Diner Review
Korner Kafe
Cahokia, Illinois
3295 Mississippi Ave
Cahokia, IL 62206
(618) 332-8711
Hours 6:00 A.M.-1:00 P.M.
So in my ongoing quest to discover better, older, crappier, possibly diseased diners....I have discovered the State of Illinois. Land of Dan Fogelberg... and that Lincoln fella... and judical hell holes. Of course they know their greasy food. The other day on my way home from Gruchalas heading up route 3 I stumbled upon the Korner Kafe. Just south of the border of the great and powerful city of Sauget lies the Korner Kafe... and creamery. It is approximately two miles from the St. Louis side of the Mississippi it is very accessable to downtown. Head over, get off on Route 3 south and drive past the strip clubs and Big River Zinc and Monsanto and...you there.
It is...at best an unpretentious building with a big gravel parking lot. It looks dirty but it is an easy place to get The St. Louis Post Dispatch and The Belleville News Democrat at the same time in the dirty machines in front of the dirty restaraunt. It has a somewhat busted screen door on the front. There were cops eating there and the inevitable...smokers. Why does smoking go with Diner breakfasts? Is it because all the health conscious people do not eat greasy food and if they deign to have breakfast that they eat at places like “First Watch” (an abomination) where they “take meetings” with their business compatriots.
Not at the Korner Kafe. Other then the two cops and two elevator guys all of the tables were filled with people sitting by themselves...and smoking. The koffee (notice the alliteration) was good. They also brewed their own iced tea. They served it in what appeared to be old Macho Mugs (TM) which allowed plenty of volume. The waitresses were middle aged, over weight, blonds who were smoking themselves but were pleasant and reasonably attentive. It was not a perfect diner in that the food was cooked in back but the menu was very good, limited and typical. They did not have chile and as such did not have slingers.
They had both hash browns and the hated “american fries” but it was nice to have the choice for those sad individuals who want them. the sausage was a big old patty and had a nice spice. the sausage gravy was adequately good and had a slight spice to it. Over all the meal was very good and hot and I strongly reccomend it....other then the fact that it was populated by a group of people (including the cop) who appeared to be extra characters in the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” I might possibly have to rethink the whole “Illinois” Diner experience. Who are these people anyway? Once you get south of Chicago they are not really even people... are they? But, on the other hand, they know their grease and that is what needs to be treasured so...I will soldier on.
1 comment:
I have been ruminating on the essence of a good diner experience and well repect your criteria of bacon, sausage and hash browns. The slinger is a bit of a novelty and is defined by the chilli so I cannot go with that. I think you give short shrift to the strength and quality of coffee as well as the cup in which the coffee is deliverd. That all said, I humbly submit that the diner experience must be defined by the quality of their milk/sausage gravy. Too fotne it is either too thick or too thin, and most often lacks in seasoning and has a most skewed ratio of sausage to milk. Most also lack the skill to develop a decent biscuit. That said, have you found a place that delivers the biscuits and gravy platter I must have?
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