Joliet Restaurant Adds Dinner Menu, Big Apple Now Open For Dinner

JOLIET ? Once known as The Family Table Restaurant, Big Apple Cafe has existed in Joliet at 106 N. Larkin Ave. since 2008, and this month marks one of the biggest changes ever inside the restaurant, one that it's owners say resulted from customer feedback.

Starting on Oct. 29, Big Apple Cafe announced it was now staying open for dinner, five days a week. Big Apple Cafe's dinners hours are now from 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Big Apple remains open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The dinner menu at Big Apple offers a wide array of comfort food and home cooking, according to Luis Garcia Jr., who co-owns Big Apple along with his father.

"We got a lot of requests from customers. They wanted somewhere open for dinner that wasn't a chain," Garcia told Joliet Patch at Tuesday's interview. "Why not give it a go?"

Until now, Big Apple only stayed open for breakfast and lunch. Now, customers can also visit for dinner, five of the seven days a week.

The dinner menu includes the meatloaf dinner, described as a "hearty portion of our homemade meatloaf." Customers can also order the pot roast, which is served with potato and carrots. Another option are the pork chops.

Big Apple also offers liver and onion, plus a hot beef sandwich, a hot pork tenderloin sandwich and there's a roast turkey dinner.

For dinner, customers can also order fish, pastas, steaks and burgers, as well as breakfast.

"We have them for lunch, and they're popular for dinner," Garcia said of the Big Apple burgers.

He said the pot roast and the meat loaf dinner are two of the most popular dinner selections since the new dinner menu was unveiled.

"A traditional meat loaf or a pot roast is getting lost. It's hard to find those," Garcia said.

In addition to having other restaurants in Shorewood and Romeoville, the Garcias now own the Big Apple Cafe in Plainfield on Route 59, formerly known as The Blueberry Cafe. The Plainfield restaurant remains open just for breakfast and lunch, not for dinner yet.

"As of right now, this is our guinea pig," Garcia said of Joliet's restaurant. "We want to get it running smoothly so we can send over the concept."

Garcia said that Big Apple's Joliet restaurant is gaining more business as a result of the expanded hours and the new dinner menu options.

"We are seeing an increase," he remarked. "They missed the whole family restaurant atmosphere for dinner. We're trying to fill that void as best we can. We're always improving, looking to improve and add specials."

In the coming months, The Big Apple Cafe in Joliet plans to expand the dinner offerings to include meatball sandwiches, panini, chicken Parmesan and, Garcia said, "we want to bring in ribs."

Located across the street from the Tony's Fresh Market, the phone number for Big Apple is 815-630-5738. The website is www.bigapplecafes.com.