Place was very friendly with a nice assortment of breakfast and lunch items. Staff is really nice and accommodating. There was a stale smell that kinda gave me a nauseous feeling, and was a lot stronger in the basement where the restrooms are at. Add some bleach or Mr. clean to your mop and that may help that smell. Great food and staff, will return some day soon. read more

Canteen Restaurant - They have model airplanes, seems nice but not sure why with a mixed-up theme in here, but cute! - American Near Me - Barrington, Illinois

Here's a charming little cottage turned restaurant on 59 in Barrington serving your typical Greek style family breakfast and lunch menu items... We didn't plan to eat here, it was just a spur-of-the-moment sort of thing, because we were hungry and the Canteen was right there (right here). The place was busy and we struggled for parking and waited for a table. Once seated, the service was decent as was the food (the staff are well rehearsed and friendly with customers, and service is routine, and so is the food)... I imagine I'll come again on the spur-of-the-moment. read more

Cool model airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Dining area looked kind of small, probably because it was packed with people. Real nice greek guys running things...the whole menu had a "big fat greek xxx" theme going, like "big fat greek omelette", etc. Pretty funny. My son had the chocolate chip pancakes. There were two gigantic pancakes and lots of chocolate chips even though it was a $3.50 kids plate. I had hash, eggs, potatoes, and rye toast for $7. Not bad. NOTE: The restrooms are in the basement down some steep stairs. Also the parking lot was small but we found street parking easily (Sunday, 9AM-ish). Might be harder to park on other days. read more

My brother and I went to lunch there the week of Christmas this past year. He is an international business traveler and isn't around much, but he was on semi-vacation Christmas week. He suggested we meet at the Canteen. I kind of enjoyed the atmosphere, especially since I'm am an airplane nut. The owner (?) was a very jovial guy and greeted me like we were old friends when I came in. I ordered a cup of coffee and studied the very extensive (typical of Greek owned restaurants) menu and had decided on a "breakfast" entree, by the time my brother arrived. I had one of their "skillet" dishes. It was pretty good, but not as good as the similar offering at Papa G's in Huntley, a favorite breakfast stop on the days that my "Thursday lunch-buddy" and I are Operations dept. volunteers at the Illinois Railway Museum. Anyway, back to the Canteen. My brother also had a "breakfast" entree, and said that is what he usually has when he and his family go there. The service was excellent. The only negative, as someone else mentioned was the location of the washrooms, down a narrow stairway to the basement. I'll give it another try, and have a different entree sometime soon, and possibly revise the average rating that i gave it. read more

Awesome place!!! The food is amazing!! I had the smokehouse Benedict it was delicious!! So well seasoned. I live about 30 minutes away and I will definitely becoming back! I will definitely recommend this place to friends family and coworkers. I almost passed by it looks small on the outside but it is definitely a comfortable friendly atmosphere on the inside! read more

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I love this place! It's yummy diner style food, with a nifty ambiance. The portions are huge, and the service so fast that you can easily make it a stop for your lunch break. Everyone is super friendly and willing to accomodate special requests. The soups and sandwiches are especially tasty here. Easily one of the best places to eat in Barrington! read more

Excellent food, excellent service, fresh ingredients, best breakfast spot in Barrington by far!

The Canteen is one of those small places where you pass by it all the time and never think about stopping in for breakfast or lunch... and the first time you do stop in for a meal, you want to kick yourself because you realize you have been missing so many chances to eat at a pretty good and reasonably priced place. The food is very good, and the coffee is great. What makes this place so good is the top notch service. Unfortunately, this place isn't quite handicapped friendly, as the restrooms are down stairs. Also, the parking lot is tiny and tends to fill up quickly on weekends. read more

This is a great breakfast place with all the popular places popping up all over the place, this place is just the quintessential breakfast joint. They offer a full menu although I must admit I always order breakfast. From savory/sweet crepes, frittatas, awesome skillets and enormous omelets. This past weekend I ordered scrambled eggs and Canadian bacon crepe with Hollandaise Sauce. I think the sauce is great. Maybe a little thicker than you are used to but it is nice that it is not runny. My old man always gets the Gypsy Skillet which is his absolute favorite. Of course they do the old classics as well but will also put a new twist on them if you are open to it. We have been meeting here for breakfast for years. It's a great restaurant to even drive out of the way for, no matter where you live. The staff is friendly and the owner is like the greek uncle you never had but always wanted! read more

Service was only issue. Only one waitress working that morning [July 4]. I think management underestimated customer levels, as she was SWAMPED! Not only was food waiting to be delivered while she was taking orders, but she had to handle cashier duties as well. Ham off the bone mixed in scrambled eggs was great. I am from Berwyn and saw there ad in a Chicago newspaper recommendation. read more

Service here is excellent. Fun, friendly atmosphere. 4 stars for being adorable! (And for not being a chain or in a strip mall.) As for the food, well... Ummm... Yeah, my coffee was terrible, blech! But, the menu is inspired. My hubbins ordered the Argentinian benedict and said "it's good, not amazing." He did tear into the perfectly prepared breakfast potatoes, though. I ordered regular eggs benedict and it was kind of lousy and lacking flavor. The eggs were poached beautifully and the Canadian bacon was nice. But, the English muffin was an awful puck (offensive to the rest of the meal, actually). The hollandaise was creamy, but someone forgot to add lemon juice and it was sorely missed. My side of fruit was fresh, ripe, and sweet. I'd return just for the kind treatment and the atmosphere -- but I'd only order the basics off the menu. read more

We were greated by the owner and seated in a comfortable booth right away. The coffee was decent. No raw sugar available. No biggie. We ordered the Croquet french toast stuffed with brie and ham topped with eggs and a sweet drizzled sauce. Once I removed the sweetened saucy eggs the stuffed french toast was okay. Typical Greek owned restaurant in what used to be a building that looks like a mini airplane hanger. Interesting model airplanes hanging from the ceiling. I could tell that our waitress wished she were somewhere else. I wouldn't recommend. My leather jacket smelled like grease for several hours afterwards. read more

I love a place that's different or sets itself apart in some (good) way. Canteen does that. The décor inside, the interesting variety on the menu, the potato chip "starters" at lunch. All good stuff. I asked my waitress whether I should choose the Corned Beef sandwich or the French Dip. She encouraged me to order the CB. Now, my kind of Corned Beef is warm and sliced thinly. Warm it was, but this is more of the thicker sliced CB kind of sandwich. I asked the waitress which it was and she was spot on - but I ordered it anyway based on her recommendation. For me, I still prefer the thinly sliced stuff... but if you're a Corned Beef lover regardless of how thick it is - this CB is for you. It was very flavorful and the sandwich was actually large enough to take 1/2 of it home and still feel quite full. I also had soup with lunch - that Greek Lemon soup that starts with an "A" and has eighty-three letters following it. It was quite good too. I had passed Canteen any number of times sometimes it looked too busy to go in, other times I just wasn't hungry. But I'm glad I finally checked it out - quite a classic breakfast and lunch joint that one doesn't see much of anymore. read more

I really miss the Canteen since I moved out of the immediate area. It is a must stop if you are in the area. The parking lot is very tiny and I would just avoid trying to park in it at all. Instead park on the side street and enjoy a little walk before and after breakfast! Everything I have had here is great and the staff is wonderful. I hope to get back soon! read more

Had breakfast here today. I've been on the hunt for fresh corned beef hash, and due to reviews on here we went. It's so very delicious! Fresh, crispy, lots of beef. We'll be back. We ordered very basic food. My husband had the ham off the bone and two over medium eggs, with pancakes. I'm not a fan of pancakes, frankly I just don't get them. But the looked really light and fluffy, and they were. The potatoes, another thing I'm not usually a fan of, were very good. Cubes with onions and green peppers. The only down side was they were room tempature. The service was very good, it's very cute and homey inside. And did i mention? The best corned beef hash I've had in years!! read more

Cool joint. This or eggshells is probably the best breakfast if you want to stay in the 6-0-0-1-0. Service is a bit slow and gets a little cozy. Would recommend light clothing as the cushions in the booths will suck the greek right out of you. Really good eggs benedict and the dish with artichoke hearts is pretty good too, especially if you are debating whether you want to walk home! read more

this has been an institution in town for years - I would think at least 50 years, probably much longer. Everyone in town knows it and has been to it multiple times. It is wildly popular for breakfast and lunch on the weekends, but honestly, I have never had to wait more than 15 minutes for a table, and usually half that. The restaurant is one room - it has some booths, some tables and a lunch counter. From the ceiling, big model airplanes hang and the dome type ceiling resembles an aircraft hangar. There used to be a lot more planes, but they de-cluttered several years ago. I don't know as I would say this place has become "trendy" but it is a different crowd of people than it was when I was growing up - back then it was a lot of old duffers sitting around reading the paper, now it is busier, more families and 30/40-somethings. It changed hands several years ago and thankfully, the owners kept the basic concept and interior...however, they did clean it, something it really needed. The menu is fairly extensive and has a wide array of breakfast items, as well as lunch items (sandwiches and wraps mostly). With the whole brunch obsession these days, the place is more popular than ever....the food is ok, pretty tough to screw up pancakes or a turkey sandwich. They have tried to dress up the food a bit as well. It has moved over the years from a standard bacon and egg place, to the menu of what amounts to a Greek breakfast restaurant. You come for the experience and because it is comfortable. Inside, it is always the weekend and everything is perfect with the world. The prices are market competitive....but the days of the $3 Denny's grand slam are well and truly over. read more

One of my favorite places to get brunch. I've been coming here for years and always bring family and friends who are visiting. My personal favorite is the Skirt Steak Skillet and Banana pancakes. I highly recommend this place! read more

Canteen Restaurant - Skirt Steak Skillet with Scrambled Eggs, delicious!!! - American Near Me - Barrington, Illinois

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I have been back many many more time and im still very happy with the food and waitstaff haylie and debbie are just great and go out of there way to make each visit wounderfull!we have had all foods from burgers to soup to eggs to chip its all so good! The swiss and bacon omelette is one of my favorites!!! read more

My wife and I have gone here for years. Greek family runs it. Just exceptional. The lunch menu is my personal favorite.

The skillet was great. Clean place, easy parkng and pricing was affordable. The waitress was polite.

Wow. Really? 3 people for breakfast $60? Plus tip $72? I've driven past for 53 years and never stopped in. Finally went and got screwed. Good luck with that people. read more

We've been there several times over the years and mostly we've enjoyed it. This time I ordered the corned beef hash & eggs and the corned beef was the real thing, I guess, not the canned version. It was a roasted corned beef all chopped up. Now I realize this is the REAL version but I hate to say it but it made me think I was eating leftovers from St. Patrick's day last week. I had the regular canned version of corned beef there before so I thought I knew what to expect. I'm sure it wasn't leftovers. read more

We were driving through Barrington when my wife spotted a small sign that said, "Falafel Benedict." This was odd enough to cause us to turn the car around and grab a late breakfast. While we didn't actually try the falafel, we did find a large and varied menu to choose from, which is a bit rare in restaurants around here. My wife ordered the eggs Florentine and I just had to try the home made corned beef hash (a weakness of mine). The food was okay, but nothing spectacular. My scrambled eggs were cooked perfectly, but the hash and the potatoes were very dry. My wife's dish was similar in that the eggs were quite good but the potatoes dry, and the hollandaise was not quite right. I will say that the coffee was excellent. The food was certainly good enough for us to go back and try again, but they need to hone their craft a bit more when it comes to the breakfast staples. Bad potatoes point to a lazy kitchen, as fried potatoes are easy enough to cook that the kitchen staff must not be paying enough attention to their work. This makes me wonder how good the rest of the food will be. The food was certainly good enough to warrant another go, as was the atmosphere of the restaurant. I will update when I try it again. read more

Great local family diner with friendly staff and a caring owner who seems to really value his customers. Great brisket, ribs and breakfast food! read more

First time was great. Real food. Limited sysco crap. There's 2 guys who i figure are brothers Upscale classic greek joint. By greek i mean chicago diner. I'll be back. If they do it again, i may go to 5 stars read more

Sam and his staff continue to offer some of the best and freshest Food options around - I never miss an opportunity to stop in and try a special or old fav - the Ovgolemeno soup is one of my favs - Sam catered my wedding and grandmothers funeral - there nobody else I'd consider. read more

Canteen Restaurant - American Near Me - Barrington, Illinois

Cute place with older airplanes suspended in the air, great service, and very good food! Our server was super nice and the homemade chips were very good! Bathrooms were downstairs. read more

I had one of the best restaurant experiences ever here - the ribs were literally the best I've ever had, their Diablo skillet with brisket had a very unique, delicious taste with perfectly cooked brisket, their gluten-free pancakes tasted literally exactly like regular flour pancakes so much that I asked a couple times if they're gluten-free, and the waitress was so nice and friendly in a genuine way. I live over half an hour away, but I was in the area to see a car dealership in Barrington, and I just randomly ended up here from a quick Google search. Best decision ever!! I just wish I didn't live so far away, but that's probably a good thing because I would eat here everyday. I was there with my mom and we both left in such a great mood...we even ended up ordering more food to go for the rest of our family. The whole experience made our day! Thank you Canteen Restaurant! read more

Great diner! Home smoked meats! Exactly what you want in a town diner. We come here often and love it. Fair prices and great service.

Very good food and the owner is always nice. Great place to eat-but call ahead as they have sporatic hours(mostly daytime). read more

We moved to Barrington in December and have been interested in visiting here for breakfast as we drive past it frequently. Today we dropped in to check it out. The atmosphere is fun and quaint. Classic diner feel. The wait staff was very friendly. The food was incredibly bland. I walked past the smoker on my way in and it put me in the mood for brisket. I had the brisket tacos. They had an odd balsamic glaze, and no other sauce. I asked for salsa to give it some flavor and it was still bland. Tacos were served with Spanish rice, which is an odd combo. My husband ordered the chorizo omelette. It, too, was bland. Perhaps we should have stuck with breakfast classics. Looked good, had high hopes, but was disappointed with the lack of flavor. read more

I think Canteen Restaurant has a lot of nostalgia associated with it. I see many outstanding reviews by locals. I recently stopped here for lunch and had the BLT Wrap and Fries. I went in and ordered it as takeout. The flavor was just OK. There was no sauce on the wrap so it was rather dry. There was nothing special about the fries either. My lunch companion ordered a southwest style salad, but there was no dressing on the salad and no fork in the bag. I was annoyed that there were no napkins or ketchup in the bag, either. Maybe lunch is not such a big deal here. I looked at their breakfast menu and it seems more exciting. Given the outstanding reviews and my proximity to this place, I will return to try a breakfast. I hope it is outstanding! read more

Loved it. The decor, the building, the flat screen showing pics of tasty goods, the friendly staff, and outstanding food. all if it contributes to this place's overall charm, longevity, and worthiness. The crepes banana foster is unreal as is the lemon soup that has a much nicer Greek name. In summation, go to Canteen and be nourished. read more

Grew up in Barrington! Tony and Bev his wife ran it for many years, after carrying on the food flavors of the builder who I believe was Bev's father. It was a down home diner that always had good food. It helps that I lived two doors west of course and was easy for me.. Tony stood up for my brother in law's marriage...All in the family, the old days were the best... Information galore from the many people that came in the place. Now it is all about Greek, Mexican and other stuff that I can get cheaper and better elsewhere. Parking on a busy day as always is terrible, as is much of Barriington, since village officals don't understand that the streets were made back when nobody had a car and did not park on the street anyway. Go east on Lake Street and you have to wait for the other a block away.. Sorry, I will still go to Maple Park Inn for a decent burger! read more

Very cool place for lunch, great menu. All the staff and owner are very personable, service was exceptional. Few places have this charm. I hadn't been there since the 90's and what a welcome change. I will definitely return, many more items to sample. read more

Atmosphere was good, staff was friendly. But the food is bland. Tastes like food i can make at home, nothing special. Portions are small for the price. I wont go back here again. But always wanted to try and did. read more

I drive past the Canteen all the time & finally had a chance to stop in for some breakfast. The Canteen is your classic American diner that is located in downtown Barrington. They are open from 6 AM until 3 PM daily. They offer good food with friendly service. They serve fresh potato chips while you check out the menu. There are model airplanes hanging everywhere. My only beef is the bathroom, they are located in the basement & aren't the warmest area to be in during a cold Chicago winter. But that wont stop me from coming back! read more

It doesn't look like much from the outside but the food is to die for. This is a place that cares about what they serve to their customers, and how they treat their customers. If you're looking for delicious diner comfort food and you're in Barrington, this is the place you're looking for. read more

This place is good. It goes slightly beyond basic (with crepes and eggs benedict on a felafel). What I like is that their product is good, they make things that taste good and they are always friendly. read more