Dropped into Short Stack last week. We have lived in Algonquin for a number of years, but never have been here. The food was great and the wait staff was on top of their game. We will definitely be going back. read more

Cute downtown breakfast stop. Can walk to from home. Good food i like the french toast. Pleasant spot.

This place was so good! My family and I sat at the bar due to the wait and it was nice. Great customer service! If you're looking for a latte or cappuccino of any sort, they won't have. They only have fresh brewed black coffee. I had their corn beef hash and it was so GOOD! Definitely enjoyed my meal here and will be here again! read more

Bella's Short Stack - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Algonquin, Illinois

I usually don't hand out five stars too easily but I thought this place was really great. I recently went with my husband who is a super breakfast snob and everything came out great. He had the "belt buster" and I had the strawberry crepes so two pretty different dishes and everything was great. Great coffee, good service, really good food. We're definitely happy to be going back to try other dishes. read more

This place is great. It's our new favorite. Our only regret is that we didn't find it sooner. The breakfast is consistently very good, and they have a large selection. Prices are very reasonable and the service is very good. Nothing to complain about here. Just good food in a cute little diner like setting. We'll be back and keep coming. read more

Just tried this place for the first time. Nothing fancy just good home cooked food at a good price.

First visit to Bella's Cute little breakfast restaurant . Basic menu and offer pan cakes in addition to potatoes . Fair prices. Good service read more

Bella's Short Stack - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Algonquin, Illinois

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Being on the road all the time, came here hoping for what would feel like a homemade breakfast. The staff was extremely nice and service was quick. Got the biscuits and gravy and a stack of pancakes with bacon. The biscuits tasted like canned biscuits that were baked at the beginning of the morning and the sausage gravy was a little bland, but ok. The pancakes were light and fluffy and really good. Bacon was cooked a bit too crunchy. It was clean and they seem to have a lot of regulars. read more

tried to go to the restraunt but the streets are blocked, can't visit a restraut if you can't get there! It would be nice if signs or something showed were or if you can park here.. Maybe try another time. read more

One of our favorite breakfast spots. The food is great and the staff is always friendly and energetic.

Great little gem in Downtown Algonquin. Warm and friendly employees and patriots. We sat at the bar breakfast area with warm guest greetings and conversation. Must visit! Good food! Good price! Will be back again. read more

Good food good prices. Service needs a little improvement but that's the server not the prep time. Scrambles are always a joy. It's our Sunday morning go to place to relax. I recommend it. read more

Discovered this awesome lil breakfast place today accidentally before an appointment in the area. It was fantastic. Fabulous food and wonderful service. Very reasonably priced too. We didn't have to wait for a seat at 11 am on a Sunday. Can't wait to go back. read more

Really sweet reasonably priced diner with home cooked food and awesome coffee. I love walking over and having some breakfast after a morning run. read more

First time visit with my boyfriend, celebrating 14 months together. Best breakfast in town and the food was amazing! Tried the short stack pancakes sooo good. We will definitely be back! read more

First time here...we loved it. Greeted so warmly. The skillet and other food were amazing. Loved our server. Reasonably priced and a quaint quiet setting. If you dine alone and read---you get a bookstand. Love it. read more

I had the pepper jack bacon omelette. It's ripped with avocado. This was Sichuan a great omelette. Not too much cheese, lots of bacon. I ate every bit of it read more

We were few times before and we really like this place. We usually come on Sunday and always is full tables of people. The prices are ok and The food is good and sample, traditional American food. Seems like they care about bringing good food there by offering sage free eggs from local farm - I really like the idea!!!! Definitely coming back:) read more

Imagine driving a couple hours due to the craptastic snow to get to a hotel for New Years Eve. Then the taxi service that you reserved to get to your friend's place fell through, so you bribe the hotel to have their shuttle service to take you just a couple miles outside their 5 mile radius. You have to listen to the guy complain the entire way, but you finally arrive to your smiling friends to ring in the New Year! At 4 AM your taxi service fails again! Luckily, you have fantabulous friends who are sober and drop you at your hotel on their way home! You have a late check out of 2PM... You make it out of there by 1:30 and you're exhausted! There is nothing open on New Years Day except fast food places, but you don't pass any on your way! Then you randomly see this diner! It's 15 minutes until they close at 2PM and they're totally fine with you coming in and messing up their totally clean floors and grill for breakfast to feed your New Year's empty belly! Yea, that was how we met Bella! Needless to say, we were already happy to get in outta the snow! Our server was so sweet and she sang as she worked! We were the only ones in the place, so we were in and out in about 30 minutes! Fine with us cuz we were starving! The boy had the Hungry Man's (or some other similarly named meal). He had a couple of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast. He's a growing boy and there wasn't one thing on his plate that he didn't love! I think his favorite was the hash browns! I ordered the country fried steak special. It came with a couple of eggs, hash browns, and biscuits. What a special! The breading on the steak was light and well seasoned. It's not often you get that perfect steak with a good breading! I loved it! I would say it's the best I've ever had! And I judge places on their gravy... This gravy was tops! The hash browns were the perfect blend of some crispy and soft potatoes. Everything was so good I wanted to devour it all! Instead I took some home for another great meal! read more

Bella's is my our go to breakfast place on the weekends. Very good prices and very good food. My usual is the Smoked Sausage and Eggs. Comes with hash browns or breakfast potatoes and toast or a short stack for $8.99. They are also kind enough to sub the short stack for a large piece of French toast. My husbands favorite is the Fiesta Skillet which is also delicious. Very spicy. The staff is friendly and the food comes out quickly. read more

I love this place. The food is excellent. The staff are friendly and polite. The decor is bright and inviting. This place is CLEAN. Read on for more details. Staff: When we arrived we were greeted with a smile and asked which of the available tables we would like. This is something that very rarely happens, as most restaurants have some sort of "round robin" approach to seating. Very nice touch. Decor/Cleanliness: The room is bright, well decorated, and very clean. Even the floors were clean, amazingly so. Food: There are many options on the menu, but I must admit my favorite is the stuffed French toast. This delight is filled with mascarpone cheese, which, when paired with the sweetness of the syrup and the excellent texture of the bread, provides a flavor palette that is varied, yet just somehow fits. The bacon was perfectly done and not greasy, the pancakes are just dense enough to have a good bite, and the eggs were cooked to the desired level. To top it off, the coffee is just plain gooooood. If you are in the Algonquin area, this is THE breakfast stop you must make. read more

I love Bella's! It is a cute and cozy little place with friendly staff. I wish we would have started coming here long ago...sometimes we forget about all that downtown Algonquin has to offer. My husband likes the denver omelette, but also mentioned that it could use some more cheese. I had the biscuits and gravy with eggs twice. Once with fresh fruit and the second time we went in, I ordered breakfast potatoes. This became too much food for me...but it was ooohhhhh so good! The breakfast potatoes are awesome! The fruit is also awesome! Everything actually tastes good and you get a lot of it. With other breakfast restaurants, you end up with bananas and grapes in the winter...but Bella's offered cantaloupe, musk melon, pineapple, grapes, and there might have been something else in there too, can't remember. I highly recommend Bella's...it's great to support small businesses especially when food, service, and atmosphere is so great! read more

This is our favorite local breakfast spot. We always upgrade to the farm fresh eggs. While everything on the menu is great, I think they have the most delicious fluffy pancakes. read more

Wonderful local breakfast place. Food is good, and servings are actually well proportioned. I think I have had almost everything on the menu always love the skillets. Never had a bad one. Service can sometime be slow - which is why they get the 4 star instead on 5. And it is a little annoying that that offer "better eggs" for $1.50 more. I mean. Either embrace the ear local or don't. But please do not try to fool me into thinking it costs that much more to get eggs from down the street. read more

What a great spot! My husband and I had a short 4 day visit in Algonquin and we ate here twice! Breakfast and Lunch were both delicious. We plan on visiting again and this place is on our "must go again" list! What a great spot! My husband and I had a short 4 day visit in Algonquin and we ate here twice! Breakfast and Lunch were both delicious. We plan on visiting again and this place is on our "must go again" list! read more

Tried this place with a girlfriend this morning. We have regular breakfast dates and are always looking for something new/special. We picked Bella's based off of reviews here on yelp and it truly lived up to the good reviews. The restaurant is much roomier than it looks from outside, but still has a cozy, old-fashioned feel with diner-style counter seating as well as regular tables. We had two of the day's specials - a meat lover's omelet and a Bacon PepperJack omelet. Both meals came with the option of breakfast potatoes or fries AND toast or pancakes. Wow. We opted instead for a cup of fruit on the side. The eggs were perfectly cooked and the sliced avocado on top of my omelet was the freshest and prettiest I've ever seen! Bacon was cooked perfectly and the fruit (melons, strawberries and pineapple) were fresh and sweet. As someone else mentioned, the coffee is fantastic. It was smooth, mellow and definitely didn't have those "sitting in the pot for an hour" overtones that you often get from other restaurants. The waitress was friendly and efficient and the overall vibe of Bella's was clean, charming and inviting. Definitely making this place a regular stop! read more

Very great food for a great price! I've been here multiple times with family and friends and haven't had a bad experience. Love the variety in the menu. I've enjoyed the country skillet, the house potatoes are fantastic. The servers are the sweetest people. Definitely one of my favorite spots to go to now. read more

I had the Belt Buster for a late lunch when my bicycle tire ran flat on a big bike ride. The food was good, the staff were wonderful! They welcomed me in when I arrived, and said bye as I left. They even filled up my waterbottle, top notch service :). Very well priced, as well, I'm used to the Chicago rate. I would happily recommend this shop. read more

My son and I have breakfast before school once a week. We've done this for years. Decided to slide on over to Bella's. No Turning back. Italian Benedict...unique and excellent. Denver Omelet...filling and perfected. We'll be back for sure. See you on Tuesdays. read more

Looking for a cute traditional diner, this was a great spot for breakfast on our way from the airport back up to Wisconsin. Service was friendly and very prompt, water and coffee always full and helpful with whatever you need. Menu had lots of good choices ranging from eggs Benedict and skillets to crepes and frittatas. read more

The food while decent is OK, nothing that will blow you away. Price wise, one gets bang for the buck. The only negative was the food took awhile to make it to our table. read more

We had a pretty nice experience overall, but just a few things keeping this from being 4 stars, although it's pretty close. First, like others have said, it's much larger inside than it would appear from the street. I love the bar area that they have, and was impressed by the number of seats there. I got the breakfast burrito, which was disappointingly bland. The hashbrowns were good, but my burrito didn't have a ton of flavor. I was hoping the home made salsa would help, but I found that kind of disappointing too. It wasn't really salsa as much as it was diced salsa ingredients without any moisture. And I didn't care for the salsa OR sour cream option, when the menu says "and." Definitely worth another visit, but probably to try something else on the menu. Judging by others' reviews, I should have ordered a skillet. Next time... read more

I liked the ambience of this restuarant from the outside seems like a little storefront dive in downtown Algonquin but upon walking in it is open and airy with even a old time diner breakfast bar. Pretty charming. The service was also very good and the food was excellent. I had the biscuits and gravy they were very good and the portion was really generous. The skillet my wife had was also good. I have only 2 critisms, first there could've been a little more and bigger pieces of sausage in the gravy and the other would be the bacon my brother-in-law got was over done. But I'll be back. read more

Went here for breakfast incredibly hung over. I couldn't make it thru my meal unfortunately, not that it was anyone's fault but my own. I order biscuits and gravy with 2 sunny side up eggs on the side. Food was great and so was our waitress. Prices were very fair. Lots of old people lingering around at 8am on a Saturday read more

Delish! I had the chorizo skillet. It was amazing. I would give the 5 stars but the waiting are is too tight. We also sat by the door and I wished I was wrapped in a blanket. Otherwise they really deserve a 5! read more

Decent little restaurant for breakfast. I am out for breakfast 2-3 times a week and was looking for a new spot. The food was good but I found the portions too small. Cons- We ordered an omelet and a skillet, both were good but smaller portions than most local breakfast restaurants We visit. Pros- Good food, Nice diner atmosphere with what appears to be family operated staff (very friendly). read more

Ever walk into some where sit down and feel like your at home relaxing. Because for you come here you will feel that. Also they have the best omelettes in the area, fresh hot and fluffy just they way they should be. Everything else on the menu is amazing as well. The service is amazing super friendly and speedy. Hands down best breakfast in the area. And the price is really good for the area and quality. You can tell love goes into this food. read more

I love this place, cozy, clean and inviting. It's very simple just like breakfast should be. All the meals fit on one side of the menu, the staff is friendly and has a homely diner feel to it. I get the Luke's special, chorizo, thick cut crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, pepper jack cheese and avocado. On a giant croissant roll. My opinion, it's the perfect combination of sweet, soft, crunchy and spicy all rolled into one. Of course that's a personal perspective. I have had the steak and eggs which is always a great choice at the right place. I will most certainly keep going here and invite all to try this hidden gem. read more

My husband and I love going to Bella's for breakfast! It's really cute and in the downtown area of Algonquin, so it's nice to go for breakfast and then go for a walk by the river afterwards. Their food is always really good and the employees are nice. Great decor- chalkboard behind the bar, brightly lit, and a toaster collection! My only complaint is that the wait can get a bit long on the weekend and there's not much room inside to stand. Overall a great little restaurant! read more

We LOVE this place. Cute little downtown and fun old toaster decorations. The staff really makes the place---especially Sal who clears the dishes and ensures your coffee is always topped off. A real family place. I went for the Señorita omellet with hash browns extra crispy. Be sure to ask for the homemade pico! read more