We started our Tuesday morning with the usual question (after the complete hecticness of sending the kids off to school), Where should we have breakfast? We needed to have a good relaxing breakfast since afterward we were off to the accountant to do our taxes. We decided to go back to one of our favorite restaurants, The Depot American Diner.
The Depot is an an unusual place. Located on Roosevelt Rd. about 2 blocks east of Austin Ave. with limited parking, limited seating and an old fashioned diner ambiance it looks like and is located like a typical greasy spoon but it is decidedly not. The food is all fresh, extremely tasty and made to order. This is our second visit here for breakfast.
The most difficult part of writing this blog today is just sticking to today's breakfast. We could tell you how delicious the pot roast, hot turkey sandwich, meatloaf, spaghetti, and hot made to order donuts are but that would all be from our previous dinners (okay, donuts are breakfast food too but not for the two of us) at this restaurant. We do highly recommend ALL of the above meals!
For those of you who might not know, this week is National Pancake week. So, to celebrate we both had pancakes for breakfast. Actually, we had read in one of the Oak Park's weekly papers that the Depot had the best pancakes in Chicago, a claim that could not go untested. Usually I can eat about half of a large plate of pancakes but today I could not stop eating.
The plates came to the table with about 6 good sized pancakes fanned across the plate. It is difficult to describe how good these pancakes were so I will begin with what they were not. They were not spongy. They were not soggy. They were not eggy. They were not sugary. They were not dry. They were not too buttery. They were not floury. They were balanced pancake perfection. Each bite was chewy, sometimes crisp on the edges with hints of vanilla. They were the best pancakes we have ever eaten.
The coffee was good too.
Dinner can sometimes feel a little rushed here but weekday breakfast was very relaxing. On our way out we asked a man sitting at the counter how his oatmeal was. He said that it was as good as oatmeal can be. (I guess that is an endorsement)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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After you've hit all of the Oak Park eateries, why not check out the Arlington Heights one for me.
ReplyDeleteAnne
Max sent the coffee gang there in January, and we too gave it very high marks! Mike M
ReplyDeleteBefore it became gentrified, the Depot's predecessor, was a real greasy spoon where people from all walks of life would gather at the small counter - an Italian house painters, eastern European construction workers, a black minister on his way to church, street people. A three egg breakfast was $2.98 (with "meat"). The door in the back was marked "out of order." Behind it was an illegal slot machine (or video poker).
ReplyDeleteThe cook was a skinny man with shirtsleeves rolled up and a cigarette dangling from his lips.
I used to bike over there every Sunday morning until I realized why I had a stomach ache every Sunday afternoon.
Ahh the good old days
We eat at the Depot at least every other week. The apple pancakes are perfection on a plate.
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