Yannis Cafe

My daughter is graduating at Olivet tomorrow so I am staying at a nearby hotel in Manteno. The place had great service, great food, and treated me like family. I would highly recommend!

Good food. Good service. The pancakes were the only thing I didn’t like. They appeared to be re-​heated. Pancakes should always be crispy at the edges and made to order. If they were as good as the rest of the food is would have left 5 stars.

Great place to take your family. I haven’t had a disappointment in any of the dishes I’ve tried. Nice hometown diner appeal and staff. Pricing is very affordable too with portions of plenty!

Breakfast served fast, fresh and with a smile. Good food… good locals for a good price. The Australian/​American waitress is friendly, helpful and never stops. Great little hole in the wall breakfast.

Small town café that serves breakfast/​lunch menu 7 days a week. Great $$ value — with daily specials. Has a «cheers» atmosphere where everybody knows your name… service is great and orders are timely regardless of party size. Food has always been good, hot, made to order. Soups have been a specialty — homemade and what the doctor ordered. The waitresses and servers are friendly and attentive to drink refills. But my greatest experience has been with the owner, «Helen.» She has greeted my family for years with a welcoming smile, genuine concern and care for each of our 6 children and my spouse. Through the years, she has become part of our family and has played a small part with each of our kids as she has watched them grow and reach milestones in their lives’ and has celebrated them accordingly. I’ve heard later about motherly advice, words of encouragement, or a simple hug that had been given to one of my kids at the right moment in their life. In today’s world — priceless. Highly recommend.
Avg price per person $ 7

Everything about this place screams hometown café, which is fantastic! I was promptly greeted and told to sit wherever I’d like. The food and service was great. I got Yannis omelet with spinach, bacon, and feta. It was outstanding; very generous with all ingredients.
The waitress was one of the best I’ve had, I wish high end restaurants would train their staff to be so efficient and friendly.

Yanni’s is a great place to get home cooked, not-​too-​greasy, hungover (or not) breakfast. They are so good at breakfast that I’ve gone there for lunch and ended up getting breakfast anyway. The service is phenomenal; the waitresses are very welcoming and attentive. The kitchen staff is also phenomenal and can accommodate for a full restaurant without any extra waiting time. The breakfast sandwiches are great; you can build your own with bagels, biscuits, english muffins and add any topping you want. The omelets are my usual go to. I’ll get the farmers or veggie (w/​broccoli) omelet or I make up my own. Everything that i have ever seen come out of that kitchen looks and smells delicious. My bill is also never been over $ 10 for just me. A good deal for great food and service.

We are regulars at Yanni’s. I’ve probably been going there a minimum of once a week for the past 7 years. The thing that keeps us coming back is the amazing service we receive. We know most of the servers by name, and they know us by name. The owners/​managers go out of their way to make us feel welcomed and taken care of. The food is good old-​fashioned breakfast food. I always get the 222 french toast, but have had most of the breakfast menu and it’s all good. Try any of the skillets. My favorite is the country with eggs over easy on top. The vibe will bring you back though, not the food. oh! and their women’s bathroom is well decorated and always spotless. That to me is of major importance and greatly appreciated.

I am an inspector from Aurora, Il that travels all over Northern Illinois. Whenever I have the privilege of working in a small town I love to try out the local diner. Every small town has one, and they are all unique.
I was lucky enough to find myself in Manteno today, so my partner and I stopped in for lunch. I ordered the poorboy. It was very good. Tender and flavorful. Although the food was very good, what really set this place apart from the other diners that I have been to was the service. Sometimes I think the waitress was reading our minds. By far the best service I’ve had at a diner. I wish I could remember the waitresses name. She had an accent that sounded Australian to me.
So very good food, great prices, and amazing service. If your a local and haven’t been to this place then you are missing out. If you are just passing through then stop by and find out what I am taking about.

we always stop at Yanni’s when we are in town. Great breakfast and wonderful service.

Such a nice place! I have dined here twice. The food is very good and the staff are all very nice. I had the center cut pork chops. They were a tad dry, but flavorful. If you find yourself in Manteno, stop in anytime seven days a week!

Great old diner and café!
We have only stopped here for breakfast – so can’t review anything else.
Breakfast is always served hot and the service is fast. Prices are very reasonable – almost too reasonable – we wonder how they make any profit sometimes.
Servings are large – remember if you want two eggs to order one egg, if you want three eggs order two – Yannis Café always adds an extra egg! Our three-​year old grandson ordered silver dollar pancakes – a platter came filled with 14 pancakes!
Great people.
Stop by if you are ever traveling from Chicago south on I57 – Yanni’s is located in the quaint downtown area of Manteno near the railroad track. We always allow time to visit the antique mall on the other side of the tracks when we go.

Little small town diner, a «locals» spot, if you will. Good breakfasts, friendly service.

Had a Reuben. Dried out, pale colored corned beef… how old was it?
I showed it tot the server, and she took it back, and removed it from our bill. Good thing I had a cup of soup, because the sandwich was awful, and they were closing.

Wish you guys served miracle whip with your BLT rather than Mayo. From time to time they have a small bottle put back for me. I have been coming here for ten years and voicing wanting miracle whip with a BLT fkr that decade. I bring my own sometimes… sometimes small packets from the gas station… sometimes a bit from my own stock at home in a little baggie. How weird is that. One of the waitresses even said «oh you are the customer that brings your own»
TIME TO TAKE THE HINT.
I am a local to this place, but have only been living in Manteno for 11 years. That makes me an outsider, but totally accepted by the locals whom typically are third generation here. If you are driving through from the city or taking your kid to college, stop in and feel like a local too.
Good, hot fresh food. The staff are a cute old couple that own the place. They are divorced I think, but really play the comedy off each other very well. A couple of cool waitresses that call you, «honey» are super fast servers. «can I have a straw’? (she whips one out from her apron). Can I have coffee? She carries it with her constantly. Brings soda to the kid before the last one is gone. Kitchen is also very fast. Literally like four minutes for eggs bacon and pancakes. Cook must be very skilled too, eggs over easy are consistently perfect. Have about twenty different options for toast. Lots of greek specialties on the menu. Prices are very very easy here. Like prices back in the 80’s. You literally can get a bacon, egg, toast breakfast for about four bucks here. Lunch sandwich like a burger or ruben with fries and soup is like less than six bucks. Place was remodeled about ten years ago, but is spotless and decorated in a cute, hobby lobby kind of way. I love that the front door and awning look like small town mayberry and are probably original to the 100+ year old building. But the décor inside is contemporary. People who are strangers literally say hi to you as you walk to your table. I love that they still have a diner counter where farmers drink coffee, watch the news and chat for hours. The will tell you if a storm is coming and if it is, «going to be a humm dinger»!!
Home made soups made fresh every single day. I kid you not.

My friend and I stopped here for lunch before tackling the acres of plant-​shopping wonderland that is Woldhuis Farms. Good thing too as we needed the energy (see my review of Woldhuis). Yannis is a storefront café with a good-​sized breakfast and lunch diner-​style menu. I couldn’t decide between the Greek omelet with feta and spinach or the hot open-​faced sandwich with meatloaf. The server said, «Our meatloaf is *very* good,» so that’s what I went with. I’m glad I did.
I asked her to ask the kitchen to keep the serving on the small side and they did, but it was still almost more than I could eat. The meatloaf was moist and flavorful and very tender – not packed hard into a brick and dried out like some places. It was served on two pieces of white bread with the crusts cut off and a scoop of mashed potatoes. The whole thing was smothered in savory brown gravy. My only complaint was that the potatoes were too smooth – I like lumps. But my friend rightly pointed out that many people don’t.
There were lots of local residents enjoying lunch and the server knew them all. This will probably be my stop on my next visit to Woldhuis.

Friendly service combined with great food makes for a great experience every time. The prices are fair as well!
I haven’t had a bad meal here once. We typically go for breakfast. I definitely recommend the biscuits and gravy.

Wonderful service, everyone is really friendly. The cute older gentleman is really funny. Two of us got coffee and when my other friend said he didnt want any, the older gentleman quipped, «that’s right, you’re driving.» the omelets were sooo good. Best in awhile. Very fluffy. Lots of regulars:) i fell in love with this place!

Very good food. I love the crepes! Great service.

My husband and I stopped in to check out a local restaurant and loved our experience. The food is DEEEELISH! The staff is very friendly and the food portions are plentiful! We also enjoyed seeing/​hearing the regulars in there having coffee. Quite a group! We will be back for sure!