Kappy's Restaurant?

I've driven by Kappy's many, many times and no matter what time of day I do so, the place is jammed. Anyone ever been there? Says it's a pancake house but they must do some other good stuff around dinnertime.

rdstoll wrote:I've driven by Kappy's many, many times and no matter what time of day I do so, the place is jammed. Anyone ever been there? Says it's a pancake house but they must do some other good stuff around dinnertime.

Do you mean this place?


If so:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=25309#25309

It's a great place; go thither and check it out. No panqueques, though, at least so far as I've seen.

Where is the one you're talking about?

Antonius

Addendum It seems there is a place in the suburbs that better fits what you mention, but that makes me wonder whether there is a historical relationship between the New Kappy's of La Villita and the one in the burbs. The one in Little Village clearly was a non-Mexican restaurant once upon a time. Maybe the owner sold his place and moved out west.

A

It's this one:

http://www.kappysrestaurant.com/

7200 West Dempster Street
Morton Grove, IL 60053
Phone 847 470 1900
Fax 847 470 0252

902 West Dundee Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Phone 847 577 7444
Fax 847 577 8118

Very popular breakfast spots, but I can't see anything on the menu that suggests why dinner should be popular, other than force of habit for a certain coffeeshop-dining crowd and age.

P.S. Actually it's surprising who Kappy's (suburban) turns out to be related to (which doesn't entirely rule out the long-ago connection to the city, as apparently these guys bought the suburban Kappy's from a previous owner):

http://www.tagrestaurants.com/company.html

Having been at Navy Pier fairly recently, I will say that as plastic as this site makes them look, Carnelli's Deli and America's Dog looked pretty decent for tourist-area-concession food. I'm sure you could do worse there.

We have eaten lunch at Kappy's (Dempster location) on several occasions when location was important. Typical decent but not outstanding Greek-owned family restaurant with low prices. I think that the prices go a long way toward explaining the crowds at dinner.

its a typical American style diner food which if your looking for about same quality I would suggest Omega Restaurant on Golf. Similiar food but I think the quality is a little better especially the baked goods and soups.

polster wrote:its a typical American style diner food which if your looking for about same quality I would suggest Omega Restaurant on Golf.

I was going to ask about that one too. There seem to be many, many family-owned spots in that area that are halfway decent. That's why I like the area so much.

Will give Kappy's a try here in the next week or so.

polster wrote:its a typical American style diner food which if your looking for about same quality I would suggest Omega Restaurant on Golf. Similiar food but I think the quality is a little better especially the baked goods and soups.

The last time (and I do mean last) I dined at Omega, they served me a matzoh ball that was blue on the bottom. I am not speculating what might have caused them to turn blue, but that just ain't right. I hadn't experienced anything like that since high scoool.

i'd agree with ekreider's comments about kappy's. nothing mind-blowing, but good standard dishes.

that said, the one thing that really struck me on the half-a-dozen occasions i've been to the dempster location was the friendliness of the staff, and how they really made you feel like you were eating in their dining room. kappy's also apparently has a ton of regulars, and each time i've been there, i saw the apparent owners/managers chatting with many of them like they'd been friends for years. in fact they might have been.

i only recenly visited the dundee location, but i've been going to restaurants at that location (ada's, the belden, ...) for years. i think the ownership has always remained the same, tho i could be wrong. the food quality and offerings are about the same as the dempster location. i had no faults with the service at the dundee location, but it does not have that warm, family feel that the dempster location does.

Last night I was watching a show about pancakes on Food network, so I made my husband go to Kappy's at 9:00 to get some! They were very good and very cheap. They were big and fluffy and had a nice texture. That was my first Kappy's experience.

foo d wrote:that said, the one thing that really struck me on the half-a-dozen occasions i've been to the dempster location was the friendliness of the staff, and how they really made you feel like you were eating in their dining room. kappy's also apparently has a ton of regulars, and each time i've been there, i saw the apparent owners/managers chatting with many of them like they'd been friends for years. in fact they might have been.

On that note....

WBEZ's Eight-Forty-Eight did a nice piece on Kappy's today.

Audio available here

I guess I've got to go try the Athenian chicken.

Best,
Michael

Whenever I order Athenian chicken I always ask for extra juice.

"You lika the juice."

Nod.

"He lika the juice," to his compatriot.

"I get more juice."

Nod.

-ramon

I've always been an Athenian Room room purist when it comes to Kalamata chicken extra juice for the fries. Let us know if it's as good.

nicinchic wrote:I've always been an Athenian Room room purist when it comes to Kalamata chicken extra juice for the fries. Let us know if it's as good.

Cross Rhodes has the same chicken and fries, if you find yourself in Evanston in need of a fix. There is a (stormy) family connection to Athenian Room.

According to the Mount Prospect Journal (can't find a link to the story), the Morton Grove Kappy's is closing on the 15th for three weeks for a $300K makeover, and changing the name to "Kappy's American Grill"
About half the menu is staying the same (they say that half accounts for 90% of sales), the rest trimmed off with about 25% new items added on.

There is also a Kappy's in Villa Park on Roosevelt and Ardmore. It's been there for years and recently changed ownership. Not a "destination" for me. I've lived in the area for over 30 years and can count the number of times I've been there on one hand.

Ms. Ingie wrote:There is also a Kappy's in Villa Park on Roosevelt and Ardmore. It's been there for years and recently changed ownership. Not a "destination" for me. I've lived in the area for over 30 years and can count the number of times I've been there on one hand.

I used to go there all the time as Willowbrook high school is only a few block away as is my parents old house. Used to be open 24 hours but now apparently they close in the early afternoon. Shame, it was a great place for a late night feast a very reasonable price. The Belly Buster burger and Monte Christo sent me gently on the way to many a late night.

JoelF wrote:According to the Mount Prospect Journal (can't find a link to the story), the Morton Grove Kappy's is closing on the 15th for three weeks for a $300K makeover, and changing the name to "Kappy's American Grill"
About half the menu is staying the same (they say that half accounts for 90% of sales), the rest trimmed off with about 25% new items added on.

http://www.journal-topics.com/business/ ... f6878.html

Dave148 wrote:

JoelF wrote:According to the Mount Prospect Journal (can't find a link to the story), the Morton Grove Kappy's is closing on the 15th for three weeks for a $300K makeover, and changing the name to "Kappy's American Grill"
About half the menu is staying the same (they say that half accounts for 90% of sales), the rest trimmed off with about 25% new items added on.

http://www.journal-topics.com/business/ ... f6878.html

The renamed and reinvented Kappy’s American Grill is now open for business, and loyal customers are seeing a dining room, menu and uniforms like they haven’t seen in 34 years.

http://mortongrove.suntimes.com/news/bu ... 13:article

I went there with my parents last night. The inside got a much needed spruce up, but not a major remodel and, although they have added some new menu items to follow the latest fads (BBQ items, for example), the Athenian Chicken and breakfast items remain and are much the same as they always have been. The customer demographic still skewed radically to the elderly, but I think they are making an effort to attract a younger, family centric crowd.

I have eaten at the Kappy's Villa Park a number of times as I used to have a client in the area. Client and I started going to Simon's which is 100 yards from Kappy's, we both preferred Simon's for breakfast.

A Simon's dish I was smitten with was their scrambled eggs w/dice feta, onion & tomato (I think it was called Kayah). This is still one of my favorite breakfasts in Chicago.

Simons's Restaurant
2 W Roosevelt Rd
Villa Park, IL 60181
630-530-0200‎

One question: Why?


Kappy's Krappy Ketchup

Bargain basement condiments, especially ketchup, are no bargain at all. If there's a next time, I really hope I remember to bring my own. But there probably won't be. The mayonnaise on my club sandwich was some nasty business, too. I don't remember the condiments being this low-end last time I was there. Food traumas like this one usually stick with me. It's really a shame seeing corners cut like this.

Bottom line: deal-breaker

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:One question: Why?
=R=

Care to share what possessed you to go there in the first place?

In our household, Kappy's has earned the nickname Krappy's. I'll say no more (nor will I return).

ronnie_suburban wrote:One question: Why?


Kappy's Krappy Ketchup

Bargain basement condiments, especially ketchup, are no bargain at all. If there's a next time, I really hope I remember to bring my own. But there probably won't be. The mayonnaise on my club sandwich was some nasty business, too. I don't remember the condiments being this low-end last time I was there. Food traumas like this one usually stick with me. It's really a shame seeing corners cut like this.

Bottom line: deal-breaker

=R=

You must have had an off day. The bottle says "Finest Quality" right on the neck.

Most restaurants that buy House Recipe ketchup at least go through the trouble of putting it in Heinz bottles.

Dave148 wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:One question: Why?
=R=

Care to share what possessed you to go there in the first place?

It's near our office -- and soup, omelets and club sandwiches sounded good to the group going out. I was really stunned just how low quality the food was across the board. It had been about 2 1/2 years since my last visit and I remember the food being much better last time. If the stuff they let you see (e.g. the ketchup) are this low-grade, one can only wonder about the quality of the ingredients that aren't in plain view. Oh well. Lesson learned.

=R=

I looked up "House Recipe" and it appears to be a Sysco product.

So this place is "Krappys" because they use Sysco food products but a place like Cross Rhodes in Evanston who uses all the same Sysco (or is it GFS?) products, and basically prepares them the same way as Krappy's (except gussying up the frozen food service fries by pouring reconstituted lemon juice and grease on them) is revered by LTH-ers as a Great Neighborhood Restaurant? Go figure.

champs2005 wrote:So this place is "Krappys" because they use Sysco food products but a place like Cross Rhodes in Evanston who uses all the same Sysco (or is it GFS?) products, and basically prepares them the same way as Krappy's (except gussying up the frozen food service fries by pouring reconstituted lemon juice and grease on them) is revered by LTH-ers as a Great Neighborhood Restaurant? Go figure.

I don't think anyone said what you claim they're saying. Lots of things come off the Sysco truck . . . some not so good, some better than that.

All I'm saying is that Kappy's serves some bullshit ketchup (and mayonnaise) and when I order a club sandwich and fries, that pretty much sinks the ship. That said, I feel that even most 'house-made' ketchups are inferior to Heinz and therefore, a complete waste of effort. So does this guy.

=R=

champs2005 wrote:So this place is "Krappys" because they use Sysco food products but a place like Cross Rhodes in Evanston who uses all the same Sysco (or is it GFS?) products, and basically prepares them the same way as Krappy's (except gussying up the frozen food service fries by pouring reconstituted lemon juice and grease on them) is revered by LTH-ers as a Great Neighborhood Restaurant? Go figure.

No. This place is "Krappy's" because, although it used to be pretty good, the quality of the food has precipitously fallen off over the past year of so. It used to be a go to spot for Greek/American staples like Grecian chicken, skirt steak, etc. The last time I went there I took my Mom (who is in the age demographic of their main clientele), and she didn't finish her chicken because it was very dry and just didn't taste good. Even more telling, she didn't take her leftovers home (almost unheard of for someone who lived through the great depression). The time before that, my eggs were overcooked to the point of having the consistency of leather. It just ain't what it once was.