Benedict's Eggs and More, 8 South River Street, East Dundee, Illinois

Just off the north section of the Fox River Bike Trail and a block south of Route 72 in East Dundee sits Benedict's Eggs and More in a former residence, I believe, that has been on that spot since 1892. There is a sister restaurant in Crystal Lake, Benedict's La Strata. Benedict's in East Dundee is cozy and inviting.

The walk from the hostess station just inside the front door to our table in what looks like the former home's parlor gave us a tour of the dining rooms. Even though the parking lot was three-quarters full, there was plenty of room at every table. Most surprising was the story that our server told us about the tree that grows through the dining room where we ate. With a little coaxing from me, she told us that the owners left the tree standing when they built an addition onto the restaurant around the tree, and sure enough, you can see it in the pictures below.

A Tree Grows Through It

Shelby and I sat at a small corner table next to a window that looked out on the front lawn of the former home. Very picturesque. The Benedict's menu is a book, and it took us awhile to browse through the choices. Since we got out of the house very late for breakfast, we had our choice of the most important meal of the day or the best meal of the day. Shelby chose lunch, and I chose breakfast.

When I said to our server, "I suppose in a place named Benedict's, I have to order Eggs Benedict," she confirmed my intuition. The best part was that she had difficulty choosing the one she liked best. I settled on the Breakfast Benedict from a section of the menu suggestively called Benedict's and Those that Think They're Benedicts. Country sausage served on English muffin halves, topped with two poached eggs and cheddar cheese sauce ($7.95).

 I should probably explain that I'm not from the Chicago area. I was raised much farther south, so I'm not really accustomed to cheddar cheese sauce. I understand that good people from all over the place love it on beef steaks, French fries, and all kinds of other stuff, including those dishes that think they're Eggs Benedict. Even though all the signs were there--the clever heading on the menu, the major ingredients--I was expecting Hollandaise sauce. It's not that I don't like cheddar cheese sauce, which I affectionately call cheese wax. I love the guilty pleasure of Cheese Fries or a Chili-Cheese Dog, but I have to prepare myself for it. And, as I said, I was prepared for Hollandaise sauce. Even though I feel guilty saying it, it was great, and the breakfast potatoes were a good complement.

Benedict's serves Intelligensia brand coffee, and mine was hot and fresh. I easily turned it into the sugary, coffee-flavored, warm milk I drink. Perhaps the company was right or the Cheddar Cheese Sauce went to my head, but I enjoyed my early afternoon breakfast at Benedict's Eggs and More. I suspect I'm not the only one to like Benedict's.

I'm awarding $2.00 in Perk Pennies for good service, the Benedict's community atmosphere, and the tree, of course.

The Bottom Line: $7.95 - 2.00 = $5.95



Brunch Cafe, 935 Rt. 22, Fox River Grove, Illinois

Friday night tailgate on the South Side and White Sox baseball has to be followed by late Saturday morning breakfast. Close by. Hearty. Not too heavy. This is when I like coffee--well, slightly less sweet, slightly more coffee-flavored, slightly warmer milk.

The Brunch Cafe is within walking distance of my house. The skillet I ordered was generous, and the coffee was mood-altering. I'm sure anyone who is a coffee aficion would say this was pretty good stuff. Most of all, Shelby was with me. Any breakfast with great company is better than every one without. Lots of chuckles about funny things said and done the night before. Inside jokes.

Along with foggy-headed snickering, I needed needed the taste of comfort, so I order the Meat and Potatoes Skillet from the Eggsquisite Skillets section of the menu--simple, hearty, and hot. Not much need for elaboration here--ham, bacon, sausage, and cheddar cheese with two eggs, served over what the Brunch Cafe calls brunch potatoes with either toast or pancakes. I ordered the eggs over easy and wheat toast. Coffee, of course. The skillet was $8.99.

The restaurant has only been open a couple of years, and it has become a popular place. Lines out the door on many Sunday mornings. The dining room is spacious, comfortable, clean, and very simply and tastefully decorated. I enjoy eating here two or three times a year.

For me, the Brunch Cafe misses, however, on a very important detail--community. That's what great breakfast places have, regardless of the decor or the cleverness of the menu. That sense of community is created by the people, and even though I'm not awarding any Penalty Points, I'm also not awarding any Perk Points for some very simple reasons. I had to wait for coffee. I had to ask for butter. Our server said when she handed us the bill, "Well, that's it for you boys," never pausing to ask if we needed anything else.

The Bottom Line: $8.99

Not a particularly good score for a good restaurant. The Brunch Cafe does many things well and has expanded to two new locations. I wish them well. I also wish they had the human touch.

The Bread Basket, 131 Park Avenue, Barrington, Illinois

I've been a regular customer of The Bread Basket since I moved to Barrington in 1993. I can't count how many meals I've eaten there. Someone once told me that the restaurant has been in operation since the 1920's, and I believe him. The Bread Basket is part of the community. Eventually, everyone goes there. Today, I got to introduce the place to a relatively new resident and do what everyone who loves the place does there--eat a square meal and talk about local issues, family stuff, baseball, vacations, movies. There was a table of gentlemen sitting close by who were planning activities for the 4th of July and the rest of the summer. Real community is built in diners like this one all over the country, and that may be what The Perfect $4.00 Breakfast is really about--building community.

The dining room has about 25 tables and booths tucked in close. You have to look at people around you to get to your seat. You have to talk to them. Good mornings are said. "Excuse me," someone will say. "Can I get you some coffee?" These are more than pleasantries at The Bread Basket. They're the fundamental tools of the trade.

I ordered the Main Street Skillet with my eggs over easy and wheat toast for $6.25. "No green peppers, please." "Of course, and what about you?" our server asked of one of the guys sitting with me. Simple. Honest. Professional. The food was good. The conversation better. We sat there for an hour and a half and talked and ate. There's no better way to eat breakfast. Any server who coordinates all that, whose presence never feels like an interruption, and who makes you feel welcome is worth at least $1.25 in Perk Pennies.

The Bread Basket might score a few more Perk Pennies if there were more space or if the chairs were more comfortable. But, then again, maybe it wouldn't. Maybe it gets the score it gets because the chairs are comfortable enough. Three of us sat at a table for four, but there's no way there was enough room on the table for even one more plate. "Excuse me," someone would have to say. "No problem. I'll just move this," someone would have to respond. "Thank you." "How are you doing?" Perhaps it gets the score it gets precisely because people are tucked in close enough to have to look at each other, talk to each other, listen to each other.

The Bottom Line:  $6.25 - 1.25 = $5.00

I know there's a perfect $4.00 on the menu here.

Richard Walker's Pancake House, 5680 Northwest Hwy, Crystal Lake, Illinois

Richard Walker's Pancake House is a family favorite. We eat there several times a year, and it's only negligence on my part that's kept me from writing about my experience there. The line can be out the door on Saturday and Sunday morning, but the service is quick, efficient, and attentive, even when the restaurant is full. We've enjoyed sitting on the patio in the summer and by the fireplace in the winter.

This morning, we went to breakfast as a family after a night of good cheer, so we went late--11:00 AM or so. We were seated immediately since the breakfast crowd had finished and the lunch crowd hadn't started yet. Nearly perfect timing for three weary partiers.

Shelby's theory about ordering the house specialty was formed at Richard Walker's, so he ordered a short stack of flapjacks. But Debbie and I ordered the Cherry Belgian Waffle, served with Cherries Jubilee Sauce on top of a golden brown waffle, sprinkled with powdered sugar ($7.50). Sprinkled with powdered sugar is not my favorite way to eat a waffle, but I forgot to ask our server to hold that. It's not so much that I don't like powdered sugar; it's that I don't need it to enjoy a waffle with Cherries Jubilee Sauce. There are few things that powdered sugar cannot make sweeter, but Cherries Jubilee Sauce is one of them. The sauce was a perfect blend of sweet and tart, and I don't use the word perfect lightly on a blog called The Perfect $4.00 Breakfast.

I ordered bacon and coffee with milk, and was thoroughly satisfied. The bacon was thick and cooked just as I like it--crispy on one end, not so much on the other. The coffee was--well, it was coffee, and I still don't like it that much no matter where it's served. But, many people who do like coffee in general have wonderful things to say about Richard Walker's coffee. As always, I prefer sweet, warm, caffeinated coffee-flavored milk. Funny thing is that the coffee's a big part of the story here. They got that right even for a guy who doesn't like it all that much.

Our server was fantastic, a pro--attentive, cheerful, warm. Both Debbie and I asked for milk with our coffee, and the second--I mean the second--she and I drained the first little pitcher, our server arrived at our table with two more. Our meals were served quickly, and everyone was satisfied. I think the mark of a real pro breakfast server is that one who can enter your table conversation with hot, fresh, good food and exit it without it feeling like an interruption. The three of us remarked that we were going to award major Perk Pennies for the service. I'd tell her name, but then other people might ask for her, and she won't be available the next time I go in.

So, what's perfect table service worth? I figure it's worth a 20% gratuity, so I'm converting that to $1.50 in Perk Pennies. We sat very comfortably in the main dining room close to the fireplace, but if we had sat on the patio on a beautiful summer day or near the fireplace on a cold winter one, I'd have awarded Perk Pennies for the atmosphere. There's potentially a Perfect $4.00 on the menu at Richard Walker's.
 
The Bottom Line:  $7.50 - 1.50 = $6.00
 
An excellent score for a topnotch place that gets all the details just right.

Lynn's Paradise Cafe, 984 Barret Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky

I waited a year to the day to revisit Lynn's Paradise Cafe, and I'm pleased that I did. As I said in an earlier post, this place needs no introduction to the world by me. Food critics, writers, pilgrims by the carload, and just about everyone else in Louisville has visited, and many were there on the Saturday morning I showed up. You'd think that would've meant I had to wait, but I was seated immediately at the counter. It was fun to see how hard-working, efficient, and joyful the servers are. They're an experienced, colorful, and lively group of professionals. Really the best part of the show was the smile on every server's face.

 



Kentucky Farmhouse Scramble

I ordered the same breakfast I had a year ago just to see if it was as good as I remember it, and my memory was right on target. This was pretty close to the best breakfast I have ever eaten. The patron sitting on my right had the Bourbon French Toast, and I thought I was going to steal a bite off her plate. I had the Kentucky Farmhouse Scramble, served with buttermilk biscuits, fried green tomatoes, and eggs scrambled with local cheddar cheese, chunks of ham, fresh diced tomatoes, and sweet red peppers. Although the price for the KFS is $15.25, our highest score is 10.00, and Lynn's is going to win many Perk Pennies. No need to order a side dish of anything. The price is all inclusive. The coffee is good, even for someone like me who doesn't really like the stuff. The orange juice is liquid orange--beautiful. The biscuits are huge and fluffy and made to melt the perfect blend of sorghum molasses and butter.

Lynn's is filled with a famous collection of ugly lamps, hand-made tiles, and tchotchkes. I couldn't resist buying bacon gummy candy, the only bacon item on the shelf that doesn't taste like bacon, according to the cashier, and a couple of gewgaws.

$1.00 in Perk Pennies to the staff for their sheer joyfulness, not the faux brand of many pretenders. Another $1.00 for the hostess who exclaimed, "There are still plenty of seats at the counter!" when she and I nearly bumped into each other in the gift shop. She had offered me immediate seating at the counter an hour earlier but mistakenly thought I'd been waiting that long for her to seat me. I assured her that she had been prompt, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Another $1.00 for the controlled chaos of the decor.

The Bottom Line:  $10.00 - 1.00 - 1.00 - 1.00 = $7.00.

The score could've been a little lower if my own server had been a little more attentive. My food came after my neighbor's. She could've updated me on the kitchen's progress. And I had to ask twice for orange juice. Of course, neither issue warrants Penalty Points. The place is Paradise, after all.

Windhill Pancake Parlor, 3307 W. Elm St., McHenry, Illinois 60050

My good friend Cheryl is a fountain of information when it comes to local diners in general and breakfast spots in particular.  I emailed her the other day to get her to remind me of a suggestion she gave me in the fall.  Her suggestion, The Windhill Pancake Parlor, was worth the 25 minute drive from my house.  And, the best part was that Shelby was with me.

The pancake parlor is down by the Fox River and features a Mid-western proverb and doodad decor. The owners obviously love the place. It shows in the decor of the parlor and the food they serve.

The menu is a book, and Shelby and I wanted to read the entire thing, so our server brought us coffee and juice and checked back with us several times to see if we were ready to order. This often leads to a server becoming less attentive, but not here. We were never overlooked. We were encouraged to read and take our time. We got a suggestion or two from our server.



My Cinnamon Roll Pancakes with
Shelby's Waffle in the Upper Left

I ordered the Cinnamon Roll Pancakes that the menu describes as "buttermilk pancakes served with a swirl of cinnamon roll filling in the cakes, topped with cream cheese icing" for $7.25, with a side order of bacon and coffee. They were simply delicious from the first bite to the last--sweet, cinnamony, hot, and buttery. There were only two things that could have made them better, and I had them sitting right next to my plate--bacon and coffee.

Shelby and I both remarked that we could taste the individual ingredients in our food--cinnamon, cream cheese, butter, eggs, and TLC. Is freshness an ingredient? It must be. Shelby ordered a Belgian Waffle, a side order of ham, and orange juice.

I'm not one to comment on the coffee in a diner since I don't really like the stuff, but this was good. I prefer my bacon to be crispy at one end and not so crispy at the other--just like these.

There are so many things to award Perk Pennies for.  Our server's attention was worth at least $1.00. The decor added another $1.00 worth of entertainment. No Penalty Pennies here!

The Bottom Line:  $7.25 - 1.00 - 1.00 = $5.25!

If I'd seen a delighted child have his food delivered by the train, the score could have been even better. I have a suspicion there's a perfect $4.00 on the menu here.

Jafi's Pancake House, 405 W. Liberty St. , Wauconda IL

In order to avoid feeling guilty for not bringing home any work and to make it appear to the family that I was going to the office, I decided to wander off my beaten path to look for a new breakfast spot.  Wauconda is close, and we've had some success there with dinner, so I went fishing for breakfast, thinking surely there was a hometown dive that served a good breakfast.  I found Jafi's Pancake House.

It takes a trained eye to judge breakfast by the building in which it's served, but this one set off my alarm while I was sitting in the parking lot--squat, plain, white, dirty, and open.  I should've driven away, but it was after 10:00, and I was hungry.  It's just a pancake house, I thought.  Those are hard to get wrong.

No need to describe the decor; every town has a diner like this one.  You've seen it before.  I was greeted cheerfully at the door.  Always a nice sign.  But, after I asked for a table upon realizing that the table in the booth the hostess offered was bolted to the wall, she paused for three full seconds to recalibrate.  Not a good sign.  It's never a good sign when the hostess offers me a seat in a bolty booth or the counter with bolty stools.  If you follow 100 in 365, my blog about weight loss, you know that I'm a generously proportioned guy.  Noticeably.  Girthy.  I need my table and chair to move on my cue.  Three seconds is a long time, too.  Count it out.  That's a long time to feel embarrassed by a 110 lbs. hostess. 

She seated me at a table in the back next to two tables of octogenarian girls celebrating Neeva's birthday.  Neeva's in good shape by the way.  She was a guest at a niece's wedding a couple of weeks ago.  "They charge you for everything these days, you know," she said.  They sold pink t-shirts that said Flower Girl, so Neeva had to buy one.  I couldn't make out her pictures, but they elicited a chorus of delight from the girls, and a string of stories about the girls' weddings, most of which must have taken place close to 60 years ago.  "They didn't have bachelorette parties then, you know" Neeva said.  But Neeva would've enjoyed that more then than she did her niece's.  I teetered between revulsion and temptation as I listened in on their conversation.  I suppose I would have felt the same things if they were celebrating Neeva's 20th birthday.

My eavesdropping was interrupted now and then by my own waitress who brought me one of the wateriest cups of coffee anyone has ever tried to pawn off on me, a short stack of buttermilk pancakes, and a plate of bacon.  Three pancakes in the short stack and five pieces of tasteless bacon.  When my waitress brought me the pancakes, they were coated in powdered sugar.  I hate that!  When I told her I didn't want that she stalled for the same three seconds the hostess waited to recalibrate and suggested that she could try to brush it off.  I asked her to bring me pancakes without the sugar.  Three seconds.  "I guess I could try that," she said.  Three seconds.  Then, she picked up the plate and left.

I worried about the pancakes that I was going to get, nibbled on salty wooden shims formed to look like bacon and sipped watery coffee.  You know that feeling you get when you try to finish a glass of water but you've already drunk enough?  I felt that way with the first sip.  That's how much water I'm talking about.  I've tasted better bath water, lake water, garden hose water.

The pancakes were chewy.  Real chewy.  I like fluffy.  Some people like chewy, I guess.  I heard the waitress tell one of the ladies that business was good.  Maybe I'm the odd one.  That's right.  They were sweet, too.  Too much vanilla in the batter.  A big, chewy vanilla disk.  The butter was frozen, and the syrup was room temperature, so the butter just sat in the middle of the disks, a pancake-butter tower, until I ate all the pats in one chewy bite.  A good bite, but only one good bite and some serious penalty pennies.

Bottom Line:  Short Stack of Pancakes $5.95 + 1.00 for watery coffee (which I believe was the cost of the coffee, so if you like watery coffee, here's your spot) + .50 for even trying to get me to wedge myself into that booth + .50 for tasteless bacon + .12 for four awkward three-second pauses = $8.07

The story of this place was the table of girls, not the breakfast.