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This unassuming large cabin of a bakery and restaurant on the west bank of the Fox River serves up a wickedly good version of biscuits and gravy. Unlike some sad versions I've had that merely hint at sausage in the gravy, this place delivers the goods with large chunks of housemade sausage and a healthy dose of black pepper all combined in a properly cooked gravy with no hint of uncooked flour or lumps. The biscuits stand up well to the simple but solid gravy; buttery, tender and moist. Kind of like KFC wants to be without the corporate artificial funk flavoring. The rest of my breakfast, eggs and hash browns, were servicable.

I'd also be doing a disservice if I did not mention the bakery portion of Harner's. While the semantics of the word "homemade" can and have been debated back and forth here and elsewhere this place is presenting baked goods of a very "home style" ilk. Nothing fancy here but good solid stuff like cake donuts, coffee cakes, zuchini nut bread, apple, peach
and lemon merengue pies along with dinner rolls, hamburger buns and the like.

Finally, their menu advises they offer a pig roast on the first Friday of every month. I can't vouch for it but at a price of around $11/per, I'll be it checking out in the near future. There is also some indication on their menu that the meat is sourced locally and aged in house.

Oh, and check out the sweet jackalope trophy head on the far south wall of the non-smoking dining room.

Harner's Bakery Restaurant & Catering
10 W State, North Aurora, IL
630-892-4400

Harner's has the best butter pecan coffee cake around. Lots of butter. Lots of pecans. Mmmmmmmm.....butter pecan coffee cake.

Man, oh man! If this is what you say it is ... But, can I justify driving 80 miles round-trip for this? Not likely ... maybe combine it with a trip to the casino! Yeah, that makes it less irresponsible

Really, just how good ARE those biscuits? Would you eat them without the gravy? How do they compare to your grandmother's? That's my benchmark. (The reference to KFC also threw me a bit; that's aiming low. How do the biscuits compare to the real deal?)

Desperately Seeking B&G in Chicagoland

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JiLS

Jim,

The KFC comparison was not the best in retrospect. These are damn fine biscuits and would be excellent w/out the gravy. I just walked into our kitchen to bust off a chunk of a left over day old one to double check, and while not optimal, it's still got a nice texture, buttery flavor and moisture level. Combine these with their peppery gravy laced with big hunks of sagey sausage and you got a nice heart attack on a plate. I'm not sure if I'd tell you to drive out from Logan Square for it, but if you are in the area, it's well worth a stop. Biscuits and gravy along with corned beef hash and hash browns are my benchmarks for a breakfast joint and the biscuits here rank very high. Kountry Kettle just a ways down the road in Elburn on Rt 47 serves up a mean plate as well. Both places are very country and home style without a hint of irony. It's more blue collar midwestern than say, something you would find catering to Lincoln Park Wishbone scenesters. Not meant as a slam as I've had a few decent meals at Wishbone in all of it's previous (Grand) and current locations. Maybe I'm comparing apples to oranges and Wishbone is going for a southern feel definitely.

I don't think my Sicilian grandma ever made biscuits. Calzones, yes. Biscuits, nah.

Elburn Kountry Kettle
115 N Main St, Elburn, IL
630-365-6031

The marketers on this board should study the Harner's menu. Genius. One of the most appealing documents I have seen in a long time. Uncluttered, well-organized, good color and typesetting, prominent words such as "pig roast," "biscuits and gravy," "hickory smoked ham," and "homemade bread pudding." ("Uncomparable" isn't something I've seen before, but that's ok.) I'm trying to figure out how to get North Aurora on my calendar.

Harners is a regular favorite of mine, the kind of place you hate to post about because it's a homey local place where you see the same people who have come in for years. Just about anything they serve is good and the Friday night pig roasts have people waiting out the door by 5:30 pm. Biscuits & gravy may be stellar but my favorite is the corned beef hash, just the best anywhere with big chunks of meat. The Harner family raises pigs on their farm in Kaneville and anything pork on the menu is excellant, breakfast sausage patties are very good sized. I don't partake of the bakery much but people at work die for their coffee cakes, it's hard to walk in the door and not pass by the bakery without a good sniff of sugar and butter.

I use Dixie Truckers Stop off I55 in McLean IL as the benchmark for biscuits and gravy. Harners is pretty good though not as large or as sausage laden as Dixie's-still Harners is about as good as I've had in Chicagoland.
However, Chuck's in Burbank has recently opened for breakfast on the weekend. I have not had a chance to partake yet, but Chuck has such a flare for everything he makes (the man knows his roux) that I would not be surprised if his biscuits and gravy turn out to be the best around.
Anybody been to Chuck's for breakfast?

Wow. Nice find, Tony. Interesting that all these posters suddenly appear who have been keeping this place a secret .

Basically this is at routes 56 & 31, right? So I have driven by it on my way to Geneva maybe 50 times or more and never noticed it. I can picture the intersection, even if I still cannot see the place. I hereby turn in whatever chowhound street cred I might ever have had, but I will go there to eat, and soon.

And I thought I was good at sniffing out good places to eat...

BTW, Jeff, this is maybe 30 minutes from Westmont, at most. Easy run for breakfast to get those home-raised and happy pork products. That is the part that hooked me - they raise their own pigs and make their own sausage. Mmmmmm.

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d
Retired, gone fishing, and exploring my curmudgeon within

Harners is just west of the bridge on 56 or State Street as it's called in North Aurora. As I said, I've been going there probably 20 years, it's not the kind of place I would ever think about posting about because it's a local homey place that has it's warts. It's not always really clean, the service can be spotty but it's comfortable and I know a lot of the people that go there. I've always loved their sausages and corned beef and every now and then they have potato pancakes. They have a monthly pig roast and I think Tuesdays they have a pork chop special. Harners used to have a killer thick smoked bacon but haven't had that on the menu in a year or so.

We were at Harner's again yesterday for a filling breakfast before a trip to my new love, Woodman's. I am hooked on the corned beef hash at Harner's, big chunks of meat, just the right amount of onion and done to crisp perfection. SO had a one egg mushroom omlet that was very generous in the ingedients. Total for these two meals....$8.19 before tip.
Where you pay as you leave, there is always a big plate of cookies to tempt you towards the bakery.

Dicksond, I also have been going there for years, and did not want to share this place with others. See Check Please effect.

What was always fun, was to pick out the people from west of the Fox, and those city slickers from the east side of the river. Bib overalls, versus Brooks Brothers. After a while the wait staff started to figure out that the Brooks Brothers tipped much better, and gave them better service, cutting out the old regulars, many of whom have stopped eating there.

Never had a bad meal there, a few average ones, but some very good ones.

No biscuits and gravy, but an overall solid breakfast here today.

Needed a big meal ahead of sitting in the hospital about 6 hours while vangie has some more tests done. Not about to settle for hospital food, a big breakfast made sense. (2) eggs over easy, hash browns, (2) house made sausage patties, pecan coffee cake. All good, standouts were their sausage they do in house, great stuff, nice spice. Pecan coffe cake slice served warm was really good. Also tried some of the corned beef hash, also really good.

Also got some of their bakery items to go. They are taking orders for king cakes for mardi gras. It had been years since i had been here, thankfully some things dont change. Ill add some pics later.

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I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

We're still regulars at Harner's and I'm still partial to the corned beef hash but their sausage patties can't be beat in size and in taste. I'm glad you enjoyed it Jim! BTW, I hope Vangie is Ok and that the tests prove nothing serious.

corned beef hash was great, tried that based on your reccomendation.

pecan coffe cake was great, as were the sausages.

Pics:



river view from the booth:



butter pecan coffee cake:



kids pancake & sausage links:



eggs, hash, raisin toast:



eggs, potatoes, sausage patties:



website:

http://www.harnersbakery.com

_________________
I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

Looks good Jim! I don't eat eggs so they always give me a full plate of the corned beef hash. Just had that this morning.

So has anyone had the once-montly Pig Roast here? Any reviews? Is it worth a drive?

Or a rec on any of the specials (they have one each day, ranging from Chicken and Dumplings to Prime Rib and Battered Perch)? Has anyone tried them? Or should one just stick to what sounds like very good breakfasts?

c8w

I'm a breakfast regular at Harner's but the few lunches I have had there have been excellent, just good, home made comfort food. We tired to go to the pig roast once but at a little after 5, there was a line out the door so we left. I have had their pot roast dinner which is the Thursday special and really liked it, very tender and juicy. It just never comes up on my radar when I think of a place for lunch or dinner because we love their breakfast so much.

Stopped at Harner's while driving along the Fox on Sunday. Had sausage and gravy with country fried steak. The place exceeded my expectations. The gravy was perfectly prepared - no hint of the raw flour which plagues many preparations. The country fried steak was the best I have had in the Chicago area. Next time corned beef has will be tried.