Fred's Diner — Restaurant in Grayslake

Not necessarily from the area but I was happy that unfortunate circumstances led me to find this gem of a place. As soon as I walked in, I was mesmerised by the ambiance and the inviting atmosphere. It took only a matter of seconds to appreciate the charisma, humour, and the absolute bundle of joy Gina was. It was nothing short of contagious because her attitude not only allowed every person to share a laugh but lit up the entire room.

Despite it being busy, she took the time to sympathise with the bad day I was having and after taking my order, it took only a few minutes for my big American breakfast to make its way onto my table. Everything was great, starting from the scrambled easy eggs to the crispy bacon and finishing with the fluffy pancakes smothered in butter and drizzled in maple syrup. A word of advice?Mix some sour cream with a little bit of salsa and housemade Diablo sauce; your hashbrowns will thank you for it.

Just as I was thinking that my dining experience couldn't get any better, I ask for my bill to which Gina responded that she took care of my breakfast and how she wishes for my day to have at least one positive note. A part of me wanted to tear up (thankfully I kept it together), but I can't express how much it meant to me at that moment. Gina not knowing me treated me with thoughtfulness and went out of her way to do such a kind-hearted gesture.

In conclusion, I am very grateful for finding Fred's Diner. At the very first chance given, I made my way back to here and it confirmed everything I had felt the first time. Thank you for everything, and a special thank...

Went to try and new place since it had 4.8 stars and decided we would give it a try. I arrived with my mom and told the server we were waiting on 2 more. The 3rd person got there and we ordered while we waited on the 4th. When the last one arrived he ordered his food also and everything was fine. The food was good the service was ok to say the least. When we were ready to leave we got a bill of 52.50 and left the bill amount + tip even at the table. We walked out stood outside for about 5 min before one of the employees ran out the door with a bill in his hand (waving it in my brother's face) and telling my brother he didn't pay his food and pretty much saying we were intentionally walking out on our bill (mind you the bill just had the total it was not itemized like most restaurants usually do) my brother walked in and tried to explain that there was no way for us to know that something was missing on the bill when it doesn't show exactly what is being charged. They argued with us and stood on the fact that we didn't pay for his food and that we should know that it was a separate bill because he arrived later. That doesn't even make sense, I've never been to a restaurant who separates the bill when someone arrives late and doesn't even inform us. All to say we will NOT BE BACK AND DO...

I'm sad to give this place 3 star as it was once a 5 and the new owner is really trying to make it succeed. Please consider my advice... The new owner was the existing chef, which made great food. But now he's trying to run the place which he's not a very good at, and hired someone else to do the cooking which the new cook is not as good and they are loosing many long time customers because it doesn't taste the same and orders are often wrong. The owner should get back to being the chef, and a capable front-end manager should be hired. Not the owners wife, who I'm sorry to say, does not speak english, moves incredibly slow, and puts very little effort into helping customers. Sorry if this sounds rude, but I'm trying to give helping criticism to help this place survive.

Update 9/18/25 - Up 1 star from a previous 3 stars. The new owner has put a lot of effort in making this place thrive like it did before. My remaining complaint is that takeaway orders are still occasionally wrong. and that when the owners wife is there, she's more in the way of everyone than being helpful or useful. Please keep improving and I'll...