KEWANEE, Illinois -- Breakfast is on the grill at "The Station" in Kewanee, Illinois. It's a new restaurant that opened in November, 2018.
"You come in as our guest, owner Rita Speck said. "But, you leave as our friend. That's our motto."
The restaurant sits right next to the train tracks.
"It's been tradition with the trains coming here," Speck said.
The home style cooking and train views brought Tracey Parlier and her family in from Galesburg, Illinois. But, the Parlier family didn't drive the hour distance. They rode "The Breakfast Train."
"We kinda just thought it would be fun for them to both do," Parlier said.
"The Breakfast Train is a $10 round trip train ride from Galesburg to Kewanee, where you can stop at the restaurant to eat.
You've got about two hours to eat and explore town before it is time to hop back on the train and go home.
"We see a lot of families who hop off the train, eat their breakfast, and enjoy their walk around town, then get right back on," Speck said.
"It was really relaxing and inexpensive," Parlier said. "That's the big seller with us."
But, for the Parlier family, it was more than breakfast. Their daughter Lily suffers from a disease that impacts on and 11,000 babies.
"Our lives revolve around doctors and hospitals for Lily," Parlier said. "She has Muscular Atrophy type 2. It's a form of muscular dystrophy."
Lily has been hospitalized three times in the last month, so Saturday morning pancakes were exactly what this family needed.
"It was fantastic," Parlier said. "She loved the train. They liked looking out the window and having to go fast."
"When i'm outside and I see the trains coming, I always wave," Speck said, "I don;t even know who they are "
"The food is fabulous," restaurant visitor Michelle Smith said. "Once we came here, we just couldn't stop.
The Station restaraunt is open every day and also serves lunch and dinner.
Click here for more information on The Breakfast Train stops and cost.
July 12th & 13th, 2019, Kewanee will be hosting it's Prairie Chicken Chalk Art Festival with events going on all weekend.
