Chew Chew Cafe

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Manly ass slap – ½ star
Fone and fone – 0 stars


Restaurant: Chew Chew Cafe
Location: 1 Riverside Drive


This past Sunday was Easter Sunday, so my wife and I had planned on having brunch with my folks. My mom told me she made reservations at Chew Chew Café. She’s mentioned it a bunch of times in the past and claimed that the food was really good. All I knew was that it was a train place and located right next to some train tracks. My dad is a HUGE train geek (he does model trains and actually has a train that runs though the backyard) so I wasn’t surprised that my parents liked it. And when I say HUGE geek, I mean in a good way. Model trains don’t sound sexy, but that’s because they aren’t. But, they do look pretty tight when done right. My parents’ backyard is a good example. Back in the day they used to call my dad LL Cool T (Ladies Love Cool Trains). My mom never had a chance.

When I asked my mom the name of it so I could get directions online she said, “Chew Chew Café, but it’s spelled C-H-E-W.” Oh boy. I assumed it was spelled the traditional train way (as in Choo Choo). Now, as a writer I love a good pun, a sweet play on words, and all the geeky stuff. But Chew Chew? Seemed a little much (but I was also secretly amused). I could only imagine what this place was like. “Witty” name. In the ‘burbs. My parents liked it (remember, these are the same people who eat at Lalo’s every Friday night). Here’s the best way I can explain it. When I went back to St. Louis to visit after I had moved we were trying to find a place to have breakfast, and someone said First Watch. So we headed there. The wait was really, really long, like it was the best (or only) breakfast place in all of St. Louis. And when I was done I felt like I had just eaten at a cleaner Denny’s (except not as good) but paid twice as much. I realized that it was one of those places that people talk themselves into being better than they really are because if they can’t convince themselves (and other people) that it’s good, then it means they have nothing. The same way people in suburbs like Naperville try to convince you that they have all this great stuff going on out there because they don’t want to believe that they are missing out by not living in the city. So that’s what I figured Chew Chew Café would be. A place that suburbanites try to convince you is great so that you feel like you’re missing out on something. Guess what? They’re right.

Believe me, I’m as shocked as you are. The day before I went I mentioned my plans to Geoff, and he said, “Chew Chew? That place is good. For real.” Even this didn’t convince me. But you know what did convince me? The chocolate chip pancakes.

Allow me a quick aside. I was just killing time and channel surfing and I stopped to watch “Thank God You’re Here.” The show is an improv type of show featuring different comedians each week competing against each other. Here’s the part I don’t understand – Dave Foley (who has aged horribly, and that’s an understatement. New Radio was about 10 years ago, but judging by Foley it might have been closer to 30.) is the “judge”? He gets to decide what’s good and what’s bad and picks a winner at the end of the show. What qualifies him to be the one and only judge? And don’t say “Kids in the Hall” because he’s a long way from those days. I don’t get it? Was he like the all-time greatest “Thank God You’re Here” improv guy? I have no idea why this bothers me, but it does. It also doesn’t help that David Alan Grier is the host. He’s a long way from In Living Color.

OK, sorry about that. Back to the pancakes. See, a lot of places try to do the special pancake thing. Whether it’s some kind of fruit pancake (like seasonal fruit, or apple and cinnamon) or something sweet (like chocolate pancakes) or something “kooky” and “over-the-top” (like pumpkin pancakes with chocolate syrup and bananas and gummy bears). The problem is not many places do it well. Most places try too hard and end up with a mess that has no taste, or too much taste, or it’s thrown together with no thought. Rarely do you find a place that does it really well (like Bongo Room). So as I was checking the menu and deciding what to get, I really wanted to put Chew Chew to the test. Eggs are easy. Omelets are easy. Even pancakes are pretty easy. But, chocolate chip pancakes? Not easy. There are a lot of places where they can go wrong. Too much chocolate. Not enough chocolate. Too much sauce. Or syrup doesn’t go well with it. It’s just really risky. But Chew Chew did ‘em right.

Each pancake had a perfect balance of chocolate chips baked in. Then the stack was topped with the perfect portion as well. Not too much. Just enough that if I wanted to add a little extra chocolate to a bite I could. And on top of that there were sliced bananas on top. And on top of THAT there was caramel sauce drizzled over the whole thing. But again, not too much. It was the perfect balance in every bite. And you didn’t have to add any syrup. The caramel sauce and chocolate chips were just enough to keep it moist and sweet without needing sauce or anything. It was amazing. I loved them. Now, I don’t think they were as good as what the Bongo Room produces, but these were definitely worth the trip.

Luckily my wife never finishes what she orders, so I got a couple of bites of the eggs benedict. Another great order. The key was the English muffin it was served on. Just a big ol’ piece of bread, toasted and buttered perfectly. Then top it with all the good stuff. Delicious. Not too much taste, not too little taste. Special, but not too special. Good stuff. Chew Chew was two for two.

And according to Geoff, and my parents, the dinner here is really good as well. For now, I’ll have to take their word for it. But I might just have to check it out sometime.

Chew Chew Café gets a surprising chest bump.


Got a question? Send it to born2fork@yahoo.com.