West River Cafe

No nonsense neighborhood diner. Finally able to come after 20 some years of seeing it on my way home. Basic diner fare. Waffles had a nice crispy texture. Strawberries fresh. Accommodating servers.

As a local Albany Park resident for the past five years, West River Cafe has become my go-to neighborhood spot - and for good reason! Not only is it walking distance, but the food is consistently amazing with great prices and everything made fresh. There’s so much culture in the kitchen and you can really taste it. The atmosphere is warm and homey - it’s literally like hanging out with your neighborhood friends. It gets packed (first come, first seated), but that’s because it’s just that good! The staff is incredibly attentive, friendly, and kind. Joni has taken care of me over the years and we’ve become friends - she provides some of the best service in the industry, hands down. I go to five-star restaurants that don’t match the quality of service I get here. The menu has great variety, but those waffles are some of the best in the neighborhood! They serve syrup from a fresh warmer, have an amazing coffee selection, smoothies, and desserts. Soup lovers rejoice - they have soup seven days a week, all year long, which is a total lifesaver. Now they’re open later into the early evenings too, so you can grab an early dinner. If you’re in the neighborhood looking for something special, West River Cafe is a one-stop shop that should absolutely be on your list. You won’t be disappointed!

Love love love this place, prices are good for BIG portions of food and the interior was so cute. Goood vibes.

Came for brunch, leaving with a new favorite place! West River Cafe has the diner charm that other places are missing, with lots of seating and great food: I will be returning. We ordered a skillet and an omelette which was amazing. Highly recommend getting the Mayan Skillet + Chorizo + Jalapeño (it’ll put you at around 20$). Food was flavorful with large portions. The waitstaff were awesome: all friendly and willing to talk to you! Highly recommend sitting at the bar in the front to really chat it up with them!

We accidentally found the West River Cafe and I'm so glad we did. It was a cozy diner, playing great music and serving generous portions of comfort-food style breakfast. Literally the best hashbrowns we've ever had. Plus, our super pleasant server, Joanie was awesome! Really, get the hashbrowns!!

Joanie, our server was awesome, she has a Great sense of humor. Wonderful service and damn good food. Found a new breakfast spot for me and the wife!

Had great burgers and good service!

The service was friendly and attentive. The food was as described and came to the table fast with reasonable portions. The menu has many diner staples as well as a few additional items that has something for everyone and their dietary needs.

Located in Albany Park, another great city diner. Decent place we have been meaning to try out. This place boasts a huge menu. With all your diner faves. We got the Montrose special 2 eggs, 2 sausages, bacon and hash browns. It was decent. The sausage was almost to the point of it being off putting with a taste of rosemary. Hash browns could have been better too. Prices were decent and we plan to give it another shot sometime.

We were delightfully surprised by this find in the neighborhood. We were able to be seated right away late on a Sunday morning. The server was attentive and helped us with our selection. Everything came as we requested and was delicious. It was exactly what you'd expect from this kind of breakfast spot. Definitely will be a place we come back to.

I ordered the chilaquiles, they were perfect soft and crunch. The sauce was a good texture! They staff attended to our table, decent service.

Love this place-- it's nothing fancy and has a real down-home/neighborhood-y feel. The staff have all been there a long time, are all the BEST (Janis and Jodie are two of the biggest sweethearts and best servers I've ever met. They take such great care of their customers!) Great place for reasonably priced diner food that cures whatever ails ya-- be it a hangover, a hankering for a good skillet or patty-melt, or a salad and sandwich. It's a real gem of the neighborhood!

A family fave! For regular days and special occasions. We took my son on his first day of school every year! The staff is super awesome! Food is yummy! Great local spot with a family friendly vibe!

Ordered takeout, did not receive the full order. Business was slow and I gave them plenty of time to put it together. I think their ticket order machine might not work, because I'm seeing lots of other people complaining about this.

Food was good, service was good, lovely little breakfast place. Only drawback was higher prices than I'm used to seeing in a little diner like this.

This is a great old fashioned breakfast and lunch place. Been coming here for years and the worst thing I ever had was not bad. Usually I get the Managers Special or the American Skillet. They'll readily substitute cheddar for the American cheese for me. Yesterday I had the Montrose skillet (bacon, sausage, ham, and swiss cheese). It was insanely good. Mexican burrito was also great. It's always too much food. You'll either eat till you want to die, leave some on the plate and regret it later, or split a meal. Those are your options. Live with them. If you don't order the pancakes instead of toast, you're a fool. Wonderful service by the best waitresses and busboy in town. They should get bonus stars for the rooster decor.

Flavorful eats at favorable prices! Decided to finally check out this local neighborhood cafe and was not disappointed. The french toast was pretty good, but the cheesy eggs stole the show. Looking forward to revisiting to find out what other tasty treasures they have on the menu. :-)

If you're looking for a classic neighborhood diner with quick, good portioned breakfast and reasonably priced- this is the place to be. Ordered the mushroom and spinach omelette which came with hashbrowns and choice of pancakes or toast. It was exactly as expected. Pancakes come in a three stack, believe short stack is also available. I went with my parents and they both enjoyed it. My dad got over easy eggs and they looked perfectlu made!Service was great and coffee was continuously topped off!

Cozy little diner. Not too big, not too small. Mom and Pop feel in a good way. Came here for breakfast today and got what I was looking for. Both the hubby and I ordered skillets and for about $10, you get a full plate of your skillet with 3 eggs on top, along with a side of pancakes or toast. Very reasonable prices on their menu. I greatly enjoyed my skillet. I ordered the American Skillet which came with corned beef hash on a bed of hashbrowns. My husband, on the other hand, said his tasted a little burnt. I kinda like my hash browns a little crunchy so I wasn't complaining. It tasted great to me! Their orange juice did taste a little tap water-ish but no big deal. The servers were also really attentive and the service was fast. I'd come here again for breakfast.

West River Cafe is our favorite neighborhood spot for a delicious breakfast! Everything is priced fairly and the portions are huge. The drip coffee hits the spot but the iced tea is also a great choice! We always have the same waitress, who is lovely and and makes great recommendations. West River is a must in our book!

I usually prefer nonchain restaurants so that it forces me to venture out. Perhaps I should've stuck what was economically familiar. On the plus side, that place gets enough business that my rant later won't put a dent to that business. My daughter enjoyed her meal but she made a face that orange juice instead of apple juice was given to her. The waitress thought it was cute and made my daughter laugh. My coffee was filled up a few times. One of the waitress tipped my coffee to a poibt it spilled and didnt notice because she rushly passed through to fill up my coffee. For Mayan skillet with toast, kids menu of silver dollar pancakes with chocolate chips, 2 strips of bacon and apple juice, and my unlimited coffee: about $28. I should've inquired about my bill because it was broken down with the taxes per meal and an additional tax is what I believe is the tip. Instead I took my change and put in tip on the table because the waitress did engage with my daughter as a customer and that's always a plus to treat my 5 uear old daughter as she is someone to listen to. It's probably one of those days that was randonly off service hence only 4 stars out of 5.

Ordered the Montrose Special. Both sausages were burnt from the outside but one sausage was very undercooked (with a burnt exterior). The hashbrowns were flavorless and burnt. French toast was good though. I would not order from here again. I did not enjoy my meal today.

I came here with my Grandpa for brunch and we both agreed that the food was good, not great. The staff was nice and food came out quickly. There is plenty of seating and parking available near the diner. Prices here are decent. Most everything was under $10 and portions were huge. He ordered the veggie omelet which came with hash browns and toast or pancakes. Huge huge omelet which he couldn't finish. Good amount of fillings. I got the Texan burger which had salsa, avocado, and pepper jack cheese. The burger patty was freakin gigantic. As a whole, it tasted really good and has plenty of toppings but it was sooo messy. Anyways, who needs 1/2 a pound of meat on a burger....?! I was disappointed because it didn't taste fresh. Definitely frozen. Fries were okay but not crunchy. Didn't try the coleslaw. If you're looking for a cheap and quick meal, check this place out. It has a super large menu and the food is pretty good overall!

Over the years this breakfast spot has gone from quaint to dive. The place could use a makeover. It is the usual Greek diner. We regularly order skillets or omelets. The food is standard in taste and creativity. I do not understand why they do not have a website. There is a Facebook page, but it is rather bland. There is a disconnect however between how you are treated by their staff, and ownership. We have eaten here numerous times over the past 10 years. It is always the same. The servers are very friendly. Warm, hard working. The owner distant, non approachable. We went in the restaurant for pick up service and it was to the bones staffed between a cook, server, and the owner. This is during the "stay at home" order. In almost all other restaurants during the stay at home order the owners, or managers, have always said to us "Thank you so much for supporting us, we appreciate it". Nothing. No have a nice day, no thank you, nothing. At a time when your business depends on people like us to support you, I expected some reply that would encourage us to come back and order more. We will be supporting other restaurants during this hard time.

Good food, good service, good old fashioned quality diner! Family owned and it shows.

The boyfriend and I have been obsessively ordering breakfast from here since the beginning of the pandemic. Go -to menu items: Veggie skillet, corned beef hash, and the California omelette. Cooking and delivery is continuously quick. It's so delicious and convenient we haven't been able to venture to a different breakfast place

Service was great, food was delicious, order was accurate, and the food was ready on time. Will definitely order again!

This was a snowy morning in late February, but Rosa J. and her hubby were still energetic and wanted breakfast. Since traffic everywhere was congested due to the harsh weather condition, we took it slow and headed to West River Cafe. Like many other joints in Albany Park, I passed through this establishment many times while riding the CTA 78 (Montrose) bus. Again, what a discovery! It's located on the corner of Montrose and Kedzie, diagonally across from the Walgreens. The waitress was cool and attentive. We received our coffee immediately upon sitting down. There are many vegetarian-friendly items on the menu. Hubby LOVES avocados, so he picked the avocado Benedict. I'm a "Benedict" junkie, too (the food, not the former Pope), so I had the Florentine Benedict. The items on the menu are priced reasonably, comparable to the "semi-nearby" popular competitions (The Kronor and Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club...even though I would say "The Kronor" is slightly more expensive). However, West River Cafe is one of the a few quality breakfast joints in Albany Park. Both avocado Benedict and florentine Benedict were super on point! The eggs were poached perfectly, and the hollandaise sauce was delicious. Our hash browns had good texture and were cut into a good "bite-size." There's also a TV there, so we could pay attention to the local traffic since it appeared to be ultra-dysfunctional this morning. They do accept credit cards; paid street parking is available on Kedzie. If utilizing public transportation, the CTA 78 (Montrose) drops you off at Montrose and Kedzie; CTA Kedzie Brown line station is a couple of blocks north of West River Cafe. With that being said, I will be certainly be back!

Let me begin by stating that I am a lover of no frills hole in the wall diners/cafes. I actually look for them. West River was disappointing. Maybe I've had too much great Chicago food experiences this past week and I'm being extra hard on this place. But nothing from the arrival to departure said "please come back." Let me get specific. Eggs over easy had runny whites. Frozen hash browns weren't crispy. They were mushy and Luke warm in the middle. The corned beef hash was from a can (which is acceptable when cooked properly) was crispy on one side only and mushy in the middle. The best thing on the plate was the ham off-the-bone. Very tasty. Not too salty and nice and thick. . Service was friendly and attentive. Ambiance was typical of a diner cafe. Prices were in the middle of the road. About $9 for an egg platter.

Ordered over easy eggs. They were over hard. Biscuits and gravy was nasty. No flavor and not enough for even a half of biscuit. Very disappointed. Pancakes were good. Would not recommend. Ordered through uber eats. It came fast and was warm.

The fact that West River Café exists gives me hope that the forces of gentrification and yuppiedom will not take over everything and ruin the places that make Chicago. West River Café is not a monument to "creative" brunch food or fusion cuisine. It is a solid old-style breakfast-lunch place that has maintained its mission: serve delicious, recognizable food at reasonable prices without hanging ferns, "artisan" anything, or frou-frou. Yes, I'm a fan. The artwork on the walls has been there for a while. The window booth I sat it had a repaired tear in the seat. There was a counter with several seats near the back. I felt comfortable here. Coffee came quickly. I ordered a vegetable omelet, with one change, and I got exactly what I requested. A big three-egg omelet with hash browns, both cooked perfectly, and toast on the side. It's a lot of food, and I happily snarfed it all down. The service was quick and efficient. The place looked clean. A TV was on, but the volume was low, so it wasn't disruptive or obnoxious. At some point during my meal, the TV was turned off, and a soft rock station played. It was all great. Next time, I'll order the egg sandwich. I know it'll be good.

I found the food to be suitable for the late breakfast, we ate at 10am. This is a quick walk from my friend's house and en route to the Brown Line. There is a lot of variety on the menu. We did not eat lunch, but there were a lot of offerings on that side also. As far as "kid friendly" I would 100% agree. We could easily park our small city stroller. Additionally the went out of there way to make my daughters 2yr and 8yr comfortable. See "Mickey mouse" style kids pancake. Quaint and decorated with hens and roosters. My rating breakdown below -Price/value/size of meal 3.5 -Atmosphere 3.75 -Staff/Attitude/attentiveness 4.25 -Kid service/friendliness 5 -Adult food flavor 2.75 to 3 (Avocados we not ripe, kind of old) - Coffee 4.25

#WORTHIT I really like it here. It's small, the service is very nice and I felt welcomed from start to finish. me and my friend both got breakfast and it tasted just like it should. definitely comfort food. I was surprised coming here and seeing just how many options they have. I'm sure they have something for anyone and everyone here. I really liked how they referred to customers by name as well, that's always a good sign to me. It means people come back. :) I left feeling full and satisfied. the prices are fair and I was offered multiple top offs on my coffee which was very helpful being I had seen a concert the night before and I had to drive 3 hours home. I'll be back when I come back to the chi area!

I'm a firm believer in adding avocado to just about anything and one of my favorite breakfast items is eggs Benedict. You add avocado to that and I'm in heaven. I no longer needed to glance over the menu once I spotted my avocado eggs benedict. It was served with a good portion of hash browns. Definitely left feeling stuffed. My friends had the manager's special: two eggs, two pancakes, two sausage links served with hash browns, and an order of french toast. They both enjoyed their food and it was decided we'd come back again. The cafe isn't huge but you have your choice of seating from booths, tables and a stool at the counter. The staff were all very friendly and attentive. Was't very busy when we there at 9 this morning but I'm guessing this place fills up after 10. Reasonable prices, quick service, clean, and good food, can't really ask for anything more in a place.

Love this place! It's our go to corner diner when we want a good breakfast and don't want to cook. They're always quick and delicious! They also do take out and delivery!

After passing by this place for years my husband and I joined friends for breakfast. It is exactly what a perfect diner should be. Friendly service, yummy affordable breakfast, and coffee that keeps on coming. I ordered a combo with eggs, bacon AND sausage, French toast, and they gladly substituted my hash browns for fries. Everything was delicious. If your expecting some fancy mimosas brunch this probably isn't the place, if you're looking to go back to the basics this will Be you're new favorite spot.

I am sad to write this review. I have always loved West River, its food and its employees. However today I had a truly upsetting experience. I called in a takeout order (since that's all you can do these days in Chicago). There were about 5-10 men not socially distanced (waiting?) in the front of the restaurant. I waited about 5 minutes outside for it to clear out but none left. When I finally went in I commented to one of the men who was not wearing a mask (and not socially distanced) that he should really wear a mask in a restaurant. This escalated into a verbal fight in which another man loitering said, "Just ignore her, she's a female." I left immediately without the food I'd ordered.

One of my fav places in the neighborhood to grab a cup of coffee. it's been my to go to place every time I come home. Its been there since I was in my teens years. STILL continues to have that same cozy, and welcoming feeling. Great for quality breakfast time with the fam! or alone, Good folks!! Great service!!!

Our go to neighborhood breakfast spot. Great portions I can usually share with my daughter and it's enough for the both of us. Mostly love the employees, feels like a second home!

This place has good food. I ordered the California omelette. They gave a lot of avocados which I liked. And good portions for the price which is great! What I noticed though was a lot of people were just standing around. Maybe I just caught the restaurant at a time where there were more bosses than workers? Seemed that only one or two were waitresses and the rest were bosses? Like there were tree tables needing help simultaneously, and the only waitress there was busy taking orders. I also needed syrup for my food so I looked around to see who else was available. Two people were standing there talking, I waved to them and yelled over what I needed. They both looked at the one waitress still taking an order and told her to get me syrup. That just rubbed me the wrong way. I am a big believer in team work, and also if they were managers, I would have loved for them to step up and get the syrup themselves. Seemed that it's beneath them. Nothing's is beneath you when you own your business. You learn from the ground up. Over all food is good. Need to be more fair in the work delegation.

Neighborhood cozy corner diner Breakfast food is my family's favorite. Always served what we order quick friendly waitresses clean always a pleasant way to start your day off there.

Ingredients are fresh and food is swiftly made to order. Quality over quantity for their Philly steak and well worth it. Fries came crispy on the outside with a soft interior. Friendly staff, solid choice for lunch.

This is our favorite neighborhood breakfast spot. We always get awesome service and great-tasting food. So, give this place a try and help out a local business.

The chicken noodle soup here is amazing! I've been coming here for 2 years and absolutely love it. They offer it every day. Bonus: The staff is friendly!

This is a good, classic diner. Food was good, service was friendly, and environment was nice. Their menu is not imaginative, just a regular cafe/diner with classic menu items that were satisfying.

Good a d decent food. I did not like the decor to the restaurant at all, it seemed a little out of date, but very grounded feeling. I LIKE THE Foods, and they get super busy on the weekends, so come fast. I LIKE THEIE SKILLETS AND PANCAKES. I DONT LIKE THER burgers and salads. They need to work on flavoring this...not creating plain tasting food

Been a customer since 2014. Solid place. Clean and friendly. Traditional diner choices. Bring the kids.

I came in on a Tuesday morning around 11am.  The place was still 1/2 full which is a good sign.  It is a small cover location with 7 booths, 4 tables and a lunch counter.  My table was a little wobbly, which I hate.  It was easily fixed with a sweetener.I wish the stools at the counters had backs but they were more of the classic look.  The Decore was that faux country kitchen look.  I really am not a big fan of it but it is what you find in new places in chicago.   There were two waitress working and they were running around diligently.  The coffee was average although pleantiful.  I like that they had the old fashioned full suger container.  Joanie, the older of the servers was waiting on me and she was friendly and very attentive.  I am 90 % sure the other waitress was also the owner.  A Greek lady I would guess. I ordered the steak and eggs which were cooked to order!  This is a big plus.  The kitchen is open and in the back of the Resturant.  This defiantly has a local feel and is a much better option than say the Chian comparisons.   The biscuit was fresh and fluffy.  The gravy was a light color and tasty, however it was sparse.  I had to ask for an extra side to cover my biscuit.  While it did have chuncks of sausage it still needed to be seasoned for taste.  The eggs were prepared over easy and were perfect, as were the hash browns.  The steak was good as well but nothing too special.   Overall everthing was good and this was a place I would stop by again.  I do not think that I would ever wait for a table in a crowd how ever.

I think in all honesty it's about a 3.5 but half stars don't count for yelp so I'll round up. Our waitress was prompt, bringing coffee with her as she greeted us. She answered questions we had and overall just did her job well. Service was consistently fast, she took our order and brought food quickly and with a smile. My only complaint is that the table wasn't bussed very well (kind of sticky) and the plastic plates felt old (a few burn marks) so it didn't feel the *cleanest*. We'll go back for speed and service, and go hopefully see the cleanliness issue was a one off.

In a restaurant. In a west end town... ...a dead end world. The east end boys and west end girls. West River Cafe... (dun dun dun dun) Too many shadows, whispering voices. Mundane menu with too many choices. If, When, Why, What. A boring diner - anything interesting you got? West River Cafe...(dun dun dun dun)

It's a diner but I am high maintenance. I like for my diners to hop on one foot and call me 'Cutey.' Not really. Well, sometimes. The point is, I can accept diners for what they are and I don't expect more. If you put out there that you _can_ do more, however, I'm'a expect you to man up. WRC, sorta, boyed up. I came and sat in a booth (point). The veteran waitress smiled and gave me grapefruit juice (point). The locals looked strung out (point). I was prepared to get my usual (pancakes and eggs) when I noticed a sparkling delicacy: gyro omelet. "Hmm," I thought, "an omelet with lamb, onions, tomatoes and wickywicky sauce? That sounds delicious! I must try it!!" Well, what I received was a large omelet with brown meat sticking out of every side. "Not everything can be pretty (looks lovingly into a mirror). Taste it what's important. I can't wait to savor those veggies and slickyricky sauce. Mmm." No. It was a large, dry omelet with brown meat sticking out of every side. I don't know what made this a gyro omelet. Maybe the grill cook's name is gyro. I'm confused. I learned a lesson: don't try to be cute and order something 'exotic' at an old-school diner. The WRC should have learned a lesson as well, however: don't offer something if you're not willing to commit to it. Unless, the order item was a joke. In that case, bravo, brava.

Awesome find in the neighborhood. Had a sleepover w some BFFs and they made me leave the house on a Sunday and walk (a mile) nonetheless! But I was glad I did. The place was super busy at 11am but we were seated in a few minutes. I ordered the chilaquiles, one ordered a bfast burrito (she said it was the best she ever had), one got a multigrain pancake and another got a traditional eggs and bacon meal. It was plenty of food and served quickly with nice customer service. Its a great spot if you're a fan of no frills diners. I'm sure we'll be back!

Food was good, but owner was arguing with a customer about the principles and benefits of herd immunity. He seemed to think that Covid was just a flu and did not wear a mask. Won't go back. I don't need a case of Covid with my breakfast even though I'm vaxxed.

Not at all what I expected at the corner of Montrose and Kedzie- less grimy lunch counter and more suburban family restaurant. Overall a nice little place. After grabbing a table and we had water and silverware almost immediately. I like that. We each ordered a special from the chalkboard and a full biscuits and gravy to split. The food was fresh, portions large and my Greek Skillet was packed with gyro meat and little feta blocks. Now I like to think of myself as a bit of a biscuit and gravy connoisseur and West River has very good biscuits and gravy. My favorite in the city are still a few blocks east, but these are not bad at all. Thick, not too salty and filled with sausage chunks. Good stuff. The coffee was good, the service was fast and the place seemed clean. Winner.

I've gone here a couple of times because it is close to our house. The friendly service really goes away when they are busy. The first time we went,I had an enjoyable experience, nothing earth shattering, but acceptable. The second time we came here, it was busy. All the tables were full, but someone finished and we barely waited. I felt rushed the whole time and had to flag down our waitress a couple of times for water and utensils. She seemed annoyed and flustered. Usually, i don't really care about service if the food is good. however, since the food is just okay. I had a meat skillet both times i've come here and it was good, but... again nothing out of this world, or even this neighborhood. would i recommend eating here? not if you don't live in a 1 mile radius. don't come for sunday brunch either, they get "busy".

Overall really good! Love to order here during brunch hours. Only open till 3. Ordered the country friend steak and it was a little underdone. But other than that time, really good food that's like a home cooked hug

First time at the West River Cafe. My wife and daughters loved their breakfasts. I had the best breakfast sandwich ever. Next time in Chicago we will definitely have breakfast from the West River Cafe again.