It started off with a six-pack of the Beast at 7 p.m. But then you decided to play Beirut at your neighborhood frat house … and lost. But you aren’t a sore loser, so you shook it off and headed to a bar, where you saw that one kid from class and he bought you an Irish car bomb. Three whiskey sours later, the night gets fuzzy. All you know is it’s now 11 a.m. and you feel like you’re going to die.
Meet your savior, little hungover one. Cleveland’s Diner, located at 410 E. Wilson Street, is where headaches are cured, stomachs are filled and breakfast can be purchased with whatever money you’ve managed to keep in your wallet.
With menu items ranging from the “two eggs, bacon, toast, American fries” genre, to pancakes and breakfast sandwiches, Cleveland’s has something for any palette — whether you’re hung over or not. Oh, yeah — and nothing is over $5.50.
Cleveland’s opened as a diner in 1908 and has had a succession of owners ever since. Current owner Telly Fatsis bought the diner in 1993 and runs the business with his brother, Nico.
Nico says the uniqueness of the diner is based on its low-key, non-descript atmosphere. “You don’t need to put on your deodorant before you come here,” Nico says. “But it doesn’t hurt.”
So, did you have too much fun last night and can’t deal with making yourself breakfast? Nico recommends the egg and cheese sandwich with American fries (made with onions and seasoning salt) with a side of chocolate chip pancakes. That along with a good ol’-fashioned RC Cola will probably be enough to get you back in shape and practicing for that next game of Beirut.
