“This place has the best sausage. Have you ordered it? You need to order it. I come here just for that,” a customer tells me.
And another: “They pay such attention to detail here.”
This doesn’t usually happen, but at Alexander’s Cafe in St. Charles, with hometown son Nick Smith bringing the community “not a typical kind of breakfast and lunch place,” it does.
“We have slow-roasted pot roast, homemade meatloaf,” he said. “Not just sandwiches, salads and soup.”
Smith, a filmmaker who fills the restaurant’s website with tantalizing close-up shots of dishes such as huevos rancheros with slow cooked carnitas pork and ranchero salsa, possesses an eye for detail. He visits every table to say hello, blowing a farewell kiss to the roundtable of Thursday morning regulars, all retired elementary school teachers.
Smith married into the restaurant business after stints at pizza places in high school. His wife, Eleni, is the daughter of George Karas, who owns the Village Squire and Rookies restaurants.
Smith said he “felt a sense of movement to work with local vendors” like Ream’s Meat Market in Elburn and Oberweis Dairy in North Aurora. “Everything from milk to eggs.”
Except for the orange juice. “We have a machine to fresh-squeeze orange juice every day, and we get cases of oranges from Florida,” he said. “So they’re on a tree during the week.”
Smith purposely wanted to keep breakfast-place hours. “I always had a sharp focus for breakfast and lunch,” he said. “We want to take good care of the menu. No fish or steak, with a greater emphasis on items you might have as dishes for supper. Not dinner — supper. My grandma always called it ‘supper.’ “
On the menu: Hand-cut French toast, eggs Benedict, skillets, omelets, waffles and crepes for breakfast. Lunch offers comfort classics like fried chicken and biscuits, liver and onions, and Smith’s favorite meal, beef stroganoff.
About the owners: Nick and Eleni Smith opened Alexander’s Cafe in St. Charles as a sister eatery to its Elgin location in August 2016. “My wife had a baby that same week. … I would not recommend having a baby when you’re opening a new restaurant,” Nick Smith said.
Philosophy: “Make customers happy. If not, then know what’s wrong and fix it,” Smith said.
Decor: Urban and contemporary.
Specialties: Breakfast dishes and lunch dishes that are more like comfort food. “So if people want more of a supper, they can get it,” Smith said.
We’re different because: “Most bacon is smoked applewood or cherrywood, but our bacon is smoked in corn cobs,” Smith said.
Price range: Benedicts $9.79. Eggceptional specialties from $6.99. Healthy meals from $4.99. Omelets from $8.79. Skillets from $7.99. Waffles and crepes from $6.99. Pancakes and French toast from $6.99. Wraps from $8.99. Sandwiches, paninis and tacos from $8.99. Burgers from $9.49. Comfort classics from $9.99.
Logistics: St. Charles location: 1650 W. Main St. Hours are 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Call 630-549-0514. Elgin location: 1725 N. State St. Hours are 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Call 847-888-4146; www.alexanderscafe.com.
More Top Picks Best Chelsea Boots For Runners
Shonda Talerico Dudlicek is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.