This Chicago Restaurant Serves your Food on a Train!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2024
- Are you in the Chicago area and are you looking for a fun place to eat! The Junction Diner in Forest Park, IL is just a short walk away from the CTA Blue Line. Inside, you'll find all sorts of cool train memorabilia. The best part? Your delicious diner-style food arrives to your seat on a miniature train!
Trains Are Awesome
The Junction Diner:
7401 Madison St
Forest Park IL 60130
www.thejunctiondiner.com/
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Our Instagram: / tra_channel
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:48 The Train-themed decorations
1:48 Food on a Train
3:18 Food Review
4:51 After Dinner
5:47 Final Recommendation - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
I have been watching your videos recently, I am in the Chicago area. There actually is multiple train themed restaurants in the Chicago area. 2 toots in Bartlett and glen ellyn Illinois. Then the all choo choo in Des Plaines Illinois.
I’ve been wanting to go to choo choo for a while now
I agree! I live in Mount Prospect and the Choo Choo Restaurant is a staple in Des Plaines. Definitely check them out!
Gee, I hoped that I would be the first to mention the Choo Choo.
I thought there were more. There's no way this one was open 30 years ago
There is also a Tyler’s Tender in Schererville
Thom, I want to give you the biggest hug. I was born in 1956 and raised in Los Angeles but my parents were from Chicago, as were all of my relatives. I was planning on leaving a long comment on your video about LA’s Union Station and your trip to San Bernardino on MetroLink and I probably still will. Do look for that because it relates to this comment.
After my dad died when I was only two years old, my mom would schlep my two older sisters and me to our annual summer trip to Chicago on the Santa Fe El Capitan. We would spend the summer at my grandparents’ house while visiting and playing with all of our cousins. I think I was about eight when we stopped going. My memories of those times remain a bit foggy but one memory has remained somewhat clear: that time we went to a restaurant that had a train that ran around a U-shaped counter and brought burgers and fries in plastic baskets mounted on flat cars.
When I clicked on the thumbnail, I was hopeful. Once the view of that U-shaped counter with the train track and the train with burgers and fries in plastic baskets mounted on flat cars appeared, I started crying. I’m still crying as I’m trying to finish writing this. By posting this video, you have rekindled a memory of a place I have long hoped to revisit but assumed could not possibly still be in business.
So again, thank you for sharing your birthday dinner experience with us and thank you for helping me find a little of my own history. And for that, please accept my virtual hug. You’ve made an old man very happy.
Now I’m crying! Thanks for sharing this heartfelt memory. I’m glad I could bring back some warm nostalgia. Come to Chicago and we’ll go here together, for the hug and a good burger.
Thom, thanks. Question: Please let me know if this is or is not the original restaurant that I remember. The website is kind of confusing. They’re making it sound as if that this was an original concept in 2012.
I remember going there when I was younger. There was also another diner I used to go to called Choo Choo Charlie's, but they since shut down
Ever since I loved trains as a child, these kind of restaurants surprised me before. I can enjoy a nice meal where the trains go all around and it was very entertaining. There were around in the outer suburbs although I kinda thought where’d they go over the years, but this type of restaurant will always be in my mind.
Europa Park in Germany, Alton Towers in the Midlands of England, and Wien Prater in Austria have a concept called the roller coaster restaurant where your food is sent in special containers-since some foods do actually go through a loop. Theme Park Worldwide did a POV of the one at Alton Towers so you can actually see what the food does
That’s insane, I am definitely looking up that video right now
Great video! You should make a video talking about the red line expansion if you haven't already!
I remember my dad taking me to one much like that in either Glen Ellyn or Wheaton when I was about 8…..70 years ago! It was 3-rail O scale rather than G. I also saw one just a few years ago in Wisconsin Dells.
Glad to bring up old memories!
Just a block from the Des Plaines Metra Station is the Choo Choo Restaurant, a fixture since 1951, where your meal is delivered by model trains.
there is also the Choo Choo Diner in Des Plaines, IL, not too far from O'Hare Airport.
Nice!!! I’ve been to Choo Choo Diner a couple times in Des Plaines, IL which is the exact same concept.
I have eaten at this place. As a huge train fan, I got a REAL KICK out of it!!!! There's also another train-themed restaurant in Springfield as well.
The Tim Traveller mentioned a Czech chain, with a branch in Vienna, which does something similar. Yo Sushi in the UK was a tiny bit like this during the pandemic, though no actual model trains; now it's gone back to the old ways.
Wonderful!!! Now you’ll have to try the Choo Choo in Des Plaines!!!
Very cool setup. I think if they raised the track higher so the waitress don't have to keep pushing the plates or stuffs away from the track.
There's one in Des Plaines called the Choo Choo it's great just tell them it's your birthday they'll blow the train whistle for you.
If you’re ever in Door County WI, check out PC Junction restaurant
Damn i want to revisit Chicago again
Well that looks pretty neat. I'll have to ask a couple people I know in Forest Park if they've ever heard of this place.
There’s a train themed restaurant in occonomowoc wi that was a Milwaukee road station but now is a restaurant with an ho scale layout inside
I do travel to Wisconsin quite a bit so perhaps if I pass through I’ll check it out
Congratulations on your birthday.🎂 Many healthy and happy years! 👍Great video.
i remember seeing things like this in a old magazine called life magazine and other publications . also many news reels showed them but the track and trains were 3 rail. looked like fun. there used to be a bar near where i live ,that had a train running around the celing.
Very nice ! Train news and restaurant reviews as well ! Good show !
A belated happy birthday to you ! What an amusing venue, and glad the food was good. How intriguing that the restaurant owner chose an Austrian diesel loco to haul the food delivery train ! Perhaps someone could present him with a fine model of a Union Pacific DDA - now that would impress everyone !
Glad I came across your channel, good stuff. I live right by there in Oak Park and I really enjoy watching all the trains around here
Yeah oak park that’s right by there!
I’m really enjoying your channel. Thank you for sharing your experiences 🙂
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it!
there used too be one in Downers GROVE ILL too on 75th west of Lamont rd ? All Aboard i think it was called
Aww!
This is so cute!
And what a cute backstory!
I enjoyed that video👍👍
That's awesome, Thom! I'm planning on Moving to NYC when I retire, but Chicago is so cool, too, and so inexpensive!
I love NYC
I have been to this diner and it’s so cool
I may have to pop in here the next time I’m in Chicago. I’m there quite a bit, and this would be something new (and fun) to try.
Keep up the great content Thom!
Thank you! I will!
I know there is a bar in Prague where they also have this, but I haven't visited it yet.
Just for your information: the locomotive of the food train is a type from Austria.
That looks cool!
Buffalo Phil’s has At Least 15 Trains Running at The Same Time.and Love it.
The Flapjack Express is a train I catch every weekend! ❤
I went there a year or so ago, loved the atmosphere and little kids enjoying themselves. There was another ice cream shop off of the Belmont stop that had cta seats in it, but it got taken over by a very obscene dessert bar that allowed kids to go in. I wish the ice cream shop was still there. I mean it kinda you do you with your business but it gave off bad energy when I went.
I remember the waffles that were in the Sundae stop. It was very off-putting.
I always went to snackville junction over in evergreen park not sure if it’s still there or not
Not to long ago, back in the late 70's in NYC, Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs had a indoor trolley car with the inside of the trolley looked like a real one This was located on 5th. Ave. and 58th. Street near Central Park. It was known as where the Posh Goes to Nosh!
You should try the 2 toots in Glen Ellyn if you ever ride the UP-W line because it is the same concept and it is right by the station
Named after the train or what you do after eating the food? Lol
Výtopna Restaurant, I believe there are several around Czechia and Austria(?), have a similar setup.
This is pretty much a conveyor belt restaurant, they have done this with Sushi for decades . It’s cool
I lived in Japan for 10 years so I know a thing or two about those
Whoa. I did not know about this. I'm a little older than the target demo, but this is my stomping grounds. I'll have to check it out. (FWIW, Mexican Republic across the street is one of my faves.)
Good to know!
There is a similar restaurant farther west in Glen Ellyn called Two Toots that is also kit themed but it also made a national list for its excellent food. I haven't been there yet but I'll have to try it and place in your video here.
Two Toots is a funny name too!
@@Thom-TRA the name is certainly tailored to kids, hence my reluctance to try it. I should go Shakespeare, say what's in a name, and try it. Yoyu video will inspire me.
Cool 😎
There used to be a restaurant in Seattle that had trains deliver food, I sure miss that restaurant
I remember that! On the south end of down town near the King St. station, perhaps? I ate there while stopping over in Seattle on an Amtrak trip in the mid-1970s or 80s, if memory serves.
Looks like you had a great evening out with Lindsey and your parents and what a great family atmosphere exists in this venue. I seem to remember a sushi train restaurant somewhere in Melbourne (Australia) but not sure if it is still in business given the chaos of recent years. Must check out more of your channel as time allows. Cheers from Michael.
I hope time allows for a lot 😂 I’ve always wanted to go to a sushi train restaurant
As a Chicagoan I must check this place out
Highly recommend!
Hi Thom! Great video and congrats on the 15K subscribers. When I was growing up on Long Island in the 1950's, there were a couple of places like the Junction Diner; one was called Hamburger Junction. They're long gone, but I still remember them 70 years later!
Thank you!
Restaurants like this have a certain charm, wouldn’t you agree?
@@Thom-TRA Absolutely!
Hamburger Choo Choo in Huntington, NY. Corner Main Street and New Street. 1950’s. Long gone. Favorite as a child.
Let us know if there are more train restaurants in the U.S. 🇺🇲 . . . Austin, Tx. 😏 🚂
good video!
We Sat in A booth where the Train Ran Beside us and we Just Picked it up and Started Eating God Blessed Buffalo Phill’s .
Check out Vytopne in Prague
A Restaraunt with Trains Running Rocks.
I've been to this place before
In a way you could describe this as the World's smallest, commercially operating railroad/railway. It has a genuine operational purpose of delivering perishable goods (food and drink orders) to customers!
That part where I believe your sister was about to grab that french fry the other girl stopped her so fast it wasn't even funny I was laughing my ass off the little girl mouth was wide open the other girl was not having it otherwise than that I love your videos thank you so much for having great videos on trains
There is a place called All Aboard Diner in Downers Grove I believe but it’s closed down permanently
@5:04 You're a little too big for those attractions, aren't you Thom? It was good to see you and your family enjoying the train themed restaurant.
I had this place once it’s decent but it’s been years
Check out the Choo Choo in Des Plaines.
The Tim Traveler mentioned this place during his video about a similarly themed restaurant in Vienna: th-cam.com/video/rPyIsJfk4zw/w-d-xo.html
This specific restaurant? I’ll have to take a look
I see it now. That’s so cool!
One of those trains needs a car that shoots little pickles.
I second that
Sorry you’re all right. It is not in Arizona is in the Chicago. Sorry about that.
You look like Macaulay Culkin
I don’t think I do
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Does the waitress get a 20% tip for lifting the food off the train in front of you?
She was a great waitress, had to put up with a lot. Idk what we tipped her, I’m not a big proponent of tipping culture tbh.
Great video !!!!!!
Thanks!
We went to a train restaurant on Chicago south side just like that when I was a kid. We loved it.
Cool 😎
Highly recommend!