Louis' Restaurant Breakfast Review: Ferak Food Column

JOLIET, IL - When I covered the Great Joliet Prison Break-In event back on Aug. 25, I bumped into a few people that night who told me that I needed to try their restaurant. On Tuesday, I finally did.

When I pulled into Louis' Family Restaurant parking lot shortly before noon, it was hard to find a parking spot. For a late Tuesday morning, the restaurant was quite busy.

The sign in the front window proclaims: "FASTEST BREAKFAST IN TOWN."

That's a pretty bold statement, I thought.

This was my first time eating at Louis' Restaurant. Inside the dining room, there's a large banner hanging over the kitchen counter that celebrates the official opening on December 18, 1992. Why did it take me 26 years to get here? In 1992, I was away at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. After that, I lived mostly out of state until the summer of 2017 when I came back to the area to run the Joliet Patch.

I went with the $5.95 breakfast special featuring two eggs (scrambled of course), bacon, hashed browns and pancakes.

My meal was fresh and out of the kitchen in less than five minutes from the time I ordered.

My eggs were great. My bacon was thick and incredibly plentiful. Oh was it tasty. Now, normally, I'm not a huge pancake person. I like pancakes, but I prefer scrambled eggs. On Tuesday, I managed to eat them both.

These buttermilk pancakes were good. In fact, they were the first thing on my plate I devoured.

Hash browns? They were crispy and wholesome, just the way I like them.

The waitress service was top-notch, too. The staff was constantly walking through the dining rooms offering refills to anyone drinking coffee.

My takeaways: Louis' Restaurant has a friendly and warm atmosphere. I could tell that several of the customers who were here for lunch were regulars, probably visitors several days a week.

Does Louis Restaurant have the fastest breakfast in town? As far I'm can tell, the answer is definitely yes. And the best part of my breakfast was, their food tasted great.

Images via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor