Not the most awesome diner around, but a solid place to get breakfast. Staff is friendly and service is excellent. Would have gotten another star if my corned beef hash arrived well done, as I asked. read more

This place is a hidden gem. I've been back 4 times just to have their eggs your way with hash browns and sourdough toast. It's so perfect and at such a good price. I didn't think diners like this existed outside of the suburbs. read more

Rooster Heaven! We went here for the first time today, and finally have a breakfast place we can call our own. We have been in Albany Park for 7 years but never found a good breakfast place (not a fan of Tre Kroner, too pricer, too much of a wait) and used to head over to Svea's in Andersonville, but this morn read the Yelp reviews and decided to try West River Cafe. Loved our breakfast (simple and quantity - the Montrose special is fabulous and with the French Toast, shareable.) the waitress was personable, helpful and very nice. Kept our coffe cups filled, and it was good coffee. Fairly confident we will become regulars. The lunch menu looks interesting, when we try, will advise! read more

This is a small neighborhood breakfast nook kind of restaurant and it delivers. The hostess has been working there for many years and is very quick and helpful. The food is also good and lots of it. The prices are great as well. I recommend West River Cafe for some some good breakfast with many choices. read more

We like going to West River Cafe for breakfast. They have a lot of selections and it is a good place for families. The service is good and the restaurant is clean. I agree with some of the other reviews, this place is nothing to write home about but it is consistent good food at a good value. Try the homemade pound cake that is up by the register! Good stuff. read more

I love a good breakfast at a local diner. Dont expect anything fancy but good American food and good service at West River aka the Rooster cafe. My favorite is the montrose special -eggs, bacon, more bacon, hash browns, and french toast. Great big portions too. Get there early as there not open for dinner. read more

I have been to this place three times already.. It's good food!!!! the egg sandwich my fiance had was sooo good!! I had the greek omelette with feta cheese and spinach.. so tasty!! so worth going back here...the service is great too. read more

This is a delicious hidden gem in Albany Park on the corner of Montrose and Kedzie. It is so diner-y, with its wood paneled walls and rooster decor. It only serves breakfast and lunch (and breakfast all day, I do believe). And breakfast there is so good. This place is always full of locals. I'm kind of protective of this place. I want it to do well but I don't want all of Chicago traipsing into my hood to experience the deliciousness. The staff is friendly and pleasant, the food is so darn good. My favorite is the sausage gravy and biscuits. The portion is plentiful - six biscuits!! - the biscuits are home made and a decent meal here won't set you back very much at all. read more

This is a new favorite brunch spot for me and my boyfriend after we've been here a few times. I've had some things I've liked better than others but overall the food is great - nicely flavored, big portions, inexpensive especially considering what you get, very friendly wait staff. We've been able to easily find free street parking since it's right next to a residential area (if you don't want to pay to park on the main cross streets). The cafe is pretty small and usually busy but we haven't had to wait to be seated - we'll definitely continue to keep coming back! read more

Honestly this is good food for a decent price. I love coming In here with my family and it's always held an amazing standard. I admire the head waitress because I always see her in here hard at work! Today it was a little packed but let's be real, if it's packed it must mean they're doing something right because everyone wants their food yes?Although packed the waiters did a good job keeping flow of traffic smoothly! I love this place :) read more

Standard diner. Nothing to write home about. Don't sit by the waitress entrance at the counter--she'll knock into you every time she goes behind the bar. read more

Went here for breakfast on a weekday morning. The food was incredible, and the portions were huge. I had a gyro skillet and my wife had one of the benedicts, and we were both very pleased. The service was pleasant and efficient, and our waitress kept the coffee cups full. Enjoyed the atmosphere as well. Fun place. read more

I think yelpers get this one wrong. No one thing was worth four stars let alone the whole experience. The coffee was water and the waitress was indifferent. Won't be returning. read more

I really wanted to like this place my initial reaction was that it was a cute café with extremely friendly service. However when my food came out I was in for a disappointing experience. I ordered an eggs Benedict, I didn't expect anything exceptional just something on the level I could receive from a Denny's or an IHOP. I had several issues with the food I received. My English muffin was barely toasted and basically a circle of dough. I thought maybe it was just an oversight that I was willing to forgive. However, they were not busy at all when we came in and there seemed to be no reason why they wouldn't be able to take the necessary preparations to make sure the food was properly prepared before it came out. Then I tasted the hashbrowns. They might as well have been raw mashed potatoes. They were basically a pile of potato mush that seemed to have been thrown into a pan for maybe 10 seconds then put onto my plate. I couldn't taste any hints of any flavoring or seasoning added to the so-called "hashbrowns". My friend that I visited the café with ordered some pancakes. She was very happy with them and I tried a bite and thought they were pretty good. Maybe it's just a place that can only do the sugary sweet side of breakfast and can't quite conquer the more savory half. I did think everyone who worked there practiced excellent service. However after eating my bland under cooked meal I don't think the service is enough to bring me back. read more

Just a neighborhood diner, that's all. It's what you'd expect. I would not say they are very "service" oriented. read more

I have been to handful of diners, but this one hits home. Service is great, food is fresh, but the only thing they lack is consistency. The place gets packed on the weekends so service and wait time are a little longer than if go during the weekday. If you go there Sunday morning, make sure you go before the Church down the block lets out. If not, yer gonna be waiting. Overall, I can't complain, the staff is friendly, the food is great for what you pay and the ambiance is very comfy. I'll pick this place over iHop, Dennys, or Golden Nugget any day. Breakfast rules here, lunch isn't bad. They always have daily specials for breakfast and lunch. All I have to say is MONTROSE SPECIAL!!! read more

Love the food, great atmosphere but felt kind of ignored my waitress was usually very attentive and nice to me and my child but recently she has been not as great as when I first moved in the neighborhood. Only tip: improve your customer service . read more

3 egg skillets house specials friendly servers great coffee cozy little diner what else could you ask for? if you come in looking for chef gordon ramsay then turn back and leave. love this place! read more

This is a great hangover breakfast spot! Be forewarned though, if you order the Montrose Special (4 pieces of french toast, 2 eggs, sausage, bacon and hash browns) and somehow manage to eat the whole thing, pencil yourself in for a lengthy afternoon food nap... Service is always great and really the only complaint I've ever had with the place is undercooked hash browns. It's priced reasonably (around 5-8 bucks a plate) and parking is never a problem on the street (it is metered though). Definetly give this place a shot, it's worth it read more

Not terribly impressed. Visited for a sunday brunch. Of the dishes tried (eggs benedict, a sandwich, and waffles) only the waffles were interesting. Other takeaways included the large amounts of food that had accumulated on the floor from previous diners which had not been cleaned up. Also, several employees who seemed to be doing nothing but standing around. Overall, an unappealing atmosphere, barely edible food, and an unclean space leads to a 'not going to revisit' result. read more

Had a GREAT breakfast here early this morning. I was craving Biscuits & Gravy and read someone elses review of this place. I ordered the eggs, sausage, hashbrowns and toast breakfast with a side order of biscuits and gravy. The side order came with FOUR biscuits covered in a very creamy sausage gravy loaded with pieces of sausage. I couldn't finish my breakfast and was happy to pay the $10 check. This place will go into my weekend breakfast rotation. read more

This was my first time here! Such a cute place great atmosphere and I would definitely come again!

I had the huevos rancheros. Just no. The beans were really dark and old looking, funny tasting and dry and crunchy on top. Rice was parbolied, no flavor. The menu said eggs over crunchy tortillas. I got one soggy corn tortilla with 2 cold, snotty looking eggs with a teaspoon of jared salsa on it. Service was okay, although when you walk in, the staff look at you but do not acknowledge you. I won't be back. What a shame, I always try to support small businesses. read more

I've been wanting to try this place for a while now and I was not disappointed. Wait staff is very friendly, food comes out fast and delicious. I find some breakfast diner food is overloaded with butter and grease and makes you feel like you got bricks in your stomach afterwards (looking at you Golden Nugget) but didn't feel that way at all, even after eating the Managers special which is 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 sausage, and hashbrowns. It was so yummy! read more

Great joint in the neighborhood. Large portions & great specials like Oreo pancakes & blue cheese frittatas. Would have given them 5 star but they need to turn the music down! read more

I have been living here for a while. I kept not going here for some reason. So, I finally went. GREAT PLACE. Cheap eats. Good service. GOOD FOOD!!!! I would go here instead of fighting for space at Sather's or Tre Koner read more

The trend now of days, for diners, is to look super fancy, appeal to "yuppies", so you can have a spot in Time Out Chicago, and have a line of tourist out the door. Not to say that the people at West River Cafe wouldn't mind a line out the door, but the place comes off as real as the food they serve, and by that, I mean real good. It has your traditional diner look, and feel, with service that is quick and friendly. I haven't pointed out a favorite off of their menu yet, but that's mostly because every new dishes that I've tried, I loved. read more

Had to check out this place before I moved out of the hood. The food was pretty good. Oddly enough I decided to order an oatmeal and I really enjoyed it. I was a little wary ordering from a dinner, but I wanted to eat light. Definitely decorated in a country decor against the backdrop of the bustle of Kedzie and with a diner feel. The wait staff was friendly enough. We got a wobbly table and the busboy went out of his way to stick stuff under the foot of the table to keep it from rocking back and forth. Worth a stop if you happen to be getting out from church or walking the 'hood. read more

We went on a Saturday, at a morning-ish hour, for brunch. The food was fine, and I came away full, but it took a very long time to order, get our food and get out of there. I know brunchy weekends are busy, but an hour wait for food is a bit much. read more

This is a great place. The food isn't five star quality, as it's nothing mind-blowing, but they do a good job with the typical breakfast diner standards. I do enjoy the atmosphere (very "local"), good service and the location (2 blocks from mi casa!). They do have a small healthy section on the menu if you're not one for greasy breakfasts, which I personally appreciate. :o) And I suppose that overall the breakfasts aren't that greasy compared to, say, Golden Angel and the like. But it's tasty, and holy hell it's cheap! We're going to be regular patrons for sure. read more

Been here about 3 times so far. I've tried the West River omelet which is made with egg whites, spinach and mushrooms. It comes with OJ. (my favorite dish so far) The baked chicken is surprisingly good and the portions are really a good value. The coffee is better than average and the service is good for a diner. This place can get pretty busy and isn't very big, so plan to avoid peak breakfast time hours (9am to 11am on weekends). I don't think they have a parking lot. There's meter parking on the street. Mangia! read more

This is the mom and pop breakfast spot my wife and I have been looking for since we've moved up north. The service and decor takes me back to my childhood days. The food is just right and very reasonably priced. Will definitely go again and will update the review on my next visit. read more

This is our ultimate Sunday brunch spot. This diner is filled with character and wonderful, super nice people that work there. The experience here is very personable and the food is super delicious. I always order the florentine Benedict. Also the Alaskan Waffles are delicious and are served with ice cream - yum! read more

Great neighborhood spot with fast and friendly wait staff, 80s rock on the radio and tasty and filling skillets. Pretty much the only sit down breakfast spot in Albany Park. I wish they'd add a location further west (hint, hint!). read more

Just had my first visit and breakfast was on my mind. This is a typical "family restaurant" or diner. I admittedly have nothing profound to add to the other positive reviews of West River Cafe. It's clean, well maintained, and family friendly. The prices are reasonable, the service is great, and the food is definitely good. While the fare has a standard spin, the menu is more extensive than I expected although other reviews made note of this fact. I live in the neighborhood and will be back. read more

This is a convenient breakfast if you're in the Albany Park neighborhood. The food and coffee are typical diner style breakfast.

I would say it's okay. Typical dirty spoon jind of diner. It's okay for the neighborhood it's in.

Service amazing the plates are a nice size and food is the best. I love to take my family and they always have two high chits when I go it hard to dine with twins but they make it easy. If you live in Albany park must go. read more

Great place! Good food and very friendly service all wrapped in an unassuming package. The ultimate diner experience.

My family and I have gone here over the past several years. We used to like it more, but the prices have gradually gone up and are just too high for the quality of the food. Service is fine and the decor is fun (mostly chicken-themed). Sometimes the music is turned up a bit high. read more