Family-Friendly Dining - Chicago with Kids - page 137

Nookies DINER This “chain” of three restaurants is a Chicago favorite for
standard breakfast fare. On weekends you'll find Nookies packed with families
and young professionals grabbing pancakes or an omelet after a late night out.
This family-owned chain offers breakfast all day, plus soups, salads, and sand-
wiches. Tables and a lunch counter are available. Nookies has additional
branches in Lincoln Park at 2114 N. Halsted St. ( & 773/327-1400 ), and in
Lakeview at 3334 N. Halsted St. ( & 773/248-9888 ).
1748 N. Wells St. & 312/337-2454. High chairs, boosters. Reservations not accepted. All main courses under
$8. Cash only. Mon-Sat 6:30am-10pm; Sun 6:30am-9pm. Subway/El: Brown Line to Sedgwick.
Stanley's AMERICAN Here's another great neighborhood bar and
restaurant that stands in the heart of Lincoln Park, normally the epicenter of the
young and the restless, but instead caters to families. Stanley's front room is a bar
with several booths, tall tables with old chrome and leather bar stools, satellite-
and cable-fed TVs, and a jukebox. The adjacent dining room is an abrupt leap
into the family den, decorated with photos, quilts, bowling trophies, and chil-
dren's drawings. This popular family spot has a special kids' menu with corn
dogs and PB&J. On Saturday and Sunday there's an all-you-can-eat brunch buf-
fet, featuring make-your-own omelets, build-your-own Belgian waffles, home-
fried potatoes, fried chicken, and mashed potatoes for $11. Daily specials are
posted on the chalkboard out front.
1970 N. Lincoln Ave. & 312/642-0007. Kids' menu, high chairs, boosters. Main courses $8-$15; kids' menu
$4. Mon-Tues 5pm-2am; Wed-Fri 11:30am-2am; Sat 11am-3am; Sun 11am-2am. Bus: 11 or 73 to
Armitage.
Toast AMERICAN/BREAKFAST Located in Lincoln Park, Toast is homey
yet slightly funky—note the shelf of vintage toasters. Kids are welcome here: The
crayons and butcher-block table coverings will keep them busy, and the staff has a
reputation for being baby and kid crazy. Breakfast is served all day and includes a
twist on the usual diner fare. Pancakes come in all sorts of tempting varieties, from
lemon/poppy seed drizzled with honey to the “pancake orgy” of a strawberry,
mango, and banana-pecan pancake topped with granola, yogurt, and honey. (Try
it: It tastes even better than it looks!). The house specialty is French toast stuffed
with mascarpone cheese and strawberry purée. If pancakes equal dessert for you,
try one of the omelets or the breakfast burrito. On the side, you can order grilled
chicken sausage, apple-wood smoked bacon, or, of course, a stack of toast. Fresh-
squeezed orange juice and grapefruit juice are also available. The lunch menu
includes a range of creative sandwiches, salads, and wraps. Toast has a second loca-
tion in at 2046 N. Damen Ave. ( & 773/772-5600 ).
746 W. Webster St. (at Halsted St.). & 773/935-5600. High chairs, boosters. Reservations not accepted. Break-
fast $5-$10. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Tues-Fri 7am-4pm; Sat-Sun 8am-4pm. Subway/El: Red Line to Fullerton.
Twin Anchors BARBECUE Come early (around 5pm—later on, there's
more of a bar scene) and experience this Old Town landmark; a fixture since the
end of Prohibition, Twin Anchors manages to maintain the flavor of old Chicago.
Actually, it also has a flavor of a supper club in northern Wisconsin, which is per-
haps why so many transplanted small-town Midwesterners feel comfortable here.
It's a friendly, family-owned pub with Frank Sinatra on the jukebox and on the
walls. (He apparently hung out here on swings through town in the 1960s.) This
totally unpretentious place has a long mahogany bar up front and a modest din-
ing room in back with red Formica-topped tables crowded close. Of course, you
don't need anything fancy when the ribs—the fall-off-the-bone variety—come