We were on our way home from Austin Texas and didn't want to get into traffic in Chicago so stopped at Blue's for dinner in Kankakee. Â The service was very nice, more importantly the food was excellent! Â The vegetable soup was amazing, so was the chili soup! Â My husband and I split fried chicken and fried shrimp, both were so good. Â Brought the chicken home so we could have room for the peach pie that the waitress set aside for us, amazing also.
Review Source:Best diner around. Â We found this after always ending up in the mall's food court, or at a chain restaurant. Â This place is really awesome. Â They only take cash, so if you don't want to pay their ATM Fee find your bank before you come. Â
The place looks and feels like an old time diner, and has local Kankakee history photos on the wall which is neat. We've passed dishes around the table and haven't found a bad dish yet.
The salad bar is great, and obviously, the pie is amazing. If you're sick of fast food, chain restaurants and waffle houses, you need to stop here.
Each of the three times I have been here we have had to get up from our seat and go ask for our check, after waiting for a very long time. The service was never good. The food, while excellent portions and tastes good is expensive. The layout makes it extremely noisy. I think there are other diners in the area that are a better value with much better service.
Review Source:Truly a classic Kankakee institution! Inexpensive, great "greasy spoon" kind of diner. The food is good and the pies are great! Best of all, if you need an ego boost by feeling like you are the young, hot one then this is the place to visit. The median age at dinner time is approximately 72.
Review Source:Okay, what is so great about this place? I rushed over at 11 AM to beat the rush. I could have waited since it took seven minutes just to get our party of five noticed. The salad bar was medium sized and well stocked. A lot of locals were eating in this place. I ordered the breaded pork loin and mashed potatoes with brown gravy. The pork tasted like a deep fried frozen steak with no flavor. It was hard to tell if the potatoes were real or just flakes. The gravy must have been from a jar. Another person ordered a Dr. Pepper that was flat! Did I mention that our corner booth had crumbs and a cracker wrapper in it and the tabled needed additional wiping. Now about this world famous pie...I ordered the butterscotch. The crust was flaky and the filling had just the right balance. The topping was a disappointing cool whip that wasn't even browned. The mediocre service with the frozen food, a dirty dish cart by the front door, and cash only policy don't bid well for me. I recommend that Blue's stay local. Apparently their locals like their type of cafe. It's better than fast food, but don't make a special trip.
Review Source:Driving between downstate and Chicago, decided to find a place to dine in Kankakee, wanted something cheap and yelp reviews pointed me here - it's a typical diner with a no nonsense decor, I wish the lighting was a little more creative than flourescents and acoustic tile, but whatever - the more important thing with diners is the food - and Blue's didn't disappoint. I had a Mediterranean chicken pasta - it was really tasty, definitely beat my expectations for "diner food" (my 'bar' for diner food is set by Mary Anne's in Champaign, for what it's worth). Oh, dinners come with the salad bar, which was a little limited in options but I put together something simple that tasted good.
Waitress said they serve breakfast items all day except the biscuits and gravy, which makes sense to me.
Of course, yes, the pies were awesome, and between getting pie ala mode and bringing a slice home to my mom, adding an extra 10 bucks to the bill so it turned out not being so cheap after all! Worth driving all the way into town off the interstate tho.
Awesome waitresses, who know what drinks regulars want. Â Coffee is always great; they also do their own milkshakes. Â Basic diner food, but not greasy. Â They have great biscuits and gravy, go for the full order. Â We also love their baked whitefish. Â Clean and comfortable. Â Go a few times and you'll make some friends. Â Owner is usually present. Â Cash only.
Review Source:We were on our way back to Chicago from an U of I game and wanted to find something authentic for dinner. It was the review of PIE Â at Blue's Cafe that drew us in. At almost 8 at night, the lemon meringue and the apple were gone, but the warm peach pie ala mode was worth the drive. Just sweet enough, yet tangy and that crust - we were told that two local ladies come in every day, just to make all the pies. Â Yes, the grilled chicken salad was tasty too, and a good fish sandwich; good diner food. But put this on your must do list for scrumptious pie.
Review Source:The best pies I've had. Â The apple pie is fresh apples thinly sliced and wonderful. Â The peach pie is flaky and fresh peaches. Â Cherry pie was sweet tart - again - flaky crust and wonderful warm with ice cream. Â The custard pie is smooth with a hint of nutmeg. Â They routinely have at least 11 different pies daily - from chocolate, banana, lemon meringue, raisin, pecan to a wonder called Hawaiian - a mix of pineapple, coconut and banana (ever wonder what heaven tastes like?).
The breakfasts are reasonably priced - have the potatoes well cooked, add cheese and gravy over it all - OMG! Â The breakfast time is about the only time you can guarantee that you will find all the pie flavors available. Â If you wait for lunch time - you may find that they have run out of a flavor or two of your favorite flavor pie.
They have a pot roast - huge chunks of well done fall apart tender roast beef with tons of flavor - it melts in your mouth. Â The bar-b-que beef sandwich ($3.29) is shredded beef, lots of sauce and fluffy buns. Â They have barley soup (a bit too salty - but tons of barley). Â The breaded pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes is bland - but - you can always look forward to the pies - order your slice ahead or they could run out!
Lovely classic diner, or "cafe," as we'd have said in Oklahoma. Burgers, salads, sandwiches, dinner specials, salad bar. Fantastic pie. Â Eat early in the day for best pie selection! Something that looked like chicken and dumplings was very popular. My vegetable beef soup was excellent, as was the pork tenderloin sandwich. Very inexpensive.
Review Source:Great, old fashioned, homestyle food, and the best pie in the Midwest. Most entrees are under $8, which includes the salad bar or soup. Pie is $2.59 per slice. Whole pies are roughly $11, but you must order them at least 24 hours in advance.
My group had fried chicken, bbq meatballs, and pork cutlet with milk gravy. We were all very happy with our choices. The fried chicken is extra crispy and the chicken is very fresh. We also had the butterscotch pie, lemon meringue, and peach pie. Their pie crust is absolutely amazing. It flakes in such a way that it had to have been made with real lard. The peach pie was made with fresh peaches, and perfectly sweetened. The butterscotch was not too heavy, and the lemon meringue melted in my mouth.
The decor is worn, but welcoming, and the staff is very friendly. Blue's Cafe is the diner equivalent of Cheers...everyone knew everyone's name (except us yuppies from the Big City.) We drove 75 miles to try Blue's Cafe & it was worth it! Coming from Chicago, we got off 55 in Braidwood & continued to IL 113, which is a beautiful, scenic highway along the Kankakee River. It was very nice. We'll be back soon!
We drove south to photograph the Barn Quilts and decided to try this cafe because it promised good pie. Â They were wrong, they have SUPERB pie like you WISH your Mother had made. Â We had our pie with breakfast, that's how inviting it looked. Â Breakfast was steak and eggs with biscuits that make you weep with joy. Â Did I mention they have great pie? Â This cafe has been open since 1954 and is the real deal - truly friendly waitresses who know their customers. Â Ours got us information on the barn quilts and warned us the pies might be gone if we stopped back after our photographic quest. Â I had peach pie that would make Georgia jealous and my husband had Hawaiian pie that he closed his eyes to savor. Â For old fashioned home cooking, super service and good prices visit Blue's Cafe. Â Oh, and get some pie!
We went back a second time and they were out of pie. Â Bummer. Â Get there early.
I can't believe that I haven't written a review of this place yet? How Rude of me. This is a simple diner with a soda counter and is full of locals. I have always had a good meal here. The menu is not that large, but they have daily specials. The bomb drops when you get to the homemade pies. They are made by Vivian. She is 72 and comes in every morning at 2:30 to get em ready. They have all kinds of fruit and cream pies. But my favorite is the pecan. When I walk-in they slap a piece in front of me. Then I order my food. And then one or two after. There is not alot to see or do in this one horse town. But iffin yer in town, ya godda go get a slice at the Blues and tell um the pie guy sent ya.
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