Fred's Diner is the very definition of a hidden gem. It's the kind of cozy, no-frills, family‑run spot you might call a "hole in the wall," but the food and hospitality make it absolutely unforgettable. We stopped in for a simple breakfast, and it turned out to be one of the best we've had in a long time. I ordered an omelette loaded with every vegetable they offered, and they were more than happy to customize it exactly the way I wanted--something you don't always get at small diners. My husband had their ham and eggs, and he said it was the best he's had in years. Even the buttered wheat toast was exceptional, which really says something about the care they put into every plate. The service was friendly and genuine, the atmosphere was charmingly old-school, and the food was outstanding. We will definitely be back any time we're in the area. Highly recommend Fred's Diner to anyone visiting Grayslake or passing through--you won't be disappointed! read more

I had no idea what to expect but hoped for an actual diner... it was! If you are looking for fancy go elsewhere. If you want great food, great service and great prices, check out this awesome hidden gem I discovered with my kid today. I told him that was the definition of a diner and how I grew up. read more

Average greasy spoon diner. Not good or bad. Exactly what you'd expect. Interior was dated and busy, but occupied your attention while waiting on the food. Food and service was fast to almost rushed, but not in an unfriendly way read more

The food is entirely devoid of seasoning. The bacon they use is not real bacon - no flavor at all, no saltiness, no fattiness, hardly any grease. Service, while friendly, was awfully slow and missed portions of our order. I can appreciate the owner's likely background in the military and appreciate their service judging from all the war photos and memorabilia. The food may have been acceptable during wartime as well. But in 2025, this is a food establishment that should either source real ingredients to cook properly or just close. read more

Fred's Diner - The saddest bacon, no flavor. - Diners Near Me - Grayslake, Illinois

This place has THE vibe for a small diner. Feels almost like I'm on vacation in some small roadside diner. The food was just decent, which is what keeps this review to just 4 stars. Great and friendly service. Cash only establishment, but there is an ATM nearby. read more

We ended up at Fred's Diner mainly because we were looking for an early (6:00am) breakfast place and this was one of the very few open within a half hour of where we were at the time. It's an old throw back diner that is situated in downtown Grayslake. Service was friendly. Food was good! Thanks for being open early! read more

Cash only business. The atmosphere is cozy and quaint as it's a true diner. The wait staff are friendly and attentive. The food was delicious. I got the BLT and my Dad got eggs, sausage and potatoes with a side of pancakes. Prices are very fair and I'll be back again. A+. Great place as it's tiny and closes at 1 pm daily. read more

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Always fun to go to Fred's! Great food, AMAZING wait staff. It's an absolute GEM! My favorites are basted eggs, hash browns, toast, bacon and coffee ... They have amazing pancakes. Wish they had handicap access but we can still order out and eat down the street. Miss our Saturday breakfast with the girls read more

Never underestimate a little hole in the wall diner. This diner has the small town feeling to it. Bernie was attentive and provided great service. Their steak and eggs set the bar pretty high. The pictures commemorating service members is a small token of remembering those who have served. Ask for their secret macha hot sauce. Spicy, Smokey and delicious. Probably the best breakfast diner I have been to in a quite some time. read more

Everything about this place changed once the sisters left including quality of food and quality of service.

Food and service sucked. Used to be good. Not anymore. Recieved the wrong food on one order, bad food on the other. They didn't want to fix it, but eventually tried to, sort of. Not going back. read more

Reasonably priced food and friendly service make this place one to try. The he ambience is old school diner.

It truly breaks my heart to think I'm writing a bad review for Fred's but that diner was one of my favorite memories about growing up in Grayslake and I always made sure to stop here every time I came back to Illinois. I am so bummed that ownership has changed and that the waitresses who made Fred's so memorable have all gone. Unfortunately I was pretty let down by the food quality and the service. Leaving a couple stars for the fact they haven't changed the decor yet and haven't taken down the Veteran wall. read more

New owner is not cut out to be owner. Fired all the waitresses that were original and the backbone of this restaurant for 20 plus years! I had been to Fred's probably over 1000 times so I can definitely tell when my food isn't the same. Usually they would butter the pan before throwing the eggs onto the pan, NOPE Not anymore making my eggs dry n bland. I've heard of multiple people having to send back food (I don't think in 20 years of going here did I ever have to send a plate back!) the old waitresses were on point and sassy which added to the atmosphere. They scrapped the old Fred's menu and now it's just a 2 sided laminated paper menu. My beloved Fred's , you broke my heart my love read more

Not so happy about the new edition to Fred's diner. Was a really cool place to go to. Not so much now. Food is still good but the service isn't what it used to be before all the fun & humorous waitresses were let go. That's when Fred's was great to be in. The environment was a fun way to break from all the craziness in our world now. Felt like a restaurant in the 80's or 90's. Now the owner has people working the register that shouldn't be...at all. Multiple times I've had to wait to pay my bill because the person at the register doesn't know what she's doing. It's not just one, it's a couple of them. Guy in front of me is waiting for his change to be counted out and I'm literally waiting 5 mins for that and my bill hasn't even been looked at yet. Unexceptionable on a business level. I hope they can change it up in there but I don't see a lot of their REAL customers coming back. read more

Love this hidden gem. Great place for a morning coffee and a nice breakfast. A staple in grayslake!

I have been trying to get to Fred's for a while now and I even made it on a Sunday making a detour from my trip but they are closed on Sunday. Today I made another detour while in IL and I got in for breakfast. The place is seriously popular and packed for breakfast with a wait to get a seat. The place epitomizes an old school greasy spoon with a country dive charm that is very small with a lunch counter, small 2 person tables behind it and a few booths up front. This is a very local hang out with with a huge following. The menu has all the average breakfast items with daily specials and I went with the ham off the bone, 2 eggs, hash browns with onions and toast. Service was exactly as expected for a slammed breakfast place which was slightly slow but controlled chaos while working the room like a boss. The breakfast came in a timely time for the situation and looked good. The hash browns with the fried onions just made my breakfast. The ham was tasty and cooked perfect, not dry like some place serve. The eggs had nice runny yokes to spill into my hash browns and dip my toast sandwich in. The sourdough toast was not the great artisan kind but not the very week kind with that dense nice chew. This was all perfect for my toast sandwich that I just like so much and why order I meat/eggs/toast 90% of the time for breakfast. This is definitely a destination breakfast spot just like the Franks diner in Kenosha, the IL version and if you have been to the Franks diner in Kenosha Wi you totally understand what I'm saying. What a perfect place to have breakfast at on the start of a day trip, nicely done. read more

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Great little old school local diner. The staff were very friendly and nice. Food was delicious and simple. Perfect breakfast. Prices were reasonable. Will definitely be back. read more

Fred's Diner - 2 eggs with potatoes/onions and toast - Diners Near Me - Grayslake, Illinois

Sorry to say this about a small business, but no one working there knew what they were doing. First time since new owners took over. Received part of our order cold, had to ask twice for the rest. A customer went behind the counter to get the coffee pots and serve everyone waiting for some...nice guy. He even cleaned a table, because no one working was doing that. Had to go to the counter for silverware and tea refills. Waist of time and money. Best part was having to find someone to give us a bill. read more

We were excited to try this little diner but not sure if we will return. Food was good, service was average but the place could use a good cleaning. I get that it's an old school diner but there was thick dust on the light fixture over our table and floors looked dirty, and not just from being old. read more

Food was average for breakfast, service was good and polite. The place was kind of a dive but in a cool way. Would go back, but I have had better for the price. read more

What happened to this place? Just not the place it was. The waitstaff is definitely lacking as all the good waitresses are gone. Food too seems to be not as good. read more

Absolutely wonderful!!! It was 10:30 on Thursday place was packed like it was Sunday after church. Tonya our waitress was on point. We had 4 people so we split up on 2 tables. The pancakes awesome! The biscuits and gravy best ever. I could have eaten just gravy. It was that good!! read more

Love it here the staff was fun! Cheapest breakfast you'll have in 2022! CASH ONLY French Toast was super yummy read more

Fred's Diner - Diners Near Me - Grayslake, Illinois

The Missus and I wanted lunch after an appointment. I saw Fred's listed in Yelp and saw something different than the usual The pictures are interesting and the menu is large, so we decided to dive on the dive. This old fashioned eatery is a real trip. Photos of sailors, soldiers and Marines on the walls along with funny little signs denoting the attitude of the staff. Lisa tried the hamburger and an order of fries. I got the pork tenderloin which spread out from the bun in a most delicious manner. Don't forget the horse radish. I thoroughly enjoyed the food, the decor and the staff. Yes, I have found a local favorite diner. Oh, bring cash but don't expect to need a lot of it. read more

Best Food, Best prices... I highly recommend it. The service is great. The food is awesome and you can't beat the prices. read more

Fred's is a local diner known mainly for their breakfast. I enjoy going here with friends. The food is good and the service is great. If you've never been here before the waitresses are sassy, that's part of the diner's charm, don't take it personally. read more

Fred's Diner - Omelette and hash browns with onions. - Diners Near Me - Grayslake, Illinois

It's the right diner experience. It's a dive but in all the good ways a diner should be. Breakfast was tasty and served hot and quick. read more

Not sure how this place isn't shut down for health and cleanliness. It's gross. Food is cheap. And there is a reason for that, it has no taste. read more

Full on breakfast with a beautiful bowl of what looks like steel cut oatmeal with the works! Raisins, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon and milk included for the oatmeal special! Bacon was amazing, eggs done right and potatoes with onions, flavorful! Sourdough toast perfectly buttered as well. Hubby ordered the sausage skillet with lots of veggies. Definitely a thumbs up! And good wake me up coffee too! Only thing is you have to have cash, they don't except credit cards! read more

Fred's Diner - Sausage skillet, Sunnyside up eggs with potatoes and bacon, toast and oatmeal special - Diners Near Me - Grayslake, Illinois

I would not trust their soup after seeing a 10" pile of cooked bacon laying out uncovered on the way to the mens restroom! The idea of sanitation and care of food products seems to have eluded the people running this hole in the wall, greasy spoon of an eating establishment. I will not call it a restaurant because it isn't one, it does not deserve the title. read more

Atmosphere is the draw There is nothing special about the taste of the food. It is what you would expect of a diner breakfast - well prepared and plentiful. You can still have a conversation above the din. The wait staff is fun, engaging and pleasantly loud and is sarcastic in a good natured way. I'll return. read more

So this is a small downtown diner where the food is great and the atmosphere is exactly what I love about small town diners. It's got lots of regulars eating there and there are snippets of fun, lively conversations being tossed around. You can keep to yourself or dip your toe in the water if you want to have some fun. This is THE reason I look forward to being sent to this area for work. If Fred's wasn't open, I'd have to stop coming. I had the basics, 3 eggs over easy with bacon, shredded hash browns, and pancakes. They have really good hash browns and next time I'd go with onions on them which I don't usually do but they did look good. No complaints. And on top of all that... they open at 4:30 AM. So if you're an early riser like me, you have a nice place to enjoy your morning cup of coffee. read more

Fred's Diner - Spinach, feta, and bacon omelet with onion topped hash browns. Very tasty. - Diners Near Me - Grayslake, Illinois

Great food and awesome people. They do take care of you and now has outdoor space more people can enjoy Fred's.

I used to love this place but the sassy waitresses quit under new management. I definitely won't be going as often. The cream of mushroom soup was sludge today. read more

Best breakfast joint in the county. Mayberry Esque. The folks working there are the best and the food is pretty darn good. read more

Breakfast here with my husband on a weekday morning...place was crowded. Seemed like mostly locals. Definitely a local hole-in-the-wall, dive-type diner, but clean. Masks worn by staff except one server who wore her mask just under her lip. Decent food...omelettes and hasbrowns, but a little greasy. Typical diner coffee. Good service. read more

yum. this food was soo good and the waitstaff are nice too. can't wait to come back. ordered the croissant sandwich with hash browns. good coffee for a diner. read more

One of those authentic diners that are hard to find. Great service and great food. The type of place where everyone know your name, even if it's your first time there. A must for breakfast. read more

The best breakfast in town. Whether dine in or to go. Just like home made! If you chose to dine in the staff is super cool and fun. Great prices for the food and portions! read more