The Breakfast Club and Grill — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I am generally reluctant these days to post too much that’s negative about restaurants in the midst of a devastating pandemic. However, I would like to note that this particular restaurant does need to have a little bit of an attitude adjustment in terms of its welcoming environment.

The place is indeed very welcoming aesthetically, it just seems like a nice place to plop down and have breakfast, either inside or outside. However, when we inquired as to where we need to check in to sit outside, the host was rather gruff and barked “you need to talk to me, you can’t just sit outside.”

OK, not the end of the world, but it did take a while for us to put our order in, and when our order was finally put in, it took FOREVER to arrive and we were hungry and had a bit of a time crunch. Not much communication from the staff, no real apologies, just waiting and waiting and waiting. Again, I understand that staffing in restaurants is very challenging these days, but I would’ve appreciated a little bit more communication and a little bit of contrition (I certainly would not begrudge them given the circumstances of the world today).

Anyway, the saving grace for this place is that I ordered a smoked salmon platter and it was excellent! Nice fresh locks, a nice bagel., Really good food.

Back to the attitude thing, as we were leaving and had to make our way through a small throng of people, that same gruff host kind of grunted at us again instead of thanking us for our patronage.

Clearly this place has a lot of potential, I would just like to see them work on those small gestures that can leave a matting...

Update: This place is still great. Sangria isn't too sweet. My six year old grandson devoured his chocolate chip pancake with bacon. He has never cleaned his plate like he did today. And he did not even put any butter or syrup on it, which shocked us. My daughter got the salmon platter and proclaimed it "wonderful!". The coffee is strong. The biscuits are good, but the gravy is what stands out, I think you can dip anything in that gravy and devour it.. That gravy tastes like it's made with butter and cream (like a pan gravy made with a roux), I'm not sure, but it's great. I've had a lot of biscuits and gravy but they're usually made with a cornstarch gravy that has a texture that is like gelatinous and congealed. This gravy here is not like that at all. Chicken n waffles is still great, I asked for an extra side of sausage gravy, and I kept dipping my chicken in the sausage gravy). Mm, mm, so good! My husband had the eggs Benedict last week, and he thinks it's the best in Chicago.

( 4 years ago): Bagel with lox, chicken n waffles, pigs in a blanket, eggs Benedict, scrambled eggs w cheese, and potatoes were all out of this world. But my favorite was the Cajun biscuits n gravy... Hot damn was it good. The service was excellent. But they only have one high chair so my 2 year old grandson was stuck between us in the booth, it sucked a little for him but he devoured every piece of food everyone shared with him, and boy is he picky. I will be coming back with or...

The Breakfast Club is one of my favorite places for a weekend breakfast. They have an extensive menu with omelets, egg skillets, pancakes, waffles, Benedict's, potato pancakes, burritos and anything else you might crave. Lots of options for lunch and dinner, too. Great homemade soups. And a daily dinner special, like meatloaf.

My friend and I had a late breakfast here on Sunday. She ordered the Greek omelet (one of my favorites). Tired of eggs, I got the hamburger and fries. The half pound of beef served on a fresh pretzel roll was cooked perfectly. You don't expect anything special in the way of fries at a restaurant like this, so it's always a treat when their fabulous fries arrive on my plate. Too much beef for me at one meal, so I took half home for dinner... but I ate every single fry. Double Oink!

If you want to indulge, try the Bananas Foster French Toast. When there's four of us, we sometimes order one to split. Most of the employees have been here for a long time. Service is friendly and attentive. We must have had three coffee refills without asking. There's a small area with a few tables outside, some shielded from the sun. A lot of the parking spots are permit only, but we never have a problem finding a spot if we...