Write an article about Chicago Breakfast Restaurant, Edgebrook’s Newest Spot, Serves More Than Your Morning Meal .Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6), Retain any existing tags from
EDGEBROOK — After feeding Northwest Side neighbors for more than 40 years as a cook at local diners, Ernesto Mendoza has opened his own restaurant.
Mendoza, who worked at the former Big Top Diner in Jefferson Park and at Kappy’s American Grill in Morton Grove, opened Chicago Breakfast Restaurant, 5419 W. Devon Ave. in Edgebrook, two weeks ago.
Despite its name, Chicago Breakfast Restaurant also serves lunch and dinner. It’s open 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday and 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.
The restaurant’s vast menu includes bistec ranchero, a skirt steak topped with homemade spicy sauce and served with rice and beans; a steak and eggs skillet served on a bed of hash browns; a Denver omelet; banana pancakes; huevos rancheros; carne asada torta; and a seafood salad.
The menu is inspired by Mendoza’s time working at Big Top and his Mexican heritage, he said.
“A lot of times when you go to an American restaurant, they always have like one or two Mexican options [and] it’s never made the right way because they don’t have the right stuff to make it,” Mendoza said. “Our menu is truly half American and half Mexican. When I see someone at a table order chilaquiles and the other person order a spinach, mushroom and feta omelet, it makes me excited that they decided to go half and half.”
The new Edgebrook restaurant features classic diner favorites as well as traditional Mexican dishes. Credit: Provided/ Block Club Chicago
Mendoza grew up in Mexico, watching his grandmother cook dishes like enchiladas and pozole.
He started working at the Big Top Diner shortly after immigrating to Chicago when he was 14. He started as a dishwasher, then a busboy and eventually worked his way into the kitchen.
Mendoza spent 25 years at Big Top, which closed in 2019 after 43 years in business and was replaced last year by Sweet Cafe. While working as a cook at Big Top, Mendoza said he learned how to perfect all of the American diner classics.
After leaving Big Top in the early 2000s, Mendoza operated Los Cuates, a taco stand at 7301 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Niles, for 17 years. Most recently, he worked as a cook at Kappy’s.
Chicago Breakfast Restaurant as seen on June 26, 2025. Credit: Molly DeVore/ Block Club Chicago
Mendoza said he always dreamed of opening his own breakfast spot. About three months ago, the Belmont Cragin resident drove through Edgebrook’s business district and saw the available storefront on Devon Avenue.
Chicago Breakfast Restaurant has already drawn former customers from Big Top, Los Cuates and Kappy’s, Mendoza said.
“I think we found the perfect spot,” he said. “The people over here are really nice people.”
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