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I always thought dumping a bunch of gravy over them was a way of extending their life past half an hour.

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In one sense, yes; adding gravy will "preserve" a dead biscuit. Sorta like they did with Lenin ... but neither he, nor gravy-embalmed biscuits, are quite what they used to be.

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JiLS

mmmm ... gravy-covered Lenin .....

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Perhaps so, but keep in mind that just like a dried up biscuit, no matter how much gravy you put on Lenin, he'll still taste like gypsum board.

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JiLS

actually, I've heard he has a rather waxy taste

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Nyet! Eto nye pravda! The Myth Debunked

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JiLS

I stand, and he lies, corrected.

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At last. The secret of those hot dogs at the ball park revealed.

Giovanna

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"Enjoy every sandwich."

-Warren Zevon

Saturday morning my faith in Edgebrook Diner was restored. Mrs. JiLS and I stopped in at about 8:45 a.m., finding the place maybe 2/3 full. The owners were not there, but neither, thankfully, had they left the place entirely in the hands of the infamous teenage girls. Instead, in addition to the teenie boppers, there were two new faces, in their 30s and clearly old hands at serving diner patrons. This made a huge difference, as they were actually able to keep up with the orders and assure prompt and professional service. Plus, the biscuits in my B&G were uncharacteristically good for Edgebrook. First, they were relatively fresh and not hardened into brickbats from the warming tray; kudos there. Second, they've apparently changed the recipe to something resembling a real biscuit, not the orange-tinted gypsum board encountered in the past. Edgebrook was by no means serving GOOD biscuits, but they were close to the mark on Saturday. (Plus they still make the best country gravy I've had in Chicago.)


P.S. One of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force servers was wearing a William & Mary sweatshirt. As that is (one of) my alma mater(s), I remarked on it, and was met with the devastating retort that, she "just found this at a thrift store." Yep, that's where most of the W&M gear ends up. I don't think she even realized it was a college (let alone the second oldest college in America). Crap. Both old AND irrelevant; it's hard to stomach.

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JiLS

HI,

I took my Mom to Edgebrook Diner today. I dropped her off to initiate our claim on two seats, while I hunted for parking that was not a 1-2-3 effort.

We shared a portion of biscuits and gravy. While the biscuits were evidently sitting around for a while. The biscuits combined with the wonderful gravy made up for most of the biscuits deficiencies.

Mom had the homemade corned beef with scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. I had the Greek Village Omelet, which was tomatoes, spinach, onions and feta cheese with hashbrowns. I rarely eat omelets out because they seem to be too many eggs and more than I care to eat. Especially since I make single egg omelets for myself at home, by comparision 2-3 egg omelets are just too big. I liked the size at Edgebrook dinner, while larger than I would do at home it was not the monster that took plate variety either. Somewhere in the mix of things, the grits ordered with cheddar cheese never materialized. I was full and cancelled for next time.

There was a very skinny blond woman overseeing operations who had a wonderful command of the place. When I was last there about two weeks ago, there were two single seats with 3 people in between. I was quietly hoping the counter girls would recognize two friends could be served if they requested those three to shift one seat over. It didn't happen and figured it was not part of the diner culture to shift around for waiting customers. Today, this blond woman not only had people moving over a seat to empty a pair of seats. She inquired of those waiting in the back row if they wanted drinks while waiting. Smart customer management done with a lot of charm.

I overheard her talking to other customer's about the Winnetka operation. She indicated her husband (I think that was the relationship) was over there training the cooks and would likely be returning to Edgebrook in the next week. She then complained about the griddle and/or stove there cannot be used there because the city wants a $7000 ventillation system installed, which they are not in a position to immediately do. It appears this ventillation issue was never brought up with the prior tenant, who used the griddle freely. From her knowledge of various business issues, it was clear she was one of the owners.

I talked to her a little bit to learn Edgebrook Diner has been run by the same family for the last ten years. She and her husband (?) have been responsible for operations for the last three years on behalf of the family. She made a point of inquiring if I had been there before, then made a point of introducing herself and shaking my hand. Really a very sharp lady with customer relations. A pretty well run operation despite my MIA grits, which really I didn't need!

BTW - how is lunch at Edgebrook? I hear about breakfast, though I see they have some nice diner lunch options.

Regards,

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Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
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I took the kids to Edgebrook Diner as well Saturday morning. We got there around 11:30 and waited about 10 minutes for three seats to open. Actually the kids sat first and I waited a couple mroe for an adjacent seat to open up.

Claire had the strawberry pancakes, Andrew had the strawberry French Toast and I duplicated what I had seen in one of Gwiv's photos, two eggs, hash browns crispy with corned beef hash and giardinera. The woman Cathy referred to also told me about the new Wilmette place...she said she knew I had to know Gary when I ordered giardinera:) It was really good but I wasn't thrilled by the cbh, I'm not a fan of big chunks of red and green peppers. I might like it a lot better with the canned stuff, heresy I know but I grew up with it and it's what I know.

She brought me over a small plate with a split biscuit smothered in gravy, telling me it was Gary's favorite - WOW! I so ordered the wrong thing, that's what I'm getting from now on! Great peppery gravy on a wonderful biscuit that was just the texture I like

We also had excellent crispy bacon and Green River sodas. A very nice meal and I will be back soon.

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I used to think the brain was the most important part of the body. Then I realized who was telling me that.

I can certainly appreciate the value of the taste you grew up with. When I was growing up, breakfast was known as " the most important meal of the day." In retrospect, the thought of consigning that honor to a meal of refrigerated Pillsbury rollls (you know the ones-- you had to rap the tube on the counter to liberate the dough from its frigid purgatory) and frozen orange juice, or eggs prepared 101 ways seems somehow very wrong. But sometimes there was canned hash or fried Spam for breakfast, and I must admit a certain nostalgic fondness for those salty, greasy dishes of yesteryear.

Octarine, you are in luck. Mrs. D's in Wilmette, the recent off-shoot of Edgebrook serves canned hash. Or they did, as recently as a few weeks ago. Me, I'm wondering if they'll bring their homemade hash over to Wilmette, because nostalgia only goes so far. . .

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Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.

OK, I finally went after one aborted attempt, but it was today (Friday) and biscuits and gravy wasn't on the menu ...we tried after Sparky's soccer game on Saturday, but the line was out the door (not surprising, since there are only counter seats)

However, I had a quite good sloppy joe with excellent peppery cole slaw, and the service was very good; I was clearly not a "regular," but everyone was extremely friendly. If we lived closer, we'd go regularly. Amazing you can fit such a nice little place in the space of an expensive restaurant's coat room (or so I'm told, we don't often go upscale enough to warrant a coat room)

Whoa, what a coincidence! I went to Edgebrook Diner at 8:15 this morning for biscuits and gravy and was sorely disappointed when I was told they only had them on the weekend. I ended up with eggs, hash browns and corned beef hash. It was perfectly serviceable but it was not what I really wanted.

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I used to think the brain was the most important part of the body. Then I realized who was telling me that.

Assuming you decide to go back for the biscuits & gravy on Saturday, then you really need to get there EARLY. Like within the first hour or so after they open. As far as I can see, Edgebrook only bakes one batch of biscuits per Saturday. This is kind of like a restaurant making one batch of souffles per night, around 5:45 pm, and putting them under foil to be served as the customers order them. Not a good plan. Although not particularly great, the Edgebrook biscuit is at least competent and unobjectionable. However, like any biscuit, it has a very short half-life. Fresh biscuits, GOOD fresh biscuits, deteriorate very rapidly. After 15 minutes, you can tell the difference in a good biscuit. After 30 minutes, you REALLY can tell the difference, even if it started out not so great. After an hour, you might as well order toast with your gravy. So, get there at 8:00 a.m. or earlier, if you can. Or, go to a place like H&A or one of the many other soul food restaurants in the city that understand the basic principles of preparation, service (and timing of service) for good biscuits. I really like Edgebrook, especially the gravy part of the B&G; but it's a bit disappointing to me that they don't understand how leaving a biscuit sitting around for any amount of time will ruin it, and the need to keep baking them, in small batches, throughout the morning. It's not like they'd scramble up sixteen dozen eggs at 6:00 a.m. and expect to keep serving them througout the day, right?

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JiLS

Stopped in the Edgebrook Coffeshop and Diner today and tried to order a number of items I'd heard about on this thread and elsewhere: corned beef hash, turkey club, corned beef sandwich, French toast...no luck. All out. I didn't see any biscuits and gravy, and was afraid to ask.

I did, however, have the hash browns, which were deliciously crunchy/moist, hard/soft. The "pit ham" was a thin slice of decent tasting meat, and the eggs were prepared with yeomanlike competence. What I think I liked best was the chocolate malted milk: very simple, just the ice cream, syrup and malted milk powder, it was very good, even on a relatively cold morning.

Overall, this morning's visit was not enough to make me a fan of this place, which seemed neither to rise far above nor fall far below the standards of the typical American diner. The menu advises "You're only a stranger once," but based on this morning's experience, a stranger I will probably remain.

Hammond

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

I ate breakfast at Edgebrook a few weeks ago and something strange was going on.

One nice, genial, smiling gentleman was introducing some of the regulars to the "new owner." As I am not a regular, I have no context for this remark.

No B&G on the weekday, so I had the excellent huevos rancheros instead. It was incredible, and if this item were on the regular menu, I would return often.

Not sure about the state of ownership... or how things may have changed. Any thoughts from the regulars?

Veeral

I haven't been in for at least a month or so. New ownership would not surprise me too much because Christina and Dimitri have opened two other locations (one a fast food joint downtown and the other a slightly larger version of Edgebrook Diner in Wilmette). They are spending most of their time at their Wilmette locaton (Mrs. D's Diner) and rarely are seen in Edgebrook anymore. Also, the future of the Edgebrook Diner storefront is somewhat in doubt because the owner of the building has a dream of opening his own sit down restaurant in the entire building, though this hinges on being able to get a liquor license. I'll have to go in and investigate next week.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Dimitri's skill at the grill and Christina's charm at the counter are what took Edgebrook to the great diner level. It's an ok to good diner now that they have apparently moved on, but not a great one.

Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

I stopped this morning for breakfast at Edgebrook Diner and am sad to report that the rumors are true. The place has been sold. Although the food is basically the same, gone is the genial, family friendly atmosphere which reminded me of a small town pub or general store, where local residents gathered with their families to gossip and catch up on the local happenings presided over by the congenial proprietor.

During my visit the new owner, Benny, spent the entire time hanging out with two of his loudmouth friends at the counter in the front part of the restaurant, completely ignoring the rest of his customers and leaving them at the mercy of two inept young waitresses who performed as if this was their first day as a waitress ever.

I hereby formally disavow any recommendation I may have made for Edgebrook Diner in the past. Dine at your own risk.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Steve,

Sorry to hear that. For years Edgebrook Diner was my go-to breakfast place.

Thanks for the info update.

Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

Did either of you notice that Edgebrook is about to get a Brazilian restaurant? A little west of the Starbucks on Devon. Couldn't quite tell from the sign if it was a meat on swords place or a meat on big planks place. That there will be meat involved, that seems likely.

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Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.

Yes. That sign has been up for quite some time. I believe they are waiting for their liquor license. There is also going to be a new white tablecloth Italian place opening up soon.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Mike,

I'm guessing meat on big planks. I've been waiting for more info on the place myself, there isn't even a name listed on the papered over during construction windows.

Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

Pressed for time, but wanting to stop for breakfast before dropping someone off at O'Hare, I gave Edgebrook Diner another go and was glad I did. Four months have passed since the new owners took over and they seem in the groove.

Good solid diner breakfast, eggs, toast, sausage, has browns and oj for my friend, 1/2 order of biscuits and gravy for me. Coffee was fine, service attentive, price reasonable. Though, if pressed for objective critique, hash browns needed another few minutes on the grill to crisp and the biscuit portion of my B & G was more steamed roll than biscuit. Gravy had a decent portion of sausage and nice peppery bite.

Biscuits and Gravy (5.13.07)


Edgebrook Diner may no longer be a Destination Diner, but it's a better than most option for those in the neighborhood and hungry.

Oh, geeesh, I almost forgot the best part, French Toast with chocolate ice cream!! Yep, at the end of the counter the best parents in the world had let their kids order pancakes and french toast w/scoops of chocolate ice cream. Why have I never thought of that.

French Toast w/Chocolate Ice Cream (5.13.07)


Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

With syrup and powdered sugar, no less!

Glad to hear Edgebrook is moving back from the edge of oblivion.

Hammond

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

I'm not quite sure an uphill alert is in order. On my last visit, the formerly hand made turkey burgers were replaced with frozen pre-portioned planks of turkey like material with none of the spice and veggies mixed in that were a hallmark of the the only turkey burger in town that I would consider eating. When I asked the Pedro the grill man about this change, he said that the hamburgers had suffered a similar fate and are no longer hand made, either. I asked him why they had made such a wrong headed decision and he merely glanced in the direction of the new owner and rolled his eyes.

While the breakfasts are still workable, the place is just not the same.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

We were in the area and just happened to walk past this place and opted to pop in for late breakfast/early lunch. We were very happy with the meal, and I plan on making it back again in the near future. I had the greek village omelet, my daughter had the largest silver dollar pancakes I have ever seen and the hubby had a wonderful club sandwich.

My omelet was huge, it could have fed two people. The hashbrowns were okay but they could have used another few minutes as they were a tad bit underdone for my liking. The fries that came with my husbands order were fantastic. Super crispy and not greasy at all.

One of the city workers sitting next to me had a huge bowl of oatmeal with sliced strawberries and a large heaping mound of pecans--I made a mental note to try that the next time with a cup of coffee.

Next time try the Green River. They mix it by hand!

Back in the day when I was a sleepyhead but hated coffee, I ordered one with a fat squirt of Hershey's syrup in it to dull that 'nasty' coffee taste. They gave me a look like "chocolate in coffee? huh?" It was adorable. Now that I'm a sleepyhead that doesn't hate coffee, I can just have cream.

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I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert. ~ Jason Love
There is no pie in Nighthawks, which is why it's such a desolate image. ~ Happy Stomach
I can't go to Hollywood. I got biscuits to make. ~ Dwight Henry

Late-Nite Eats Database

Hi,

A few days ago, someone commented Edgebrook Diner had closed. Not only closed, the building had been knocked down.

I called their phone number to learn they are still alive.

Regards,

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Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
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