Great pictures Ronnie !!.....they're making me hungry and I'm eating lunch right now

Finally got a chance to visit Edgebrook Diner on this cold-a** day. 9:30 in the morning, mine was the only body in there. Chris is quite the gregarious owner, explaining to me what he had done with the place before opening seven months ago.

I had to try the corned beef hash with eggs over easy, and with Chris manning the grill himself (his cook's car had broken down), this rendition was very good, a strong #3 overall in my all-time hash ratings, behind Manny's and (departed) Patty's ham hash. The large shards of CB were tender and mixed well with the Yukon Gold potato matchsticks, peppers & onions. I also detected a seasoning which probably was oregano, and while not offputting, it would not be my choice of herbs. But Chris wants his hash to stand out, and it definitely did. He told me that a sometimes special, his pot roast hash, is his favorite and most popular when served.

On a day like today, with near-zero temps and mountains of snow everywhere, the location looks like a death wish--so easy to drive right past, close to a very busy intersection, with seemingly little parking. But being no more than a block from the Edgebrook Metra station, I gotta think this place will continue to have legs. Chris said word-of-mouth from folks like us keeps him going. And that's why so many of us are on this forum--to find & promote 'everyman' stories like Mr. Burrell. I will definitely be back--Steve's pic upthread of that Reuben is sinful.

Had the chance to stop by today and...wow, this is one great place. Went with the Reuben while my wife had the hash and both were outstanding. Everything that's been said above about both items rings true. Enjoyed the atmosphere, chatting with Chris, etc. And they even serve an outstanding cup of coffee.

Wish it was closer to home, but we'll be back for sure to try some more of the items on the menu...going to be hard to pass on that Reuben, though.

I grew up in Edgebrook. This place was always kind of on and off, open one year closed the next when I was growing up. I haven't been in in a couple of years. But I will say that the last time I was in it was very tasty. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and a milkshake tasted great on a midsummer late morning.

There aren't many places like this left around the city (around the country! ha!). Really has a neat feel to it. Totally nostalgic. From an era where your pants were the color of the sky, you could make three cars from one, and everywhere in middle america wanted to be California.

I'm glad to hear they've stayed open. My folks still live about two miles away, but I don't get back to the area as much as I'd like to. I'll have to make the trip again.

I had lunch at Edgebrook Diner today and after I ordered my Reuben, I noticed that they had homemade scrapple and eggs on the specials board. Chris said that he should have scrapple available on Wednesday and maybe Thursday before this batch runs out. I'm planing on going back for breakfast and checking it out. If you're a scrapple fan, it might be worth getting over there soon. Note: Edgebrook Diner is closed on Tuesday, so don't run over there tomorrow.

I would love to meet up on Thursday if anyone wants to join me. Breakfast or lunch or some combination of the two would work for me!

Royal Lichter wrote:I grew up in Edgebrook. This place was always kind of on and off, open one year closed the next when I was growing up. I haven't been in in a couple of years. But I will say that the last time I was in it was very tasty. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and a milkshake tasted great on a midsummer late morning.

There aren't many places like this left around the city (around the country! ha!). Really has a neat feel to it. Totally nostalgic. From an era where your pants were the color of the sky, you could make three cars from one, and everywhere in middle america wanted to be California.

I'm glad to hear they've stayed open. My folks still live about two miles away, but I don't get back to the area as much as I'd like to. I'll have to make the trip again.

As noted earlier in this thread, here have been numerous owners over the years with varying consistency/quality. We started going there when Dmitri & Christina were there. It started out strong but faded over the years (and Mrs. D's, their place in Wilmette is a real disappointment). Eventually we stopped going altogether. A friend called me from there one morning when the new owners took over. He told me that he had been driving by on a Sunday morning and ventured in and was very pleasantly surprised. We've since been a few times and it's nice to have someone in there who cares about the food.

I do love this place but as posted upthread, it's probably not a bad idea to call before you go, just to make sure that everything you want is available. I sent a co-worker (and her friend) over on Wednesday (with an enthusiastic recommendation) but unfortunately, they were out of corned beef, diet coke and ice cream (for a milkshake). I think she still had a nice lunch but I could tell she was a bit miffed that she went over there on a day when so many things she wanted to order were 86'd.

=R=

Really working on it but very difficult to gaige how busy we are going to be on a given day, week or month for that matter. The weekend was moderate but Monday was extremely busy and depleted my stores. I stock up Wednesdays after work for the weekend and believed I had enough to get me through.
My small size (restaurant that is) really makes it hard but I'm getting better. I do not have a walk-in or a freezer for backup.
I have to juggle space and attempt to predict quantities on every item on my menu, much easier to do in a larger restaurant where backup is a few feet away, not in Des Plaines.

burr6 wrote:Really working on it but very difficult to gaige how busy we are going to be on a given day, week or month for that matter. The weekend was moderate but Monday was extremely busy and depleted my stores. I stock up Wednesdays after work for the weekend and believed I had enough to get me through.
My small size (restaurant that is) really makes it hard but I'm getting better. I do not have a walk-in or a freezer for backup.
I have to juggle space and attempt to predict quantities on every item on my menu, much easier to do in a larger restaurant where backup is a few feet away, not in Des Plaines.

Oh, the last thing I wanted to do was make you feel like you needed to defend yourself.

I get it, most of us here get but not everyone gets it. The same issues that create the limitations also create the distinctive, quirky aspects of your place that truly make it special.

I just wanted to let folks who come here for information know that it may be worth a call before heading over and/or to be prepared to order differently from their original game-plan.

Thanks again,

=R=

Thanks Ronnie, I do feel better now and LOVE the calendar...

My co-workers and I had a very tasty lunch over at the Edgebrook Diner today . . .


Chili
A very nice, mixed-meat rendition. Spicy, savory and tangy.



Half-Pound Super Meat Boy (pulled pork, bacon and cheese)
My co-worker ordered this hefty number medium-rare and it was cooked perfectly, with a beautiful, red center. That is a whole lot of food.



Breakfast Sandwich (over-easy, bacon, American)
A great munch. I loved the 2 perfectly runny eggs inside the sandwich. Yeah, it was messy but it was worth it.



Macaroni & Cheese
I didn't get to try this but I appreciated how Chris assembled it a la minute. We actually took it to-go for our vegetarian buddy back at the office.

There's some very comforting diner food over here.

=R=

Hope youse guys don't mind a tangent...what camera you using for those photos and any post-production? Nice images, and I'm assuming you are an amateur photographer.

kenji wrote:Hope youse guys don't mind a tangent...what camera you using for those photos and any post-production? Nice images, and I'm assuming you are an amateur photographer.

Thanks, for the kind comments. I am most definitely an amateur and I think it shows all over my shots. I'll shoot you a PM with the equipment/software details.

Looking back at my pics, I cannot believe not a one of us ordered the corned beef yesterday!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:
Looking back at my pics, I cannot believe not a one of us ordered the corned beef yesterday!

=R=

neither can some others of us on the board!
However being a huge fan of breakfast sandwiches, I forgive you as I now know what I'm having next time for breakfast.

My wife and I had brunch at Edgebrook Diner a couple of weeks ago and I had been meaning to post. The corned beef sandwich was out of this world and the homemade mayo was a really nice touch. I knew after the first bite that I was going to be disappointed to have to share it. We also had a pork tenderloin hash and a shake. I really love that this old diner/coffee shop is being resurrected by people who really care about creating great, homemade food. I hope to make a regular destination.

Stopped in this morning for some corned beef hash and over easy eggs after dropping my wife at O'Hare. I hadn''t been there in awhile. Just as incredible as I remember it. So, so good. Some other guys at the counter were having burgers that looked just incredible. Need to get back more often to explore other menu items, but hard to stray from the corned beef items.

It's been 2 years since the most recent post in this thread. I can report that Edgebrook Diner (Coffee Shop) is still hitting it out of the park, at least as far as their signature reuben is concerned. St. Patrick's Day brought a craving for a good reuben, so I beelined to Edgebrook Diner to scratch the itch. I was not disappointed.

AlexG wrote:Stopped in this morning for some corned beef hash and over easy eggs.... I hadn''t been there in awhile. Just as incredible as I remember it. So, so good.

Stopped by Edgebrook Diner this morning for corned beef hash & over easy eggs, I echo everything in the above post, so so good.

We've hit the Edgebrook Diner a couple of times recently. I had the excellent corned beef hash on the first visit, spinach/goat cheese/tomato omelet on the second. They continue to put out great food.

Tribune has an article today on the best corned beef sandwiches in the area. Edgebrook Diner is not mentioned.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html

lougord99 wrote:Tribune has an article today on the best corned beef sandwiches in the area. Edgebrook Diner is not mentioned.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html

The writer of the article didn't even visit. He went to 31 places in all. Most of them cliché and home to crappy corned beef sandwiches.

He also didn't go to Lil' Guys which is also has an amazing Rueben.

Not a he. Louisa Chu, who has some LTH street cred.
http://lthforum.com/bb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1100

Not a he. Louisa Chu, who has some LTH street cred.
http://lthforum.com/bb/memberlist.php?m ... ile&u=1100

She’s my favorite food writer in Chicago.

Which makes it all the more puzzling that she wrote, “We like our brined and braised beef served steaming hot....”

scottsol wrote:Not a he. Louisa Chu, who has some LTH street cred.
http://lthforum.com/bb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1100

looks to me like she just went to all the cliché places and didn't really do much research before picking the 31 places she would choose. Heck, a simple search of this forum would've revealed a handful of places she should've tried.

shakes wrote:

scottsol wrote:Not a he. Louisa Chu, who has some LTH street cred.
http://lthforum.com/bb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1100

looks to me like she just went to all the cliché places and didn't really do much research before picking the 31 places she would choose. Heck, a simple search of this forum would've revealed a handful of places she should've tried.

I’ve met her a couple of times and I listen to the “Chewing” podcast that she does with Monica Eng. I can guarantee you that she did her research before writing the article.

Maybe, just maybe, she didn’t think Edgebrook was as good as the places mentioned in the article. Or, just as likely, she didn’t have time to go to every place serving corned beef that’s been mentioned on the Interwebz.

ld111134 wrote:

shakes wrote:

scottsol wrote:Not a he. Louisa Chu, who has some LTH street cred.
http://lthforum.com/bb/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1100

looks to me like she just went to all the cliché places and didn't really do much research before picking the 31 places she would choose. Heck, a simple search of this forum would've revealed a handful of places she should've tried.

I’ve met her a couple of times and I listen to the “Chewing” podcast that she does with Monica Eng. I can guarantee you that she did her research before writing the article.

Maybe, just maybe, she didn’t think Edgebrook was as good as the places mentioned in the article. Or, just as likely, she didn’t have time to go to every place serving corned beef that’s been mentioned on the Interwebz.

I'm not buying that explanation. She has some pretty pedestrian yet very cliché places on her list. She covered all the mainstays, all the old school deli's that have been around forever and are living off their reputations. That says to me she did a half assed job with her research. Max & Benny's? C'mon, who you kidding?

Any lists like this are inherently flawed as it's impossible and unrealistic for someone to have tried every single corned beef sandwich in the area.

I try to take these with a grain of salt and appreciate the fact that someone spent time trying and ranking 31 different spots.

WhyBeeSea wrote:I try to take these with a grain of salt and appreciate the fact that someone spent time trying and ranking 31 different spots.

Yes, agree 100%!
When I grow up I want to be like Louisa Chu

I had a terrific corned beef and cabbage lunch today at the wonderful Yellow Rose Cafe, a little lean for my taste but Angelo, the owner, said that is what the majority of his customers prefer.

Yellow Rose Cafe, Count me a Fan!!

Yellow Rose Cafe
5640 N Elston Ave
Chicago, Illinois 60646
6am - 2:30pm
Closed Sundays