Norwood Restaurant

I was waiting for Gordon Ramsey to walk in and do a makeover.  Maybe it was curled yellowed newspaper clippings taped to the class behind the cash register, the other side of which announced Anthrax had been mailed to Washington.  Maybe it was the bamboo-like chairs that I remember from one of the rare trips to a restaurant made with my parents 50 years ago.  

There are 400 kajillion items on the menu.  Red flag - how much of it is fresh?  Not the cream my companion put in his coffee.  

Upon entering and being told by owner to sit anywhere, I did; my companion came in a minute latter to join me.  The owner was talking with a customer at the counter.  The bus boy brought us water.  The two customers sitting 'over there' at a table were showing one another cell phone photos and talking. The only waitress was sitting at a table in the back having coffee.  We sat 10 minutes before having an order taken  - no exaggeration.

While I had plans for breakfast, all the aforementioned prompted me to just order coffee and a toasted bagel.

I'd return again only if this place is gutted and redone completely - there are waaaaay too many places like this around.  Restaurants should not take away your appetite.

Nice little neighborhood diner in Norwood Park, across from the Metra station.  It's a clean but worn place, some of the fabric in the booths ripped but not a bit of graffiti or dirt anywhere.  The waitresses are all seasoned pros, the kind who will slap you on the back and call you "hun."  And it really is a fixture in the neighborhood. While there, both the manager (owner?) and the waitress joined a favorite customer in his booth for a chat.

The place attracts middle aged and older folks, no flash or pretense here, in a neighborhood filled with cops, firemen and city employees.  The place is casual: the manager told me to sit anywhere I pleased when I arrived and also assisted the waitress and bus guy in clearing dishes as I dined.  The menu leans toward hearty American staples.  I had a very nice dinner of chicken noodle soup, a garden salad with creamy garlic dressing, a large tasty chopped steak covered with grilled onions, a baked potato wrapped in aluminum foil, "bottomless" glass of Pepsi (no Coke) and a scoop of chocolate ice cream for dessert, all for twelve bucks plus tip.  A bargain if you ask me.

I paid my bill at the front counter like you do at all diners like this.  The one unusual thing was that I wanted to add the waitress' tip to my credit card payment, which the manager did.  But then he handed me the tip in cash for me to place back on the table, rather than give the tip directly to the waitress.  This system worked fine, I'd just never seen it before.  Maybe the manager was trying to prove to me that the tip was really getting to the staff and not going in his pocket?

Amusingly, the booth I picked at random turned out to be the very booth President Bush & Mayor Daley sat in (both sons, not Bush & Daley Seniors).  I happened to look up at the wall at a paper American flag flanked on either side by plaques, one with a photo of the occasion on September 21, 2001, just ten days after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.  The photo showed that my butt was parked in the President's side, while the Mayor was across the table where my backpack was tossed.  I feel like Zelig.

I checked with the waitress if this really was the Presidential booth and she laughed heartily, saying it's become "a bit of a shrine around here."  Cool.

I came in here after swimming at Norwood Park pool for lunch. I  figured if Mayor Daley thought it was good enough to bring Bush, it must be good. However, the waitress was beyond rude.  Not to mention, she made me lose my appetite because she has lots of white facial hair. After hearing her abrupt tone, I should have walked out, but I figured she was just miserable from working all day on a hot day. However, I have never ever came across such a rude person. Staff was kind and attentive, but I still have to give only 1 star for how mean the waitress was from the moment I walked through the door. The food was not that great either. I ordered the burger. I have no idea why out of all the restaurants and good diners with nice service in the Chicagoland area, Daley would bring Bush here. lol. Maybe as a mean joke?