Stopped by 2/12/2026. Employees were very friendly. Place was clean. Good salad bar. Great food…read more Couldn't eat all of the food cause of the large proportions. Nice little quiet place. We made sure the cook got a tip also. Will definitely be going back.

Today was my first time dining here and I'm so glad that we chose Five Brothers! Everything that we…read morehad was exceptional and our waitress was so sweet. I had the Lasagna and my friend had the fettuccini. We also had the salad bar and the soups. I wish that I wasn't so full and would have gotten some deserts because they looked delicious. I'm so glad that we found this place and will definitely be back!

Brought our grands for dinner passing through and they really enjoyed it. They especially loved the…read morepie! The staff are always very sweet and make sure we have everything we need. Tonight my chicken was overcooked and very dry. The waitress offered to make fresh and when I said no thanks she took it off of our ticket. We stop often as it is the half way mark when traveling to see or pick up or grandkids. We will definitely be back.

Thank you so much for accommodating our family dinner of 30. The service, food and restaurant were…read moreamazing. Kim had us set up when we got there, the drinks were never empty and the food came quickly. Thanks again to Kim and all the hard working staff that did such a great job today!

This is a wonderful little place. The food is great and service friendly. I can recommend the…read more"Jo's one egg omelette".

Very good food in a quaint little diner off the highway. We had the bacon double smashburger and…read morechicken sandwich and both were excellent. Homemade chips and dip were good and preferred over the fries. Lovely waitress. Reasonable prices. Don't forget to get some cinnamon rolls to go if they aren't sold out.

The Chuckwagon Cafe is a cozy family diner at Vandalia IL. We are fortunate to pass by on our road…read moretrip from St Louis. Breakfast options are plentiful and very reasonable in price. The waitress recommended both Greek omelette and the Western omelette. We ordered Greek omelette ($12.99) , with additional green peppers ($0.75) and mushrooms ($1). The portion is generous, sufficient for two persons. Coffee ($2.75) was okay to do the job. This is a homey spot to start your day. I'd recommend this for eggs and omelette!

The Chuckwagon has very cute decor and is very inviting. It was such a surprise to seat yourself…read more Our server had just started her shift and was very friendly. I had a Ham, cheese and mushroom omelette which was really good, a biscuit and some yummy home fried potatoes. My husband got a skillet that he really liked. Their coffee was also really good.

When people ask why I Yelp, places like this are the answer. Without Yelp, there's zero chance I…read morewould have eaten here, and yet it turned out to be a fantastic option as we were driving down I-70 towards St. Louis. We were headed to the airport and I searched for a 'diner like' place just off the interstate around an hour away. I came across Powhatan, and while the outside didn't look like much in the photos, the food looked great and the reviews were excellent. I bookmarked it, and sure enough it didn't disappoint. The outside is a basic restaurant attached to a hotel/motel. Think side of the road bare bones motel. Honestly, if I hadn't read the reviews I would have just kept on driving. Inside was very nice - not fancy but very bright, clean and welcoming. There was also a small slot machine area off to the side if that's your thing. I ordered the Pocahontas Pride, which was chicken friend steak, two eggs, hash brown casserole (I opted for plain hash browns) buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy. I think it was $15. And it was enough food for two people easily. Very good, and very filling. My daughter ordered boneless wings (I tried a couple since there was too much food for her) and she and I both loved them. I'm normally hesitant to order wings outside of my normal places, but she will order them anywhere and she gave them great praise. She also added 1/2 order of onion rings which were both great and ample - I thought they actually got the order wrong there were so many. Wife wasn't feeling well, so she ordered a simple order of hash browns and liked them. All in all, a great experience for a quick stop during a long drive. Again, without reading the reviews in advance, I doubt I would have ended up at Powhatan. But I'm glad I did!

We make this drive from St Louis every couple of months. Their breakfasts are huge!…read more They have quite a large selection of breakfast meals, as well as lunch and dinner. Their service is always perfect! Servers are attentive, and the food comes out quickly. It's an older restaurant, and the interior is rustic charm! It's probably better for our waistlines that they aren't closer! Check them out! You can play slots after your meal! Look for the photo of Pocahontas local Gretchen Wilson on the wall!

Food was great. I got the brisket - delicious but MAN those waffle fries with the butter rub sauce…read moreor whatever it was. GET THEM!!! My son loved his burger. Their fries were too! Service was great. Sports bar but families wwre around also and chill area for low top tables. Lots of TVs! Lots of parking!

Effingham was our first stop on a road trip to San Antonio. We pulled in medium late but full…read morehungry. Scanning the food places we picked this because it seemed to have decent ratings and a lot of reviews. Plus, you get go wrong with good ol' American cuisine. The first kind of hiccup is that they must have recently moved building. Though they moved right next to their existing building, there was no signage and we had to rely on our own eyeballs. Which almost led us into the wrong building. Not a bid deal, realistically, but it threw us for a loop. Getting inside, it was super clean. Long bar, plenty of tables, modern, many tvs for many sports. Plus, the building itself seemed rather large. A chonker of a building, if you ask me. Our hostess brought us into what seemed like the back 40 of the building and seated us next to a garage door that overlooked a cement pad that will one day be a cement pad with things on it. Not even mad. Saw a train. Here's the money shot. Have you ever been happy adjacent? Have you ever been right up to the edge, the precipice, the peak, then turn around and leave? That was kind of the ideal feeling here. The ambiance and service and general-ness of the entire place was spot on. The food itself looked top-tier. But it felt a click away from perfection. Let's look into it. As a hefty man (fat, not the garbage bag brand), I'm a man of appetizers. Also of wings. Therefore, sign me up for 12 bone in wings for an app. Split into three flavors: Carolina BBQ, Buffalo, and regular BBQ. They came out looking and smelling delicious. The sauce flavors hit hard. But I was a little let down with the dryness of the wings. I know sometimes it can be difficult to knock a wing out of the park because those damn things just want to get crispy. But I don't want to fight chewing the meat off the bone. It felt like a battle me and my mush mouth would lose. Now, from what I understood, all sides were a la cart. Color me fine with that, fatty will order anyways. Especially since I saw they offered street corn AND hushpuppies. So naturally, that's what I ordered. The hushpuppies came out and were the round kind. Which I am no stranger to. They had good flavor, good done-ness, but missed the mark on the size. If they were hush people, they would have been premies. A little sad they didn't get to experience their full potential. Now, for this part I will say I was forewarned. My server did mention the street corn came in a bowl and was served cold. I thought I was better than somebody who judged street corn by its temperature. I was wrong. It did come cold. And because of that, it was not tasty. Missed the mark completely. I did get a bonus side, your typical, run of the mill French fry. They came out and looked great. Meadiu

Went yesterday evening after dinner. We had salad so felt "entitled". This is a unique place. We…read moreboth got softe serve cones, although there is quite the menu. I am sure we will be back over the years to try other things. The young lady working the window was a delight, bright, friendly and a good ambassador for the place. There are "oddities" all over the lot. I suspect it was quite the back in the hey dey of route 66. It all looks a bit weather-beaten and a little sad right now. Perhaps that is the charm.

Finally lunch time matched up to passing this diner on our trip from Wisconsin to Texas. This was a…read morefun place to stretch our legs on our road trip. We stopped by the candy store and dinner. My favorite part was the jukebox in the dinner and playing Walk Like an Egyptian. I had the cheeseburger basket which was good. My husband had the Philly cheesesteak and loved it and the kids split a corn dog basket. Next time we will have to get an ice cream too. Awesome service from our waitress.

Catfish heaven!!! This restaurant on Route 66 is the best spot for local food and clearly popular…read moregiven the totally full parking lot. Friendly midwestern waitress big salad bar definite destination!!

Entering The Ariston Cafe is a trip back to an earlier time. The entire decor is vintage and it is…read morewell maintained. It's a simple cafe with delicious food and it's served as if it is a white linen restaurant. Yep, all tables have white linen tablecloths and napkins. All the wait staff are wearing black slacks, white shirts with black ties and looking mighty fine. I happened to be visiting on a Sunday during Brunch hours. I'm typically not a buffet kinda guy, but I was today. I thought by doing the buffet, I'd be able to experience many of their different menu items all in my initial visit. After saying I wanted the buffet, my server brought me a clear chilled plate for the salad and soup bar, which was included with the buffet. She also gave me a warm dinner plate for the buffet line. As I dined, she checked with me and when needed she gave me a clean plate for my next trip through the line. The variety of foods were impressive. They had a section with all the typical breakfast foods; scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits & gravy and potatoes. It all looked good, but I focused on lunch items. My first trip through the line was, a HUGE fried chicken breast, green beans and mashed potatoes with white gravy. It was some of the best chicken I have had in a while. The seasoning was great, it was super crispy and crunchy and the meat was juicy. Their green beans were made from scratch with bacon and onions. The salt and pepper seasoning was just enough flavor. Then real mashed potatoes and a true country white gravy. I was satisfied with that plate alone, but went back to try more. Second trip I had Mostaccioli that tasted as if an Italian grandma had made it. It was super cheesy and the right amount of Italian seasoning. Then I had a couple Catfish Nuggets, General Tso's Nuggets, Mac-n-Cheese and Roast Beef. I was getting so full, I didn't even get anything from the soup and salad bar. I was seated close, so I did take a peak and it had a good variety of offerings. I'll be sure to try it on my next visit. My server was stellar. She was very attentive and friendly. I liked that the entire staff were dressed as if they were in a 50's diner or perhaps an upscale restaurant being the black & white. It's the Centennial Celebration of Route 66 this year. That should give you reason to go eat at the oldest restaurant on Route 66, which is The Ariston.

Main Street diner great food. Home cooking at it's best. Very very friendly staff…read more My favorite