By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
February 26, 1995
Phone: (312) 549-9374
Hours: daily, 7 a.m.-3 p.m.
“It’s so friendly and warm in here that you don’t actually feel like you’re dining out,” said Liv Eldgridge, who was there on a recent Sunday with her husband and two toddlers. “They serve the kind of food that I would cook if I had the time.”
After taking a bite of a veggie omelet, she added, “And if I was a good cook.”
Owner Susan Tongate was a fan of the Cozy Cafe’s down-home cuisine, too, before she took over the business in 1981.
“The building’s been here since the ’50s and originally was a hot dog stand called Costas Hot Dog,” Tongate said. “In the ’70s, it became the Cozy Cafe. Everything about it is so simple that it was hard for me not to be attracted to it as both a customer and later the owner.”
Seating 20 inside (and 24 outside during warmer months), the cafe’s decor is charmingly cheesy. The small tables fill up quickly, as do the stools at the front counter. But turnaround for tables is relatively quick.
The cooks, Meaghan Fiore and Jorge, are skilled and quick. Their specials include homemade ham hash, served with an order of eggs ($3.50), grits ($1.50) and hash browns ($1.50). Then there are the crepelike omelets ($4.25 to $5.25), which customers may custom-design, selecting from ingredients such as spinach, zucchini, onions, peppers and broccoli.
“They’re like pizzas,” Tongate said. “The more things you want in them, the bigger they get.”
“There are a ton of chain restaurants that serve breakfast and brunch,” said Paul Grinnell, who was waiting for a table for two. “And some of them serve food that’s as tasty as what you can get here. But you don’t get the same type of service. The waitresses don’t recognize you like they do here. And they’re just not as flexible with orders. I can wake up wanting to eat whatever and know that I can come to the Cozy Cafe and get it.”
