Fresh Start Cafe

We had some time between soccer games yesterday and found Fresh Start Café on Unilocal.The food was excellent and very reasonably priced. The service was even better. Very friendly, helpful with the menu and stopped to chat a few times. We will definitely be back!

Small, family owned restaurant. My family frequents this place and LOVES the breakfast there. Service is great and prices are reasonable.
Menu includes breakfast and lunch options — I usually opt for the breakfast skillet. Good portion of fresh food!
This is the top spot for breakfast in Elmhurst!

Go to place when people come to visit no one ever has any complaints when I take them here!

Our favorite breakfast place in Elmhurst. My husband and I both like to get the breakfast sampler — choose an omelette, a crêpe, and Pancakes/​waffles/​French Toast. Very good food at a good price.
Whenever we take friends or family here, they’re always happy too.
Even when the place is packed, it’s not too crowded and overpacked like some restaurants… Which makes it very baby friendly and enjoyable!
Try this place out if you haven’t!

Fresh start is located in a strip mall like too much of the suburbs.
Nice small America breakfast place. Wood floors with about 12 tables and 10 booths. There was also a small platform with a few more booths. The Décor had a farm feel but this was pulled off with some photos of old farms as opposed to the tacky faux weathered knick knacks. I love knick knacks when they are genuine, so with this being a new place in a strip mall, they made the right choice.
The coffee was good and strong. They brought out a personal pot which is nice. They had flavored creamers on the table. Also they only had standard pacets of sweetener. So overall coffee was good but not exceptional.
I can at noon on a Saturday. There was 3 – 4 waitresses as well as manager and a couple bussers. The staff was young friendly and energetic. They were engaged with all customers at all tables with little bits of small talk. They stopped by each table several times to make sure all was well, even though they were not running around with coffee which is how most places run.
I ordered the biscuit and grab with eggs over easy on top. The biscuit was not leaven correctly. That is it was thick and did not rise so it was more hockey puck like. The gravy was light with a good thickness. It did have real bits of sausage in it but it was not all that flavorful.
The eggs were done perfectly and were the highlight of the meal. I also had aside of sausage patties. 3 pieces that came pre formed. Meh ok but not great.
Overall great service and meh food. At least the bng was meh. I will stop back by and try again with something new. The price was also on the more expensive side for breakfast.

They serve an awesome breakfast and I love the freshly squeezed orange juice! Very clean, excellent service and fresh ingredients.

Went for late lunch and ordered the turkey with cucumber and avacado… delicious. The homemade chips came wet with grease but once they dried were crisper although a bit salty. Friend ordered breakfast, the 2−2−2 French toast, eggs, bacon were very good and filling she said. Waitress disappeared for a while to get refills in a timely manner but not a problem. Wish they were open later as we felt rushed by 2:15 to leave. Nevertheless food was good as I have only been there twice I plan on returning.

Great little place. Nothing too fancy but what they have is very good. My favorite is the oatmeal pancakes! Delicious. Only issue I have is the free wifi seems to be a little hit and miss. But probably a sign that I don’t need to be on the internet at breakfast.
Definitely a staple in my breakfast rotation.

great local restaurant for breakfast or lunch. Standard menu with the food you’d find most places. Their soups are good.

I chose this restaurant based on the good reviews. I saw in the pictures posted on Unilocal that they had red velvet French toast, which was another reason I wanted to go here.
When we arrived I looked at the menu and I didn’t see the red velvet French toast. I asked the waitress if they had the red velvet French toast she quickly replied no and walked away.
I was not deterred though and chose the Banana Fosters French Toast instead. My fiancé ordered the potato Pancakes and we both ordered a side of bacon.
Once the food arrived I could smell his potato pancakes it was a strong smell and kind of made my stomach turn. I started eating my French Toast covered in bananas and pecans. It was a very underwhelming experience as the bananas didn’t taste very caramelized, instead they just tasted old and mushy. The pecans were just plain pecans, I was hoping they would have at least used candied pecans. They syrup had no flavor at all!
I then tried some of the bacon, the bacon was awful, very thin and had no flavor at all. The bacon at McDonalds has more flavor than this place!!! If you specialize I. breakfast and Brunch you should have some phenomenal bacon!!! I was very disappointed. The actual French toast itself was mediocre.
My fiancé couldn’t even finish his Potato Pancakes, as other reviewers had stated the potato pancakes were undercooked and over seasoned!!! They looked like mashed potatoes rather than the properly shredded potatoes that potato pancakes should be, the consistency was gross and the flavor of onion and garlic was overpowering!
I would have had a better breakfast at a fast food drive thru. Very disappointed, food was mediocre and flavorless.

Great place for a relaxing and very good breakfast. Everything is made fresh using quality ingredients. Fresh squeezed OJ is a plus! It was nice they had a newspaper for me to read with my coffee while I was waiting for the food to be finished. I’ll be back again for sure.

Decided to stop in yesterday based on previous Unilocal reviews. Not worth the trip, that’s for sure. Food was ok, pricey. Service was not good at all. Sadly, the server seemed annoyed that we were seated, as it was 1:45 and the place closes at 2:30 p.m.
It’s a tough job, that’s for sure, but a good attitude really helps. Won’t be back, that’s for sure.

This restaurant is decidedly average. Food is not good, not bad. The same goes for the service. We’d probably not go back because there was nothing special about our visit.

I’ve been here now around 5 times. I’ve never had an issue with their food at all — its actually quite good. Big portions. I got lunch one time, but all the other times I’ve gotten breakfast (that you can get all day). I really like their omelettes. I like that you can get pancakes instead of toast.
I took away 2 stars because of the service. I’ve had a different server every time and the service is very forgettable. I’ve had waitresses from young too older and all were like robots and never even cracked a smile. Not very welcoming.
I don’t go out of my way to come here. Its more out of convenience when I am in the area.

Consistently great food. A really pleasant experience from beginning to end. Very family friendly.

The food was fantastic! Great place for breakfast or brunch. Waitress was friendly and kept checking up on us.

My wife and I were in the area for our anniversary weekend. We stopped in for a late breakfast and weren’t sure what to order because everything on the menu sounded so good. Our waitress was really good at answering all our questions. The food was, as the business name points out, made fresh. My wife’s chorizo skillet was the best I had ever tried. I had their sampler breakfast of pancakes, fruit (strawberry) crêpe, and Mediterranean omelette. The omelette was superb because of the excellent feta cheese they use. It had that great sweet and salty taste to it. The pancakes were good, and the crêpe was also very very good. We both tried the fresh squeezed orange juice and it was very good. My wife’s chorizo skillet was the highlight though.
There is free wifi in the restaurant and everything was very clean. The best breakfast we have had in a long time. I need to find more excuses to be in Elmhurst so that I can try more items on the menu. We are definitely coming back for lunch.
Breakfast for two (including tip) cost us $ 38. Not the cheapest breakfast around, but the quality of the food and service were exceptional.

Always super friendly and helpful staff. Great food.
They beautifully took care of our table of 6 with all of our special orders. Everyone got their food exactly as they requested.
The Texas Style Egg Tacos with its homemade salsa and the Mediterranean Fresh Wrap seemed to be two exceptionally good meals we had today.

We’ve eaten here more times than I can count. The food is generally good and it’s close to home. I had the Denver omelet, fruit, and pancakes. The omelet was good, though I ended up with a chunk of ham cartilage. I’m not a fan of spitting out food … discretely. The cantaloupe was good, but the watermelon looked sad … I thought watermelon was supposed to be red, not orange. The pancakes were good. My wife had the oatmeal, which she said tasted good, but it came lukewarm and runny. She had to send it back to get reheated. It was as hot as lava when it came back.
If I was a first time customer, I probably wouldn’t go back. Step up the game Fresh Start! You’re still the best breakfast in South Elmhurst, but only because you don’t have much competition.
As of this writing there are ninety-​six restaurants in Elmhurst. I plan on eating at, and reviewing, every one. Follow me on Unilocal

I went here for lunch with one of my former teachers and current best friends after watching her amazing pitbull overnight! I miss you, Duke! She lives about five minutes away from this place on York Road… it is hidden in a strip mall just like one of my other local favorites, Jam n’ Jelly in Darien. If this was at harbinger of things to come I was in luck.
Dishes ordered: Build your own omelet and Simple Skillet. Sides of cottage, toast, and fruit cups! The service was standard. We got a pitcher of water and a tall giraffe (ha) of coffee, so she didn’t have much to do.
I’d give this place four stars, but it just does what a local diner should do. Serves breakfast and lunch at a reasonable price. As stated on their website, there is supposed to be a bakery. There was no bakery! I also stated to my friend that we were about forty years too old to be dining there. I went up to pay the 25.83 after the line of old timers (They all got separate checks).
I’d suggest if you’re in the area. Elmhurst is a big town with Chicago aspirations. They are close, but not quite.