This is the best diner in Chicago. The waitress knows everybody who eats here, it's clean, cheap, friendly and the menu is a succinct one page, front and back. The food is delicious and generously served.
This is a perfect restaurant for the non-yuppies (what few are left) in Bucktown. I'm sad it took me seven years to find this place.
Bonus: they serve a $5 waffle. Why is this otherwise impossible to find in Chicago?
I really wish I could give this place 3.5 stars, because it's not quite a 4 star dining experience.
This place is cheap. Hella, hella cheap. My boyfriend and I can go here and eat like King Henry VIII on $20. In fact, it was our regular spot when we first started dating. Definitely an essential ingredient in our love-struck, hung over Saturday morning mating ritual. You know you're really in love if you can survive a night at The Mutiny and a morning at Fullerton Restaurant together... and still find each other appealing post potty breaks. Don't act like you don't know. Srsly.
Anyway, the food here is extremely hit or miss. Some of it is genuinely good, especially for the price. Most notably, their basic breakfasts, the skillets, the omelets, the biscuits and gravy, the patty melt, the soups, and their club sandwiches. Some things taste really freaking bad, old, or just plain weird. DO NOT GET GRAVY ON YOUR MASHED POTATOES OR HOT TURKEY. Just don't. You'll thank me later. Also, eating the steak sandwich is like gnawing on a rubber sandal. My bf has had really bad experiences with both the burgers and the reuben. All of the pastas are pretty awful. That is, unless you enjoy eating paste.
Just be careful when ordering. Stick to simple, hard to mess up things and you'll be fine. It's a pretty universal rule for all dives everywhere. If you go to Taconasty on Western/Cermak, you don't order ceviche. The same rules apply here. Just be smart about your choices.
The main reason I gave this place 4 stars is because 2/3 of the waitresses here are incredibly friendly, generous, and kind people. If you get to know them, you can have some very interesting conversations. The one sourpuss who works here just makes things more interesting. Tip them all well. They deserve it.
The staff is friendly (if you are) and the food is good and delivered with a wink. If you're looking for something fancy, this isn't your place. This is a restaurant where every other table is filled with regulars and locals that perhaps had too much to drink the night before. And me, of course, who lives around the corner and likes an endless cup of coffee and service with a smile.
Fullerton Restaurant is a-okay in my book.
Here's the deal. This joint is a diner. That means you're not going to be served any weenie, French culinary food here. You're going to get a decently sized omelet with a decently sized side of hash browns and a couple pieces of buttered toast. Failing that, you can always go with the pecan pancakes, which are made with whole pecans and served with whipped cream. It's dessert for breakfast. If you can't get behind that, then we can't be friends.
It must be said, though, that this is THE SPOT for bookies, bagmen, low-level thieves and otherwise unsavory types. Personally, this adds to the experience and makes the people watching/eavesdropping that much better.
Pro-tip: Don't drink the coffee unless you're in the mood for weak coffee.
So there's only a handful of places to have a proper breakfast in Logan Square. We wanted to try to something new and close to home.
At 10:30a on a Saturday, we were right in (parking was challenging, but free and near) and sat with a coffee in hand minutes later. We ordered our breakfasts and got it in minutes. I actually subbed tots for hash browns on my eggs breakfast! It was definitely a treat since tots are really difficult to come by.
For $18 we ended up with two delicious breakfasts and two coffees. It's a little more than I'd expect to pay (from the likes of Johnny's Grille) but it's entirely reasonable. And it's amazingly quaint in there, too. Almost looks like it was once a jazz club.
Okay, this is a bare bones diner. If you're looking for service with a smile, fresh flowers on each table and non-plastic drinking glasses you've come to the wrong place. This diner is cheap, quick and in a great location. Normally, the hubby & I go to another diner further up the street that has all the things I mentioned, but I wanted to go somewhere different.
I've been here a few times so I know what to expect. I've only ordered the breakfast food which is okay. The food isn't incredible (good or bad) just average. Because the prices are not that different from our regular spot, I probably won't be coming back here. The older I get the more I realize I want the service with a smile, fresh flowers on each table and non-plastic drinking glasses.
Last Sunday I was looking for an inexpensive diner to go to on the near northwest side for some late breakfast. Â Being broke the more upscale diners were out of the question, being in a hurry some of the more packed diners wouldn't work. Â Last time I was faced with this predicament my friend and I had gone to Golden Nugget (on Diversey & Elston), but what we found was that not only was it packed but all their prices had gone up. Â Instead of going to that old northside mainstay we decided to give Fullerton Restaurant a try - it did not disappoint. Â For a grand total of $15 dollars my friend and I ate like kings (we left feeling stuffed and satisfied). Â The food wasn't the best in the world but it was definitely edible, hit the spot, and was a relatively large portion. Â The coffee was decent, the pancakes were delicious, and the menu had plenty of options. Â The service was great, Â our waitress was courteous and came to the table just the right number of times (wasn't in your hair but also didn't neglect you - my glass of water and cup of coffee was always full). Â The place had its regulars - mostly older women and men - who came in alone and were immediately greeted by name by the wait staff (who asked things like - should I put in your order?) Â
Overall the best part about this place is that (1) it's CHEAP, and that (2) you can immediately sit down and order. Â If you're super picky about your food and want top quality, or a stickler about aesthetics don't come here - but if you're looking for decent food and a price that makes you think it's 1990 - this is the place.
When I joined yelp, my boyfriend said, "Hey! Â You should review Open Fullerton 24 Hours Restaurant!" Â and I said, "don't you mean Fullerton 24 Hours Restaurant Open?"
Anyway... confusing signage notwithstanding, I have to say, "blech." Â Perhaps I ordered the wrong thing, and believe me, I have a strong affinity for real diners like this one, but... blech.
The cream of mushroom recalled the texture of mucus a little too convincingly.
I might come here again if I were truly desperate, but I'm pretty sure I could rustle up some better tasting grub at home than what I got here, unfortunately. Â
24 Hours Open Restaurant Fullerton, I really wanted to like you!
Great people, great place.
This is a great family owned and operated place that gives you large portions for a very cheap price. Awesome service and awesome coffee.
Even more stars because there is never any wait, and the food comes out quickly. Large menu and soup comes with every sandwich! Burger special with fries and soup is $4.95. Cheaper than groceries.
I highly recommend this place, they are really great people who work really hard to keep the idea of small, family owned diners alive.
This is no epic dining experience - you will not be telling your children stories about the life-changing omelet or the truffle oil garlic purple potatoes that you once ate here.
Its a greasy spoon diner.
Not an immitation greasy spoon concept diner that some culinary school grad opened after working in gourmet restaurants and then realizing that they really just want to make traditional dishes. No frills, no gimmicks, nothing gussied-up - just grease and spoons.
Cheap food that doesn't suck. You leave full. Diner coffee that tastes good for diner coffee. Friendly staff. Never any wait.
It's the cozy dive bar of breakfast establishments. As a greasy-spoon diner connoisseur - Fullerton does it well
Perfect greasy spoon type of joint down to the vinyl covered booth seats. Â This place has huge servings and cheap food, a good breakfast for under $5. The cheddar and ham omlet I had was really quite good, however they pan cook hashbrowns so it will be brown on the outside and white inside.
Review Source:It's a diner and nothing else. The decor hasnt changed in 25 years. The waitresses were awesome and friendly and came to my attention right away when the second half of my grilled cheese was missing most of the cheese. i think it was processed cheese though so ewwwww..this is a reason why they only get 3 stars but what do you expect at a little diner? I really loved that we were given a carafe of iced tea. They must have seen my boyfriend coming because he always gets about 3 refills so the carafe really saves them a few trips to the table.
p.s. $4.99 special for grilled cheese and a cup of soup. A perfect meal when youre broke on a cold, rainy day.
It was my first time here at the Fullerton Restaurant and I have to say, I rather enjoyed the experience. I am a huge fan of dives and diners, and the Fullerton Restaurant is just that: a divey little diner. From the outside, you wouldn't really know that it is there unless you are really paying attention. I always thought the whole building was a law office, but it wasn't until I actually took note at the sign and realized that it is a restaurant.
I walked around 9:30 on a Sunday morning, expecting the place to be packed from the church goers, but it wasn't packed to the brim. There was a steady flow of customers, but I got a booth all to myself.
The waitress brought me coffee and water just as I was sitting down. I took a moment to peruse the menu, as it is quite large and visually overwhelming like the great diner dives should be. I ordered my usual diner breakfast: scrambled eggs with american cheese, hash browns, wheat toast with strawberry jam, and a side of sausage links. You can tell a lot by the place when you order this feast.
The breakfast was quite tastey. The eggs were cooked very well and the cheese was melty to just the perfect amount. The hashbrowns were crispy on top and soft on the underside: delicious. Also, they didn't salt the hashbrowns or the eggs which i greatly appreciate. The sausages were delicious, crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside with just the right amount of pepper flavor. The only downside was the toast: it was buttered just a bit too much, making it flimsier than I would prefer once I put on the strawberry jam. Yet, despite the floppy toast, breakfast was a delicious diner feast.
The waitress was very sweet and introduced herself to me, asking if I was new to the neighborhood (she asked this since I told her it was my first time there). She encouraged me to come back and was very attentive. The downside was that I was dining alone and once I was finished I had to wait a bit for the check, but I was happy enjoying my food choma. Moreover, I didn't have to wait too long.
Love the crazy antique cash register and the divey mauve pleather seats. The food was good, but I probably wouldn't order something super fancy there; although, it may surprise you. I will definitely go back!
Since this is a diner-kinda place, I was leaning towards ordering breakfast. Â I mean, generally you can't go wrong with b-fast food at a diner, right? Â But I saw a chicken Caesar salad on the menu, and somehow got it into my head that's what I wanted. I was prepared for a kinda sad salad. Â After all... it's a diner. Â
Maybe some iceberg lettuce, maybe one slice of tomato, right? Â Well surprise, surprise, it was actually a humongous salad (possibly enough for 2 people!) with slices of 2 full tomatoes, a giant mound of romaine, (not only iceberg), pretty darn tasty (and decent textured) crispy chicken, fried croutons, and creamy Caesar dressing.
I was pleasantly surprised, extraordinarily full, and I agree with some other folks -- knowing we wouldn't have to wait as long to be seated as Cozy Corner was a plus. Â This place is quite fine by me!
We finally made it into this little diner on Saturday morning. Its what you would expect a little diner to be. Nothing fancy, flashy or big about it.
First thing is first.......................NO LINES on a Saturday morning!
THis alone makes it 3 stars! Seriously people, Breakfast food is breakfast food. And when your hungover............who cares if its IHOP, Cozy Corner or this place. Except here there is no Waiting!
Sure the staff is probably 1/2 hipsters from Iowa or Michigan but thats AOK when there is no wait.
Sure the food was just ok.......but thats all right when theres no wait and your getting exceptional service from the hipster waitress with tatooed arms.
And what did I see.................a Mexican dude working side by side with a hipster in the Kitchen! Hipsters can cook!!!!! Hopefully the dirty little weasel washed his hands before making my BLT.
Anyway...........food was ok, it was good. I mean  its egss people, and pancakes and Blt's they make here..........No need for chef's.
Oh and if you get the chicken noodle soup there will be the whole alphabet in it....pasta alphabet, awesome!
SHake & bake seal of approval!
Shake N Bake seal of approval.
Had lunch here recently, and was unfortunately disappointed with this place. It's ironic my experience was so similar to Jillian's, getting pecan pancakes here that I didn't care for. However they prepare pancakes here(not sure if it's the way the pancake batter is made here or what), the ones served here fell apart too much for my standards. And this is coming from someone who's been to other diners that've done excellent jobs of preparing pancakes.
At least the prices are very fair, and the server I had here was decent. I'd be open to giving this place another chance, but would probably hit up Golden Nugget the next time I wanted to hit a diner in this area instead, despite it being pricier. Finally, I remember overhearing the ownership recently changed, so I hope that doesn't mean the end of the Korean items that I saw were on the menu here, and read about in past reviews.
I like this place a lot for breakfast and lunch items. It's a cute diner with very nice employees. I've always been seated right away and the service is great. The prices are fairly cheap and the food is good. Whenever I'm not sure where to go for breakfast or lunch I end up here. I know I won't be disappointed.
Review Source:This place is pretty gross. It has a good layout, good location...pretty terrible food. I had some of the worst pancakes ever here. The best part though...they have a sign in the window advertising some sort of deal. Something to the extent of $4.99 soda, soup and sandwich. While I was there I heard 3, THREE people complain to the server that they did not receive enough soda,soup or sandwhich for their $4.99. "This soda is all ice", " Can't I get more soup free?" ect. So for those servers remaining calm while people who certainly weren't going to tip complained constantly, to my comrades, I give an extra star.
Review Source:I've only been for breakfast and plan to keep it that way. Â It's a cheap diner - you get exactly what you expect and what you pay for here, so in that respect, it's just fine. Â The waitresses are nice, and if you want a cheap hangover breakfast, you can't go wrong here. Â Just don't sit in the back part, it's weird and the benches are ripped up. Â Being from Detroit area, this is the closest I've found to a Coney Island in the area...not quite that good, but better than nothing.
Review Source:It's ok, nothing special. Â I'm no greasy spoon fetishist, some suck. This one doesn't suck, but it's not so good as to make me take a special trip there. It's not open late, and with the huge variety of places of all price ranges available in the morning/afternoon I'd just as soon take the trip to the Nugget, or better still the Golden House.
Review Source:Although I have a friend who swears their cheeseburgers are the best here, I usually stick to breakfast. Â They are just greasy enough to help kill off the remnants of any hangover you may have acquired the night before. I especially like the hash browns here. Fairly inexpensive and well done and they are always happy to prepare orders for takeout.
Service is much faster at the counter than at tables. Â They keep your coffee mug refilled all the time and offer refills on soda. Â Standard diner food, but they recently have added dinner hours and some Korean options (the owners are Korean) that I have yet to try. Â
In all honesty, this is really a 2-3 star place, but I'm giving them 4 because they have a nice staff, are family owned and cheap - every neighborhood should have one of these.
All I can say is, eh. Â We stopped here for the first time today for lunch, pretty much because it's cheap, it's close and it serves pretty standard American diner fare, which is my hubby's favorite. Â I don't know yet if I'd go back - maybe to try their breakfast, as I think they were a breakfast/lunch only place for a long time, so maybe they're better at that.
I had the Monte Cristo, which was weirdly served on french toast instead of the whole sandwich being dipped in the egg batter as usual AND the "Swiss" cheese tasted like it was really that white American cheese that's sometimes passed off as Swiss - not recommendable. Â My husband had the Monster burger - ham, bacon and cheese on a 1/2 lb. burger. Â He said it was okay - the ham was an unusual and not tasty addition and the burger was greasy. Â Then, my two-year-old... the menu was really not little kid-friendly. Â Grilled cheese was really the only easy to eat option for a little guy - no chicken fingers, no smaller burger or anything on the menu. Â He seemed to like it okay, but who knows? Â He's two - he alternates between agreeable and picky all the time.
I can't even say too much about the service. Â They were friendly enough, although a bit ditsy. Â I got a strange look at first when I asked for a spoon to stir my coffee (??!??!) and the whole place just looked unkempt.
Like I said, we THINK we might give them another try for breakfast, as they are cheaper and closer than Golden Nugget, but most of the time, I think I'd stretch my legs and my wallet up the street at the Nugget.
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