Breakfast near O'Hare?

I'm looking to meet a few relatives for breakfast (of the pancakes/omelets variety) on my way to O'Hare next weekend. While the restaurant at the O'Hare Hilton has sufficed in the past, I know I can get better food elsewhere, and all involved would prefer not to worry about airport parking.

The Original Pancake House in Park Ridge would fit the bill. Anyone have any other suggestions?

This has been discussed to deathin the past. Search is your friend.

Sally's on Harlem Avenue is a typical Chicago pancake house that serves the whol gamut of breakfast items. The Phoenix at Cumberland and Lawrence is more an egg and omlette place than a gret pancake place.

It's not right next door, but on Higgins, just west of River Road, (Rosemont) you'll find Pancakes Eggcetera, which never disappoints. They have all your usuals, plus a little lunch, big glasses of juice (not those little tiny things), and the best Cheese Blintzes I ever had. They're fat, filled with a mixture of four different cheeses, not at all gummy or fake-tasting, and come with sour cream and FRESH strawberries with none of that "when in season" bullshit. I think they close by 3pm.

YourPalWill wrote:Sally's on Harlem Avenue is a typical Chicago pancake house that serves the whol gamut of breakfast items. The Phoenix at Cumberland and Lawrence is more an egg and omlette place than a gret pancake place.

Let me add that the baked apple pancake at Sally's is outstanding. It's in the Walker Brothers style, but without all of the brown sugar on top.

That Guy on the L wrote:I'm looking to meet a few relatives for breakfast (of the pancakes/omelets variety) on my way to O'Hare next weekend. While the restaurant at the O'Hare Hilton has sufficed in the past, I know I can get better food elsewhere, and all involved would prefer not to worry about airport parking.

The Original Pancake House in Park Ridge would fit the bill. Anyone have any other suggestions?

I'm a huge fan of:
Sunrise Grill
1930 E Touhy Ave
Des Plaines
(847) 298-1600

It's between River & Mannheim on the north side of the street in a small strip mall.

Great omelettes and pancakes.

I had to register to respond to this.

---->>>>>> If I were given a choice between McDonalds and Sallys, I would choose McDonalds. Seriously. McDonalds never gave me a $9 tasteless omelet with literally two small wedges of shitty sausage (as if they cut up a brown-n-serve and only threw in the two tiny end slices of one sausage). That was the only place where I was actually offended by the food I was served and I'm not that type. I sent the damn thing back and asked them what the hell was wrong with them. Hell, even my waitress was like WTF and that should tell you something.

The Sunrise Grill mentioned above is good. Mac's on Higgins is good. The Original Pancake House in Park Ridge is good, they have some of the best bacon I've had. I'd go to the Original Pancake House all the time if it wasn't in Park Ridge.

Nothing is particularly outstanding around here.

Some generalizations about Chicago breakfast:

1. For some odd reason, "hash browns" in Chicago are somewhat akin to "BBQ" (places with smokers not included... those are NEW mostly) in Chicago, meaning that the food has absolutely no resemblance to what any sane person with taste would recognize. They are merely chopped potatoes with none of the buttery, crispy excellence that someone who has actually travelled to a normal place that serves such would expect. It makes you long for a Waffle House near a Walmart and that's just sad.

2. The pancakes are thick and spongey. They suck. Thinking about razor thin flap jacks or mouth watering stacks of wafer thin deliciousness with slightly crispy edges covered in butter and real maple syrup? Forget about it! You'll get spongey, soggy, textureless piles of goo that excite about as much as our current lineup of Presidential hopefuls.

Yuck.

Anyway, one surprise I've had is Firewater in Edison Park.
Firewater Saloon
6689 N Oliphant Ave
Chicago, IL 60631
United States

It has a southern motif and the breakfast is actually very good. It was a shock to me, but I discovered it one day when out for morning bloody mary's. I very much appreciate the fact that they make a damn fine somewhat southern breakfast. Keep the tofu topped kale bagels and give me some lard dammit.

Also worth mentioning is the Mecca in Edison Park. They have an "all you can eat" breakfast on Sunday mornings. They have some damn good bacon, but the rest is OK and the place is dim which makes you think you're eating in the back of some weirdo's van in the Wisconsin backwoods bumping your head against the shag covered walls as you eat.

The neighborhood favorite (which usually doesn't mean much, but in this case has some merit) is Elly's Pancake House on Cumberland (the one on Cumberland, not the one on Northwest Highway, that one sucks -- I have no idea how, but they have managed to make one location not as good as the other, a feat in and of itself if you ask me). Now this place is pretty good and probably what you're looking for. I'd say that Firewater is better, but Elly's has the selection you are probably looking for and it's pretty good.

Now excuse me, but I am going to continue my quest for a better breakfast in this bastion of working class culinary boredom known as the far northwest side....

The Firewater Saloon in the Edison Park neighborhood of Chicago is the best breakfast spot on the Northwest Side near O'hare Airport. When it's warm out in the summer, they have a small outdoor eating area on the sidewalk which is also a nice option. The owner is very involved and very much cares about whatever customer complaints come her way. It's just a good, neighborhood spot. All they need to do now is add some fresh squeezed orange juice to their menu. Try the country fried steak with the sausage gravy. Good stuff.

Just my humble two cents.

Good Eating As Always,

deepdish