Restaurant Review: Lakeview’s Golden Apple Grille & Pancake House is a 24/7 delight
With the Memorial Day Weekend behind us, the real fun of summer begins! Now, you and your family can attend games at Wrigley Field, Guaranteed Rate Field, Wintrust Arena or concerts at the Salt Shed, United Center, or fireworks at Navy Pier, or any one of the myriad nightlife offerings without worrying about ‘school nights.’
After these outings, it’s great to relax over a late-night nosh or a full meal if you’ve worked up an appetite. But so many restaurants are now closed.
What to do?
One suggestion I’ll make is to head to Lakeview’s Golden Apple Grille & Pancake House, 2971 N. Lincoln Avenue, open 24 hours a day since 1970.
And yes, yours truly has frequented this restaurant with my family many times over the years, at virtually every daypart. Their enormous menu has something to please every appetite, every hour of the day.
For 54 years, this family-owned Greek-inspired establishment has welcomed “Families, children, cherished pets (outside), night shift workers, Uber and Lyft drivers, late night party animals and even a few famous celebrities,” as they say on their website. They cite Emmy Award winner Tina Fey frequenting the Golden Apple during her tenure at Second City, sitting in their booths writing scripts, as well as legendary NBA Hall of Fame Chicago Bulls Coach Phil Jackson, who loved their burgers.
Menu highlights include their Bahama Pancake, whichis a big pancake stuffed with blueberries, strawberries and bananas, topped with whipped cream and nuts. a variety of waffles, or Raspberry Stuffed French Toast, packed with mini-cheesecakes and drizzled with raspberry sauce.
Breakfast specials not seen elsewhere include their British Breakfast, two eggs any style served with your choice of bacon, ham or sausage and cheese on hash browns. Their “2222 Breakfast,” as you might guess, is a combination of 2 eggs, 2 sausage links, 2 strips of bacon and 2 buttermilk pancakes or hashbrowns and toast instead of pancakes. Crab Cakes Benedict gives you a choice of how you want your poached eggs prepared (easy or well), savory crab cakes, and your choice of hash browns or fruit, while Irish Benedict hascorned beef hash and tomatoes. Or, from their Mexican specialties, their Breakfast Burrito combines seasoned taco meat, onions, home fries, peppers, tomatoes, scrambled eggs and refried beans wrapped in a giant tortilla, and served with Mexican rice.
Lighter fare includes their Stuffed Avocado with fresh-made tuna salad, lettuce, cottage cheese, hard-boiled egg, and seasonal fresh fruit slices, as well as their Chicken Breast Salad, fresh salad greens with tomato wedges, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms and cucumbers. And no diner would be complete without a Low-Calorie Plate, whichincludes a cooked-to-order beef burger patty, cottage cheese, tomato, hard-boiled egg and a seasonal fresh fruit garnish.
Golden Apple also has an unusual take on a Veggie Burger, wherethey serve savory potato pancakes stuffed with veggies, topped with roasted red peppers, and served on a fresh multi-grain bun.
Greek-inspired dishes are a staple at the Golden Apple, including a succulent Char-broiled Greek Chicken with rice pilaf and chicken kebobs, an authentic Greek Salad with Greek feta cheese and Kalamata olives.
A recent Google reviewer said, “Solid early morning diner with everything you’d expect. Menu is very large and covers everything from breakfast to dinner. We went for an early 5am breakfast and really enjoyed both of our picks. The corn beef hash was well seasoned and generously portioned and the French toast had a bit of turmeric added to give it a nice golden color.
Definitely worth your time off you’re up early or stayed up too late.”
Golden Apple Restaurant is located at 2971 N. Lincoln Avenue. No reservations are necessary. For more information, click here.
Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago
