Fred’s Place

After reading the reviews, I wanted to give it a try. This isn’t one of those kitschy made to look like an old time diner diner. This is an old time diner. The food is cooked on an open grill. There are booths or a countertop to sit at. This is not a fancy joint. The interior is worn, and the menu is American with a little Mexican thrown in.
The menu has pretty standard diner fare. I ordered a patty melt with fries and soda. No it was not generic soda. The patty melt was awesome. The hamburger patty was a good size and cooked thoroughly. It was juicy without being overly greasy. The burger was topped with melted cheese and grilled onions between perfectly toasted rye bread.
The fries were not fresh cut. Although they are your standard frozen fries, they were perfectly cooked. They were crispy on the outside and lightly salted perfect for dousing with ketchup.
My tab was under $ 10.00. It is a good deal on top of good food.
So if you are looking for something fancy, keep going. If you are looking for a step back in time with some good comfort food, you should give it a try. I will go back.

I remember the first time I ever came here. I was served the biggest plate of biscuits and gravy I’ve ever seen in my life. It came out fast, and it was everything I would have hoped for, and came in at around $ 6. That was about 5 years ago. Now I drive past this spot every day for work, and I am dying to go back. You can’t beat the amount of delicious food you get for the price. In this instance, you truly can’t judge a book by it’s cover. I’m thankful some friends brought me here years ago, because it is one of the best! See you there soon!

There are so many adjectives that can be used to describe Fred’s Place, including, but not limited to, dated, vintage, divey, sketchy, etc. However, even though you might assume it’s dirty, it’s not, it’s just excessively weathered. It has, as my son noted, its own «patina» — like a well worn antique.
My analogy is that of a Rocky movie. At the end of the movie, Rocky has been beaten completely senseless (even more so than he started at the beginning of the movie) but somehow he manages to win. That’s Fred’s Place. It’s not a place to take a date, or to go and relax, it’s a place to go if you want very cheap, very good food. I highly recommend the BLT.
As of this writing there are ninety-​six restaurants in Elmhurst. I plan on eating at, and reviewing, every one. Follow me on Unilocal

Breakfast today was amazing. This is the perfect greasy spoon. Fast, Friendly, and FANTASTIC… service with a smile for sure.

Gross dirty dinner, watered down generic cola, and burnt food! The waitress looks like a meth addict and is off in her own world, the cook served us and filled our waters and drinks he’s the only reason I gave this place 2 stars! The condiment bottles are so filthy and disgusting that they leave residue on your hands! The menus haven’t been cleaned in years along with the walls and ceilings covered in cobwebs and dust! I’m all for little old school diners, not just a homeless shelter shack! I’ll never come here again, disgusting !

Five stars for what this place is supposed to be: a place to get greasy soul food and a cup of coffee. I love it here. Don’t come expecting a world class meal, you get a filling meal at a great price with friendly & efficient employees. Great hole-​in-​the wall

I ordered a hot dog special it was terrible i think you should stick to steak and eggs worst hot dog i have ever had try steaming it not worm it on boiling water and it took 15 minutes to get it

Okay food but super cheap, you can’t beat their prices. 3 stars for food, 5 stars for price. Overall this is a decent greasy spoon.

Greasy spoon type place but super cheap prices — ribeye and eggs for $ 7? Hub and son said it was pretty decent. Had pancakes and liked it. Basic place, quite dated but that was part of the charm.

I happen to
! Okay, so it is sketchy looking in a sketchy area, I’ll give you that. The service and food are delicious, though. This is a great place to go after a night out or 1^st thing in the morning, or really anytime.
Their breakfast is amazing! I don’t know what is in their pancake batter, but they are wonderful with a big olé plop of butter served on top. The funny thing is… this no thrills place doesn’t even offer any variations on the original pancakes. I am a bells and whistles kinda girl, but I don’t even miss the extras because these pancakes are so delicious. They shred up their hashbrowns right there with fresh potatoes. I’ve watched them do it. They will make you anything you want… on the menu or not, so long as they have the ingredients. I love getting a chorizo breakfast burrito (Thanks Shorty).
Karen (waitress) and Shorty (cook) are the bomb! Karen knows her regulars, making them feel like they just walked into mom’s kitchen. Shorty is very efficient & accomodating. He has made spanish rice & beans to order for me which are not menu items. Mind you this is a diner, not a mexican restaurant, but so long as they are not busy, he is happy to accomodate. I love going here for late night nachos. He cuts up tortillas and drops them in the fryer for me since this is not a menu item. Topped with steak, cheese, onion, tomatoes and jalapeño… numnumnum. Their homemade salsa is made fresh daily and soooo good. Nice and spicy. I have seen the place during peak hours when he was making food for multiple tables at one time. He didn’t miss a beat. Food came out just as fast as ever. I love sitting right up at the counter and watching him do his thing.
My husband loves their wings, fries and burgers.
Sure, this is a dive, truck stop diner. Very few tables, kind of grungy and dirty, but the food is better in both quality and taste than fancy diners. Much of it is made there. From what I can tell, they form their burger patties, shred their hashbrowns, make refried beans, have homemade pie and salsa. I am sick of diners serving me boxed pancake mix, jarred salsa and boxed hashbrowns-​ALL AT A RIP OFF PRICE. Anyone else? This place does it right. You can count on a good meal at a good price with friendly service.

This place is great! A tiny place with a very old school vibe, amazing prices and great food! I love going here with my Dad!

When you pull up to this joint you know exactly what you are getting yourself in to. The parking lot is torn up, old booths, smells odd, food SPECTACULAR. It is actually a super comfortable place with great food, and super reasonable prices. There are always people there.
I almost always get breakfast there no matter what time it is. Their hashbrowns are the best… they use butter on everything. Their steaks and eggs are great.
Overall, always a great meal at a great price.

surprisingly good!

Greasy Spoon. Hole in the Wall. Truck Stop.
This is simple, no frills diner food. I’m sure the griddle is well-​seasoned with the oils and grease from at least 20 years worth of cooking. Picture this with the very worn tables, chipped coffee mugs, old laminate plates and sticky menus, you know this place has got some old school truck stop character. All in a good way.
Our waitress was really nice and friendly. The food is cheap – you get a great meal for the price.
I opted for scrambled eggs and hash browns and one biscuit and gravy. Well-​made, made to order and simple. My husband ordered an omelet that had spicy sausage, jalapenos and onions. I tried it and it was pretty good too. The only bad thing about our meal was the coffee. It was weak and watery, which kind of surprises me in a place like this, maybe it an off day. But it was a bottomless cup and served hot so that was a plus.
It’s a small place so expect to leave with your clothes smelling like bacon and eggs. I guess it just means you’re taking a bit of Fred’s out with you. Ha.

Yes, Fred’s Place gets 5 stars for being the epitome of exactly what it is — a tiny hole-​in-​the-​wall greasy diner with damn good food. There’s one short-​order cook manning the griddle & fryer (and if you’re lucky, it will be Fred himself), and one waitress — and they keep those orders movin’! They are friendly in that no-​nonsense Alice’s Diner kinda way.
Do you want cleanliness & sappy sweet service with a smile? This is not the place for you. Do you want 3 slices of French toast, 3 eggs AND 4 slices of bacon for JUST $ 5.55? Fred’s your guy. Do you want a giant steak burrito to soak up your night of boozin’? Fred’s your guy. Do you want a ½ pound burger that slid on its own trail of grease all the way from heaven? Fred. Is. That. Guy.

Skirt steak and egg’s with a side of that awesome gravy. Not too many place’s like this left. Great price’s and great food!

Awesome breakfast!!!

There is nowhere else in the area you can order breakfast steak, with home made hot salsa, 3 eggs. hash browns or pancakes, and a coffee for $ 5.
This is my favorite after 12 stop for a bite to eat either after a late night of work or after a late night of fun.

Just got done eating lunch at Fred’s Place so figured I would share my thoughts.
I had a cheeseburger as I keep hearing how this place has «great» burgers. It was a pretty tasty burger. They toast the bun, so that was a nice little surprise. It was nice and greasy, just the way I like them, and a good size.
The fries were OK. Nothing to get excited about. My buddy paid the extra money to get mushrooms on his burger and said it’s not worth the money. And he said is Diet Coke tasted «weird». So that’s your call.
Overall, I liked the place, I won’t be in a huge rush to go back, but I wouldn’t turn it down either.

It’s a great American greasy spoon.
There is nothing better than sitting at the counter and watching a professional short order cook make my scrabbled eggs, sausage and pancakes. Their biscuits, gravy and hash browns are outstanding too.
Prices are good and employees are hardworking, nice people.
I’m a fan!

I’ve been eating at Fred’s Place for 10 years now and the food is exactly what you want from a diner. Yes the place is a mess, their bathrooms are nasty, and the parking lot is filled with pot holes, but that all fades from your mind when your eating their amazing half pound burgers or garbage omelets. and the short mexican guy is the better cook (he likes to use alot of bacon) the staff is only rude to people if their drunk or stuck up trust me i see it in their all the time…

I grew up in the neighborhood, but it was only until recently that I noticed this low-​profile diner along Lake Street. This area used to be full of businesses that cater to truckers, but it looks like Fred’s and Our Kitchen are the only diners that survived. While Our Kitchen has gone «up scale», Fred’s seems to have kept it real.
My first time stopping in was last night, and I will be back. I had the chili omelet, which was good.
The place is a classic greasy spoon diner, and I say this with the utmost respect. I will be back to try the chicken-​fried steak.

This is almost exactly what a greasy spoon should be. Old, beat-​up, greasy, grimy, but great burgers with hard working yet gruff service and a magnificent breakfast menu. It does its job the way a 24 hour truck stop should. By no means is this a family friendly, celebrate your birthday type joint, but a handful of tums and that greasy cheeseburger with grilled onions is tough to beat after beers and shots (or on the recovery lunch from beers and shots). Even if you are a conservative, salad eater, or high end restaurant goer, don’t be afraid to put on some sunglasses and hat and sneak in here for a treat!

Fred’s Place is a hidden little truck stop gem. Its open 24 hours and is an underground favorite to locals for a post bar pig out or a morning after meal. The food ranges from breakfast stables served all day long, to burgers, to soups, to Mexican favorites. The cooks can make pretty much anything and the prices are rock bottom. My husband always gets the Rib Eye Steak, 3 Eggs, Hash Browns, and 3 Slices of French Toast combo for $ 6.95.
To be honest I debated whether or not to even make a post for this Fred’s because I wanted to keep it for myself. So go forth and enjoy this little slice of greasy spoon goodness.
Oh and the people watching here is fabulous!