I was up in the northern suburbs of Chicago on my way to meet a new dealer early this year and I got a phone call from him. He said that he had to cancel our appointment - he was traveling out of the country in a couple of days and he found out the night before that his passport had expired. He needed to make arrangements in downtown Chicago to get a new passport and he wouldn't be available. I thought it was sort of a weird excuse, but I had to accept it. Faced with a void in my schedule for about 90 minutes, I decided to find someplace for breakfast. I did a quick search for a local place on my smart phone and found a restaurant by the name of Georgie V's. I punched in the address and went to Georgie V's in north suburban Northbrook.
Georgie V's is a typical Greek-family-owned restaurant, one of many similar restaurants you can find across the Chicagoland region. It has been in business since 1987 when George Vlahakis opened the doors to his restaurant located in a strip mall near the corner of Church St. and Shermer Road in Northbrook. (see map) George had worked in restaurants when he was growing up in his native Greece, but was pursuing a medical degree in the mid-80's. He was a week away from getting his degree in medicine when he abruptly quit to pursue his dream of owning his own restaurant. George opened his eponymous restaurant and never looked back.
George Vlahakis also helped his sons Peter and Ted get into the restaurant business as the family opened a restaurant not far from Georgie V's - Greek Feast. The family opened Greek Feast in 2011 and the emphasis is on Greek foods that George Vlahakis grew up with in Greece.
In 2015, George decided to retire and he ended up selling the restaurant to his friend and fellow Greek native Angelo Panagos. Panagos owned ice cream and gelato parlors in Athens before he and his family moved to the Chicago suburb of Glenview in 2012. Panagos got a job as the front of house manager at the Greek Islands in Lombard (click here to see the Road Tips entry on the Greek Islands) waiting for an opportunity to one day own his own place. When George Vlahakis approached Angelo about buying his place, Panagos jumped at the chance. Angelo Panagos, his wife Dina and their daughter Georgia took over Georgie V's in the summer of 2015.
It was a little after 9 a.m. when I got into Georgie V's. The place was about half-full so I was able to get in pretty easily. I took a seat in a booth long one of the walls in the restaurant. Dina Panagos is also a fifth-grade teacher at a local elementary school and framed art work from some of her students was hanging on the walls throughout the restaurant.
The menu at Georgie V's is heavily skewed toward breakfast with a few lunch items available, as well. It opens at 6:30 a.m. and closes around 2:30 p.m. daily. (7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.) Pancakes, omelets, waffles, French toast, skillet dishes and crepes are the main items on the menu with a number of soups, salads, sandwiches and wraps available for lunch time diners. The dizzying amount of breakfast items made me stop two or three times and change my mind.
I first thought about getting the blueberry crepes that came with both fresh blueberries and blueberry compote, but then I saw the challah bread French toast. I can't remember where I've had challah French toast, but I remember that it was delicious. I thought about getting an omelet because they had 8 different types of meats that you could add, a like number of different types of cheese, and a dozen fresh veggie options to choose from.
But then I got to the eggs Benedict part of the menu and I saw something that tripped my trigger - the Corned Beef Benny. It was two poached eggs covered with a chipotle béarnaise sauce seated on top of a bed of house-made corned beef and English muffin slices. Hash browns came on the side with the Corned Beef Benny. This was interesting and delicious all at once. The béarnaise sauce had a bit of a smoky bite to it, but it wasn't overpowering to the taste of the eggs and the wonderful corned beef. And the portion of corned beef I got with the poached eggs was generous, as well. It wasn't too much food, nor was I still hungry after I finished the breakfast.
Georgie V's is one of those places that has been in business for so long that I'm certain that about anything they have for breakfast would be delicious. I truly liked my Corned Beef Benny eggs Benedict breakfast. The service I received was good, and the restaurant was comfortable and friendly. Georgie V's is a great little breakfast place in the north suburbs of Chicago and one that I was glad that I found.
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