Whistle Stop Cafe

I hit Whistle Stop just about every weekend — and take pictures to prove it. Staff is friendly and attentive, food is always fast and delicious. I’ve never had a bad experience here. The wait can be long when they’re busy, but their other diners are always nice as well. My only complaint is that they’re not open for dinner!

The food is good, the staff is friendly, and the prices are reasonable. Perfect for a casual breakfast.

This place is just awesome. They have a great menu selection and you can get either breakfast or lunch. The food is delicious. Nothing too fancy, but well made and plentiful. Service is outstanding and the prices reasonable. One thing you may forget about is the pie… not to be missed. We go there every chance we get. It is especially convenient for when we are camping at Chain O Lakes State Park and just don’t want to cook breakfast.

Great food, Great prices and awesome wait staff. A class a restaurant!

The whistle stop café is a nicke little local place in fox lake.
The good.
Friendly staff in tie died attire are prompt and courteous. The waitress even help each other’s tables:-)
The coffee cups are large and cut down on the refills ever few minutes.
The biscuits and gravy was surpringly spicy and good. The biscuit itself was nothing to write home about, but the gravy was more than making up for it. It was thick dark and spicy.
The homemade pies also look like a popular add on to go.
The bad
The food came out in less than 5 minutes so super prepared.
There was a line which is really both good and bad. It was a Sunday brunch.

We have come here quite a bit. It’s a local favorite and always hopping. I love the Texas French toast, omelettes, and skillet combos they offer. They have homemade pies that are amazing. I am usually too full to indulge but have taken home a piece a time or two. Our waitress Laurel was very attentive today! Great visit! We will be back! :)

This is a great place for breakfast! Everything we’ve tried (and i try to get something different each time) is yummy, my entire family enjoys it. You might need to wait for a seat, but imo it’s worth it, and a sign that the food is good! The staff has always been nice and friendly.

We loved this place! Their breakfast was delicious!
We went at 1:30 on a Sunday and were sat immediately. The service was fast and friendly. I had thin French Toast and loved it. My boyfriend had biscuits and gravy and liked it a lot. We both had bacon crispy and it was amazing, cooked crispy on the griddle not in a microwave. We both liked the coffee too. Pricing was fair. We’ll definitely go back here.

BEST BREAKFAST EVER
Everything i’ve ever had here is amazing. Love this place. Great service. Great food.
Greeeaaaat hot sauce collection.
Man… I could eat here everyday and not get bored. Everything here is delicious.

The food is pretty typical fare, but where the whistle stop really shines is the service. They’re very quick to seat you and extremely attentive during the meal. I don’t think I’ve ever waited for a refill, it always happens before I need it. Also, you get to look at delightful train décor. Everyone loves trains.

Great breakfast place right by the end of the metra tracks and is affordable, and upscale enough to have a reservation puck system.
Everything that I have had there is really good and moderately priced.

Eh.
Clearly a popular spot. We came for a later breakfast on a Sunday via a Unilocal search and it was quite busy with a wait. Since we had time to kill, we waited, though we’re not big wait fans.
The hostess kept thinking we were a party of three, not a party of two. Then again, she thought every group that came to her was a party of three. I’m not sure why she couldn’t get three out of her head but it was busy so it’s fine.
Anyway, finally got a table. We look around and realize, oh, there’d be no wait if they fit in a few more tables as there’s oodles of room to do so.
Service was frazzled; I guess everyone working there felt overwhelmed by the constant crowd. Our server was pleasant enough. We weren’t rushed right out of there.
Food…ehhh. He had the Cowboy Skillet or something super gluttonous like that — eggs, potatoes, sausage, gravy, biscuits too I think. Heart attack on a plate to start the day. He said it was ok. It was a lot of food. He said the coffee was terrible. I had the regular french toast and it was not good. Probably the worst french toast I’ve had in a long time. Ah well, so it was. Reasonable-​ish prices, bordering on Chicago pricing.
Their daily pie list was amazing, the length of it. I wondered if they made them all themselves but didn’t find out.
We’d likely not come back though.

All the other reviews are accurate, this place is really good! We vacationed in Fox Lake for a week, had breakfast or lunch at the Whistle Stop 5 days out of 7! The kids loved their many variations of French Toast, waffles, etc — and as a «sampler» of all my kids’ food (hey, who’s payin’ ;) EXCELLENT stuff. I agree with Diane C. that my Eggs Benedict could have been a bit better… but the hash browns, service and strong coffee were hits with our team. As were any melt sandwich. If I lived in the area, I’d go once per week for sure! Big winner, great people who know what to do and know what they’re doing. Thanks for a delightful time!

What a local diner should be. Biscuits and gravy are the ‘go to’… But today I went with the chorizo omelette, and was not disappointed. Take them up on the side of homemade salsa.

We were here for a family reunion and though we had tons of food planned, my husband and I snuck out for breakfast for our anniversary. I had crepes, they were good but I make them a bit better. Mike had their sausage eggs Benedict which he though was very good. Place was clean service friendly and quick.

My family and I discovered this place about 8 years ago and have been coming back ever since. The food is always great, and the friendly staff is even better!

While the Whistle Stop personally is not my favorite breakfast place in the area, they still have a top notch staff and put out some great dishes. Food is excellent, staff is friendly and prompt, and the décor is pretty cool. Definitely worth a try if you haven’t been here yet.

Best breakfast place in town. So glad they are here. All around good food and service.

The best of the breakfast café choices in fox lake and there are several. I’m in love with the biscuits n gravy, you can taste the pepper and plenty of sausage in the gravy; just the way I like! Excellent French toast and pancake varieties, I’ve had several, you should too. Great train paraphernalia, they are serious about how their train theme looks and it shows. Great price, great food, great service, great atmosphere, just great!

Had breakfast out with the fam on a weekend trip home. Went with the Depot breakfast and was pleased to have eggs, sausage, bacon, and two delicious pancakes for $ 6.99. Added some hash browns and it was the perfect diner breakfast.
Showed up on a Sunday during prime breakfast hours and had to wait out front for about 10 or 15 minutes. No big deal. There’s an awning and some shade so on a warm day it was nice to be outside while we waited. They have tables if you’d like to sit.
The place was packed. There’s a diner counter and booths in one room and then a full dining room with tables and booths in the other room. Sound definitely carries so be prepared for it to be loud during peak hours. After 20 mins or so things died down and went back to a normal volume.
Service was fast and on-​point. Don’t expect your waiter to stop and chat if they’re busy… they are flying around the dining room. Food came out fast and hot, and drink refills were always on time.
Definitely give this place a try for a classic diner breakfast.