First off, I had an omlette and it has probably the best omlette I have yet to have. The waitress seemed disracted and got our order wrong but it was minimal so I let it slip.
The worst thing was that we got seated near the kitchen where you could hear the cooks and other workers speaking loudly and yelling at each other in Spanish.
I understand Spanish and I wasn't happy having to hear loud people swearing while I was trying to enjoy my delicious omlette. I was seriously offended. Way to spoil the atmosphere!
So if you go here, sit away from the kitchen.
Great cozy diner in the Skokie area.
No gimmicks or trickery here - just good, quality food in a
comfortable, clean setting. Huge portions for breakfast or lunch.
My favorite is the Honey Tender Wrap, and soon I must try
something new because it all looks good here, especially the
Country Fried Chicken with gravy.
Great no-nonsense diner where everybody gets treated like family.
The U.S. was built on diners like this...God Bless America!
I had undercooked eggs here and oh boy did I vomit in the parking lot. The crepes are great, but don't eat their eggs. YUCK. Aside from that.. the restaurant seems to be only welcoming to their "usuals" and not so much the younger crowd.. which is really frustrating. Someone that walked in behind me was greeted and my friend and I were not.. rude..
Review Source:Yum! My friend and I wanted to get lunch in downtown Skokie on a Sunday, but very few places were open. Annie's was bustling, but the hostess found a booth for us right away. (Later, I saw larger groups crowded at the entryway, waiting.) We ordered two brunch specials to share: the tiramisu pancakes (wow!) and a vegetarian omelette special (also very good). The prices were reasonable, and the service was friendly and prompt. As a bonus, Annie has a parking lot, so you don't have to pay for the 24/7 metered street parking that many of the downtown restaurants have. A wonderful, local alternative to IHOP!
Review Source:When coming in for brunch at 2pm, I have certain expectations, namely, that it will likely not be super crowded and thus, food won't take thaaat long to prepare.
We waited about 5 min for a table, which was fine (though the front entryway is cramped for more than 2 people to wait indoors). Â The brunch rush seemed to surge on on that fine Sunday afternoon for Annie's.
But a 30 min wait for our food? Â C'mon. Â How long does it take to make an omelet and skillet? Â At that point, the restaurant was about half full. Â Plus, we observed about 6-7 plates ready and waiting for a waiter/waitress to pick 'em up for the appetites sitting at the tables halfway through our own wait. Â Said plates sat on the countertop by the kitchen for literally 15 minutes before a waitress took them to the booth next to us. Â Not only that, but there were 4 employees standing right by the countertop, busying their hands with something else (I have no idea what). Â We heard the waitress tell our neighboring customers the plates were really hot. Â Doubt it.
For waiting half an hour for my ham, mushroom, onion, pepper, and cheese skillet with over easy eggs, the food was pretty ordinary. Â I requested it with a side of pancakes, and for a pancake house, I wasn't impressed with the delivery on the hot cakes. Â They were dry, dry, and dry. Â
With all of the brunch competition in the area, I won't be back.
I've been to Annie's a handful of times and have been pretty happy with the experience. One Sat morning there was quiet a few people waiting so they provide those who were waiting a small cup of coffee or juice - what a great touch! Good food, good prices, and generous amounts. The food won't knock your socks off, but you also won't be disappointed.
Review Source:We came here for breakfast on Thanksgiving and I wish I would have come here sooner!! Although they were pretty busy, we were seated immediately! The waitress was very nice and  attentive. She noticed I wanted the thick french toast and planned on getting eggs and sausages as extra sides, instead she suggested one of the combos that I actually overlooked. The combo came with the sides and saved me a couple of bucks.
I got my daughter boiled eggs with hash browns and sausage. My boyfriend ordered a sampler dish that he absolutely enjoyed! My daughter didn't eat the hash browns but she LOVED the sausage.
The prices here are definitely affordable and the portion sizes are perfect! I left very pleased with the quality of the food and I plan to return.
I have dined at Annie's many times. Â This quaint restaurant has a fabulous staff and wonderfully delicious food. Â They are exactly where you want to take your family for breakfast over and over again- Consistent. Â The staff is friendly and quick to fill your coffee. Â Annie the owner knows all her regulars and comes by all the tables to say hello.
I tried a skillet with chorizo, eggs, Â jalepeno's and salsa that was the highlight of my morning. Â The reason I wanted to post was that my son who gobbled up his entire plate decided to play with his Pokemon cards after he finished. Â He inadvertantly left them in the booth in a sandwich bag. Â He started to cry when he realized an hour later. Â When we went back, the second we walked in the door Dena (the hostess) handed us the cards from behind the front register. Â She saw the cards when she came to see how our meal was and notcied them in the booth when my son left. Â She said she knew we'd be back. Â As a parent, this really seemed to be a thoughtful gesture.
There are many other places in Skokie to get pancakes. Â None of them will give you the attention and friendly service that Annie's will.
Annie's is a place for people watching. Everyone here is weird, even the staff. The food is pretty average, though they get bonus points because they accommodated my "no toast, please, vegetables instead" thing. My asparagus was kinda overcooked. The eggs were fine. The coffee was your typical god-awful diner swill.
Expect to wait a while on the weekend. And expect to gawk at all the strangeness.
It all started when my co-worker was hungry for breakfast. He looked up some nearby places and came across Annie's. Decent reviews, we ordered for takeout breakfast. My first order of corned beef hash omelette felt like it weighed 3 lbs! Definitely got my money's worth.
Kept ordering takeout for awhile then got a chance to eat in. If you're into watching geriatrics asking the hostess to raise the thermostat or turn off the fan, this place is for you. Nothing special dining in, clean tables, attentive wait staff.
Two things that make this breakfast joint stand out from the others. Portions are a bit larger than most. Again, 3 lbs of corned beef hash omelette and hash browns on the side!
2nd thing, their pancakes taste like funnel cake! Definitely a lot sweeter than any other pancake batter I've ever had, I find myself just adding butter and shoving it in my mouth. Trust me on this one and hold back on dousing these pancakes in syrup.
Eh, I don't see what the fuss is about. And I certainly don't understand why anyone would line up to eat here. I had the chocolate chip french toast which was simply two slices of average cut bread with some chocolate chips splattered on top.. $7.50. Service wasn't great, wasn't terrible. Not in a rush to go back..
Review Source:I was in the area patronizing another business and wanted to stop somewhere before I headed up to my ultimate destination. Â From where I was parked, I saw this place a short distance away and decided to check it out. Â I was not disappointed.
Good food and service (my skillet, the ham, cheese, and mushroom was very tasty) and the noise level was just right. Â It seemed the configuration of the tables looked a bit odd and I would imagine when its their busy time it might be a bit noisy, but all in all don't let that distract one from checking out this the area. Â
Great place in a downtown area of a nearby suburb...I'll go there again for sure if I am in the area.
Meh. Â Nothing special. Â I come here for lunch sometimes and invariably get a breakfast item (most veggie options). Â I'll give them that they give you alot of food for very good price, but the quality of the food and the taste is nothing to write about. Â If you are in this area, its probably a good breakfast place, but I wouldn't come here out of my way.
Review Source:Great place overall with great food.
Service can get a little slow when business picks up and some of the servers aren't the nicest/happiest.
My only gripe about Annie's is the layout of the tables. It's a little cramped and not as easy to walk between tables, especially with other people sitting down, servers walking around, and people cleaning.
Thanks to that little Yelp app on my phone we found this gem after our run on Sunday. Â
Very impressed. Â Fantastic food, ample parking and outstanding service.
I had the spinach and feta omelet. Â Guess what, holy feta!!!!! Â Actually chunks of feta cheese!!!! Â And the pancakes...bliss!
If I ever have another run in the area, I'll totally be back. Â Very good!
Wow!!! My omelet was good, my hash browns were crisp on the outside and nice and done inside, nice fat pork sausage, and darn good orange juice! Only two complaints. Number one, its not enough parking in the lot. Second, in an establishment this size, why would it have just 1 bathroom for women and 1 for men. I ended up using my hand sanitizer to wash my hands because it was a 6-women wait on that 1 ladies bathroom. Other than that, I was impressed on my first visit...will be returning soon!
Review Source:Though I gave 3 stars to this restaurant, I will NEVER come back. We ordered over medium eggs, but it was basically cooked on the outside and extremely raw inside. The server was very kind and replaced them quickly with the help of the kitchen of course.
Now, the reason I would never come back here again. Employees have conversations with one another. Understandable. But using profanity loud enough for many customers to hear is not what I call professional. I, myself use profanity but I know when I should filter it. There's a time and place for that. It also seemed as though management was too busy eating pancakes and eggs to care how employees act while on the clock. Thumbs up!!
My GF and I went there a couple of Sundays ago and the hostess/cashier was arguing with some old man about his bill for coffee. Coffee! The line at the door was mixing with the line trying to pay and still this old fart and hostess are arguing over Coffee. We went to Prarire Joe's in Evanston instead and was great.
Review Source:This is an all around great place to eat! Â I try to make it to Annie's whenever I can. Â The server is fast and the food is really good. Â Also, they give very generous portions. Â I usually have food to bring home. Â
There can be a wait, but it's never out of hand and everyone there is very friendly.
Exactly what you want in a diner style restaurant.
Clean, constantly filling your water and drinks, huge portions.
The food is great and well priced. They have all the breakfast and lunch staples. Everything is served fresh with lots of sides. It's a huge treat when I get to go here, one of the gems of downtown Skokie.
Even though there is sometimes a short wait, it is well worth it.
After being less than impressed first time, we gave it another chance, Â and I remain unimpressed by Annie's.
Service can be slower than slow, and hit-or-miss - this isn't the kind of kitschy, "What'll ya have, honey?" gruff old-gal kind of way.
More the "*sigh*-I'll-get-to-you-when-I-get-to-you-and-if-Âyou-really-want-Tabasco-*sigh*-I-*suppose*-I-can-*Âtry*-to-find-it-for-you-*sigh*-but-it-will-take-Âanother-10-to-15-minutes-for-me-to-get-it-because-Âyou-are-going-to-have-to-remind-me-you-wanted-it-Âin-the-first-place-*sigh*." way.
Food is only fair to good, but most certainly overpriced for what is served, IMO. And repeatedly having to ask for missing things that were ordered in the first place (not substitutions -items ordered as part of the meal) does not tend to make the experience any better.
I prefer Pat's. ETA: Pat's is closed, so there's no reason to go to this part of Skokie for anything any more. GAH.
Love breakfast at 7am and even more at 1pm!
Annie's has awesome breakfast and will accommodate my crazy requests of dry cooking the omelet and hash browns and whatever else your heart desires.
I have tried their lunch options but I get so crazy about my food being low calorie, low fat, low carb, the list goes on and on soooo I just get breakfast and I'm perfectly happy.
The servers are super nice and get my order perfect each and every time. Love coming here.
When we first walked in my instincts were to walk right back out. Â It's one of those diners that consist of almost 75% old folks.. Â Now don't get me wrong, I love the elderly, they crack me up more often than not. Â And this time was no different... Â
So along with being entertained by an elderly couple, the food is actually pretty good. I ordered a spinach and feta omelet and it was very very good. My fiance got a skillet and my kids, as always without fail, pancakes which were also delicious. We will be back.
What? I usually have such a good time at Annie's that I was absolutely appalled by today's service. Just because you're busy doesn't mean that you can totally slack in the service department.
My boyfriend and I got there around 12:30pm on a Saturday. We waited 10 minutes at the door for an available table, which I completely understand because they were absolutely packed. However, there was a single empty table in the corner that we weren't offered. It was a six-seater, so I get that they might not have wanted to waste that table on us, but the unenthusiastic hostess simply mumbled something unintelligible at us, shoved a plastic number at us, and continued to arranged her display of lollipops instead of doing... anything at all. How about even a simple "We'll seat you as soon as we have something available"? And in the end, she wasn't even the one to seat us; a busboy hastily cleaned a vacated table and gestured us over.
And it just got worse from there.
- We sat there for at least 15 minutes before our orders were taken. The waitress barely said hi or acknowledged us as human beings.
- A busboy asked if we wanted refills of our coffee. I said, "Yes, please," and he topped off my cup and walked away hastily, ignoring my boyfriend's completely empty cup.
- Our food took another 20 minutes to come out, and we had ordered fairly simple entrees. My boyfriend had asked for pancakes to replace his toast, and it was taking an extraordinarily long time to come out. We had basically finished all the rest of our food and were still waiting on two measly pancakes. He ended up flagging down a random waitress to ask about them, and she turned around to ask another waitress, who said, "That's someone else's problem." Okay, that's good to know that our food is considered a "problem" at your establishment. (The pancakes did eventually come out, 20 minutes later.)
- We asked for some Tabasco sauce, which took the waitress 10 minutes to walk over to our table and literally slam it down in front of my face, all the while talking to someone else.
We had come here for a leisurely weekend brunch and ended up being irritated by the horrible service all around. C'mon Annie's, get it together! I know you can do better than this.
So one night... early morning I should say.. after a horrible night.. I was driving to Pat's Place.. my usual breakfast spot thats within 10 minutes of my place.. and it was fucking closed.... at 6am! I understand that all the waitresses are over 80 and they need some shut eye.. but damn I was starving...
So.. I kept driving and spotted annies pancake house.. damn!.. I never went back to pats...
first off for a breakfast joint.. service is pretty damn good.. 2-3 waitresses and 4 busboys... coffee.. water.. its always full..
now on to the damn food... usually when i find something i like at a place.. i can eat that every single time that I visit the establishment.. even if its 4 times a week.. yeah I'm pretty simple.. but shit.. the ole omelet! cheese, chorizo! eggs, onions, JALAPENOS! Hands down the best omelet in the world...
of course.. I've only been to Annies after a long night.. so it was actually dinner, and I guess I have never been when it was actually my first meal of the day.. and I can imagine that jalapenos for breakfast would mess up your insides.. and give you a shitty morning/breakfast.. so eat at your own risk..
of course all the standard blah blah blah is good too.. the eggs.. hash.. toast.. and all that other boring breakfast shit.. ooh! the orange juice is fresh squeezed and perfect with your breakfast also!
Went to Annie's and glad to say nothing's changed. One of the two best diners I've been to in my life, and the other one's in Texas, so Annie's saves you a plane ticket to great food! ;)
The waitress that's been serving there for years said she had a dream about me the night before and how weird was it that I came in the day after! I really raised my eyebrows to that because I hadn't been to Annie's in months. An odd thing to say, too, but she was hardly insulting me. Service was impeccable as usual. Burger and fries were fucking delicious, and they came with equally delicious soup. Tab was quite reasonable for quantity and quality of food. Altogether, after all my years eating out, I've yet to find a diner in the Chicagoland area that meets or beats this place.
As I mentioned in my original review, this place used to be open 'till 4 PM, but is now open till 9 PM. I thought this was a very good move on the part of the owners, because the place has an excellent reputation and a large following, so I imagine they've made a killing with this decision. The only thing I must caution about is that if you come here on Saturday morning or something, you might have to wait for a table because they'll be packed. But, that'll never stop me from going here.
All in all, Annie's is the hidden gem of Skokie. If you live in driving distance of it, I think you owe it to yourself to check them out.
Typical diner food but HUGE portions - I could only eat 1/2 of the meal and I'm a big eater, esp now that I'm preggo.
I went here for breakfast with the hubby and ordered the corned beef hash and pancakes while he had the gyros plate and pancakes.
In short, here are the good parts:
1) Â great portions
2) Â friendly and decent service
3) Â small pkg lot adjacent to the restaurant (street prkg didn't look too bad either)
4) Â at 7am, there is plenty of tables available and no waiting for a table at all
The bad parts:
1) Â food was bland
2) Â prices are a bit higher than i want to pay for typical diner food but portions made up for that
I'd come back here if I was in the mood to eat a ton but I'm pretty sure there's a ton of other great breakfast places to try for now.
Breakfast food is my favorite food on the planet besides pizza. Â Give me eggs, hash browns, bacon and toast... and I'm beyond ecstatic. Â With that said, I've been to ALOT of diners for omelets and skillets. Â
Annie's might be the absolute best in the area. Â GIGANTIC pancakes... HUGE omelets. Â I can't say enough about the Spinach & Feta Cheese Omelet... or how about that Hawaiian Omelet with pineapple! Â Seriously, some of the best eggs I've ever had has been here. Â Service was decent, but you gotta come here for the food! Â I'm eager to try lunch/dinner here sometime in the future as well. Â Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!
Its aways a thrill to find a new good restaurant that you have driven past and heard great things about to find out that most of them are true. Â Annie's a a diner with typical breakfast and lunch options. Â The people are friendly.
As I was hungry I opted for the turkey with mashed potatoes which came with soup. Â I had the white clam chowder which was fairly good but could have used more clam. Â The turkey was delicious, hot and moist with gravy, creamy mashed potatoes and some white bread. Â My colleague has a corn beef sandwich which he meant to eat half of and finished more quickly than I could so I presume it was good too. Â The price was pretty reasonable- about $21 for tax and tip for a lunch that might make eating dinner a challenge.
I must be getting old...
I could've sworn that I told my friend on GChat weeks ago that we are having breakfast at Egg Harbor on Sunday, Apr 3rd. So I'm waiting at the busy Egg Harbor, while my friend is waiting for me at Le Peeps in Evanston.
*ring ring* me: Where are you Joey?
       Joey: I just walked in.
       me: You did??? I don't see you. I'm at the entrance.
       Joey: So am I!!
       me:  pause...... um, are you not @ Egg harbor?
       Joey: Egg harbor?? I thought we were meeting at Le peeps.
bahaha. He digs up the gchat & *shaking my head*, I am the one at fault. So we try to meet somewhere else in the middle & end up at Annie's Pancake House. We've both never been, and the wait isn't bad.
They were great with the coffee and water refills! I ordered a bacon & avocado omelette with a side of pancakes. My friend got the Frittata Omellete with over easy eggs and a side of pancakes. The food came out real quick, and portion size wise...yowza!! Huge and plentiful!
Loved my omelette. Huge chunks of ripe avocado, and lots and lots of crispy bacon embedded in the glorious, perfectly cooked omelette. The pancakes came out a little later, and they were so delicious! Buttery, fluffy, and with the right ratio of butter and syrup, nom nom nom, they were gone in a heartbeat!
Our server was great, checking in with us, and even offered us coffee to-go.
Annie's Pancake house has an extensive breakfast and lunch menu. Next time, i wanna venture to lunch side and try out some of the wraps.
Glad I made that Egg harbor/Le peeps fumble coz I discovered a great bfast place nearby! thanks annie!
Sometimes it's ridiculously hard to award a rating because I'm all too aware that a lot of Yelpers won't go near a place with a rating under four stars. Â And that simply isn't fair, in my opinion because three stars means that the business is a good one. Â Maybe not great but a good, solid business. Â
I say this because I genuinely liked Annies Pancake House, but not enough to bump the rating up a notch.  In honesty, I would  give Annies three and a half stars if I could, but since I can't I'm going to err on the side of caution and award three stars for this first visit.
The food was good, plentiful and relatively cheap. Â The service was very good, and when it was a little slow, we got an apology. Â Everything was good, it's just that it didn't sparkle, it didn't have the special quality that would take it up to four stars.
If you want a good, reliable place to have regular coffee shop food without any dazzle, Annies will fit the bill.
This is a cute local brunch restaurant. Â The entrance and parking lot are too small to hold all the groups of people who are waiting to eat here on the weekends, but the staff and owners are friendly and efficient. Â We've never had to wait longer than 5-10 minutes, but sometimes the line is out the door! Â The interior kind of looks like your grandma's house, but it feels very comforting on a weekend morning.
One of my favorite omelets ever is the Spartan from Annie's - spinach, feta, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Â That exact combination is hard to find at a restaurant, believe it or not. Â It is colorful and filled with lots of healthy veggies. Â The pancakes are also my favorite here (2nd best next to Roscoe's waffles that are so cakey, they're basically pancakes). Â Annie's give you 2 large ones that take up almost the entire diameter of a side plate. Â Two people can dine here for $20 including tax and tip for breakfast.
Food & service are superb here. I came here once with my grandpa and my brother, and when I returned the waitress remembered us by face. This breakfast place has countless booths to choose from.
The breakfast specials are from 6am to 11am, so come early! Around lunchtime it gets a little busy so beware. The pancakes are so fluffy and the french toast still holds the key to my heart.
My brother ordered the chopped steak, which is one of the breakfast specials. Their chopped steak is even tender for my grandpa's dentures! haha. I had this one special, which was basically a scrumpcious skillet. My skillet was so huge, I had to take half of it home but definitely no complaints there.
Food portions are huge, the waitresses remember you when you come back, and the price is s'wonderful.
-- i just wish they had more parking... but thats ok everything else sold me.
THEY ALSO HAVE MUFFALETTAS!!! 4--- super cool
The last time I had one of these was in NOLA.
At the price level at which I most typically dine, I'm not expecting restaurants to be completely unique, but more so measure quality in how a place may be a bit less common when it comes to the commonplace.
Annie's Pancake House, which I've now been to a couple times, is a good example of this. Ostensibly just another dime-a-dozen family-style pancake house, I've found it to be a good bit above the norm in its menu selection, food quality, portion size and service. Today I went in expecting to order French Toast but was intrigued enough by their Hawaii-Five-O omelette (bacon, ham, pineapple and Monterey jack cheese) to order it instead.
It was only $7.35, tasted great, came with a huge portion of hash browns, and while I am not one to often wind up with a doggy bag, I have half of it left over to eat tomorrow.
I once read Roger Ebert explain that he doesn't award star ratings to movies in comparison to other movies, but merely in judging how each movie achieves its own intentions. In that light, I'm not saying with my 5 Star rating that Annie's is a truly elite restaurant, but that in the realm of pancake houses I've been to, it's clearly one of the best.
You better be hungry when you come to Annie's, or rather you will want to be! When you order an omelete, which is thick with toppings of your choosing, you also get a side of two pancakes. Annie's does not disappoint for the hungry breakfast foodie. They have good, simple breakfast with no holding back of the portion sizes. Expect to take home leftovers because you'll want to make sure you get every bite. I would recommend getting your pancakes with fruit, my favorite omelete is the Hawaii Five-O, in honor of the TV show. The waiter service is decent, they are busy but never leave you unattended for long. Fortunately the bus boys also double as coffee/water/juice refillers so you never have to worry about being parched.
Annie's is a traditional breakfast place for myself and my friends. Try their specialty german pancakes.
Amazing Omelette. Â
I had an Asparagus and Swiss Cheese omlette that was the size of a loaf of bread. Â I do not know what the deal is with the super fluffy omlettes that are common in Chicago, but I like them! Â There was a huge amount of very fresh and crisp asparagus in the dish, much better than the typical overcooked veggies in most omlettes. Â The hash browns were perfectly cooked. Â My wife had the Annies delight; Â egg white, mushroom and spinach scramble with fresh fruit on the side. Â She said it was delicious. Â The coffee was a great example of diner coffee. Â Hot and not too strong.
The service was excellent, and the price was right. I don't know what others are thinking, but 10 dollars for an omlette, hash browns and coffee is a DEAL on the North Shore. Â Go try the overpriced Walker Brothers if you want an lesser breakfast at a much higher price.
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