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lockportlegend.com dining out<br />
the Lockport Legend | January 24, 2019 | 19<br />
The Dish<br />
Ever-evolving menu keeps EggCetera Cafe fresh<br />
Mokena breakfast, lunch<br />
spot thrives on customer<br />
service<br />
Thomas Czaja, Contributing Editor<br />
EggCetera Cafe opened its doors<br />
to the Mokena community at its first<br />
location downtown in 2003 before<br />
adding its second spot in 2010.<br />
Since then, the business has become<br />
known for its breakfast and<br />
lunch selections, offering fresh<br />
ingredients in comforting meals<br />
at two cozy spots where friends<br />
and family can gather. To reward<br />
its loyal nucleus of patrons, Egg-<br />
Cetera introduced a rewards program<br />
early last summer.<br />
“It’s fantastic,” owner Dino Bastas,<br />
a Mokena resident for nearly<br />
22 years, said of the program,<br />
which allows diners to rack up<br />
points for every dollar spent to get<br />
various discounts, deals and freebies.<br />
“We have some customers<br />
coming in here every day. Why not<br />
reward them?”<br />
Those interested can search Egg-<br />
Cetera Cafe in the Apple App Store<br />
or Google Play Store to download<br />
an app to sign-up for the program,<br />
or do so at the restaurant and receive<br />
a rewards card.<br />
But a bigger part of what makes<br />
EggCetera a continued success<br />
may be the customer service. Customers<br />
who frequent the business<br />
might find that their usual server or<br />
servers come to know their order,<br />
and a sense of familiarity established,<br />
Bastas explained.<br />
“These regular folks come in;<br />
their order is already in there,”<br />
Bastas said. “Sometimes, the cooks<br />
will peek through and start something<br />
[for regulars].”<br />
Those who have been to Egg-<br />
Cetera on numerous occasions<br />
know it has a diverse menu that is<br />
occasionally tweaked. A rotating<br />
specials menu also is available.<br />
For breakfast, one of the more<br />
recent menu entries is the triple<br />
berry stuffed French toast ($9.49),<br />
which Bastas said has strawberry<br />
EggCetera Cafe<br />
• 10120 191st St.<br />
• 19709 Mokena Street<br />
191st Street Hours<br />
• 6 a.m.-3 p.m. daily<br />
Mokena Street Hours<br />
• 5:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-<br />
Friday<br />
• 6 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday-<br />
Sunday<br />
For more information ...<br />
Web: www.eggcet.com<br />
Phone: (708) 478-0070 (191st<br />
Street), (708) 478-6051<br />
(Mokena Street)<br />
cream cheese in the middle, with<br />
blueberries, raspberries and strawberries<br />
piled on top.<br />
Regardless of the breakfast or<br />
lunch selection, the owner looks to<br />
make sure to use fresh ingredients,<br />
while still making a quick product.<br />
“It’s real vegetables, nothing out<br />
of a can,” Bastas said. “That’s the<br />
biggest thing. As much fresh vegetables<br />
and fresh ingredients as<br />
possible that have been processed<br />
the least.<br />
“That’s the key: trying to get<br />
people a healthier option.”<br />
For those looking for something<br />
filling, the biscuits and sausage<br />
gravy ($8.69) are a big hit for the<br />
breakfast folks, with buttermilk<br />
biscuits cut in half and smothered<br />
in a thick, homemade pork sausage<br />
gravy, topped with two eggs.<br />
In addition to the triple egg skillets,<br />
egg-ceptional omelettes, pancakes,<br />
crepes, French toast, waffles<br />
and scramblers, the business offers<br />
a variety of melts, wraps, a homemade<br />
soup of the day, 100 percent<br />
certified Angus beef burgers, salads<br />
and a sandwich grill for the<br />
lunch crowd.<br />
Under lunch, the chicken Philly<br />
($9.49) — containing a grilled<br />
chicken breast, topped with sauteed<br />
onion, pepper and mushroom,<br />
smothered with mozzarella cheese,<br />
on French bread — is a big draw.<br />
“A couple of my cooks play<br />
around, and we talk,” Bastas said<br />
The red velvet pancakes ($8.99 on their own) are a seasonal special available through Valentine’s Day that<br />
are topped with a homemade cream cheese icing and can have raspberries and chocolate chips added for $2.<br />
Thomas Czaja/22nd Century Media<br />
“You can get food anywhere. There’s more eateries now than ever<br />
before. What differentiates us from all other eateries is the staff,<br />
the customer service. Good food tastes great with good service.”<br />
Dino Bastas — EggCetera Cafe owner<br />
of how they tweak the menu. “I’ll<br />
look to put something new on, and<br />
we’ll work together.”<br />
Of course, the specials always<br />
include some seasonal tweaks. The<br />
current specials are slated to run<br />
through Valentine’s Day, according<br />
to Bastas. Those include the hearty<br />
and heartfelt red velvet pancake<br />
breakfast — $10.99 as part of a<br />
meal that has two eggs, two strips<br />
of bacon or sausage links, hash<br />
browns and a short stack of Egg-<br />
Cetera’s red velvet pancakes.<br />
In the fall, pumpkin pancakes<br />
continue as a special through the<br />
holiday season. After Thanksgiving<br />
and through the holidays, gingerbread<br />
pancakes also find a place<br />
among the special. After the red<br />
velvets complete their run, carrot<br />
cake pancakes grace the specials<br />
through Easter.<br />
“People just want something different,”<br />
Bastas said.<br />
Corporate catering also helps<br />
the business, especially during the<br />
winter months. And Bastas said approximately<br />
95 percent of their catering<br />
is to businesses in town and<br />
other surrounding communities.<br />
And with a resurgent economy and<br />
businesses steadily popping up in<br />
the area, Bastas expects that catering<br />
part of EggCetera to grow.<br />
“We are here to stay,” Bastas<br />
said. “I tell people all the time: You<br />
can get food anywhere. There’s<br />
more eateries now than ever before.<br />
What differentiates us from<br />
all other eateries is the staff, the<br />
customer service.<br />
“Good food tastes great with<br />
good service. That’s what we are<br />
working on.”