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Home / Businesses / Lou Mitchell's

Lou Mitchell's

Iconic/NotableThe Loop · American Diner Community-sourced, unverified
📍 565 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60661

Lou Mitchell's is the Chicago breakfast institution that sits at the very start of Route 66, a half block west of Union Station, and it has been feeding the Loop since 1923.

Tourist Friendly
Dish Gem$$
Apple and Old English cheddar jumbo omelette with the free donut holes, a malted Belgian waffle to split and a cup of the Gold Cup coffee.
📈 Scores in the top 100% of Dish Gems on ChicagoSpecials.com

Uncle Lou's father opened the family diner and later handed it to his son, and Lou's hospitality turned it into the kind of place people line up for before work, before a train and before a road trip. The hospitality is still the hook. Since 1958, every breakfast guest gets free donut holes on the way in, and ladies and kids get a box of Milk Duds, a Greek gesture of welcome the restaurant still explains on its website. The menu is a monument to the classic American breakfast done with real butter and fresh-cracked eggs: fluffy jumbo omelettes in two dozen variations, from the apple and Old English cheddar to Greek sausage and feta, meltaway and silver dollar pancakes, malted Belgian waffles with pecans or bacon, thick-cut French toast and freshly squeezed orange and grapefruit juice, all with coffee that won a Gold Cup award.

Ask for a hobo skillet and they'll mix potatoes right into your omelette. Lunch brings home-cooked specials and char-grilled burgers. It's open Wednesday through Friday from 6am and weekends from 7am, closes at 2pm, and is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, so plan around it.

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Specials at Lou Mitchell's

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Lou Mitchell's

Iconic/Notable
Free Donut Holes (and Milk Duds) at the Door
The Loop6AM–2PMCommunity
Directions

Lou Mitchell's

Super Gem
Malted Belgian Waffle
The LoopCommunity
Directions

Hours

Mon-TueClosed
Wed-Fri6AM-2PM
Sat-Sun7AM-2PM
📅 Reservations not available 🥡 Takeout available 📞 (312) 939-3111 ✉️ Email

Amenities & accessibility

🚶Walk-in only
🥡Takeout available
❔Wheelchair access: unverified
🚇Near the CTA Blue Line (Clinton)

Location

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