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Denny's #1164 Aurora, Illinois 6 March 1999 2:40pm CST 4300 Fox Valley Center Dr. at Fox Valley Mall (630) 851-3063

• Attendees: P7A77, Amie
• Wait-person(s): Lalo
• What we ate: P7A77 - Garden Fresh Skillet, Coke; Amie - Sunshine Slam, Water
• First things first. This has to be done. I really have no choice in the matter.
• Wayne's World! Wayne's World! Party Time! Excellent!
• Ahem. Sorry 'bout that. It was a weak moment. The frequency of Wayne's World comments during this trip was second only to the number of times I complained about the cold. It was cold. Really really cold. I'm not kidding. It was 85 degrees in Tucson when I left home. It was significantly less warm in the greater Chicacoland area. How less warm, do you ask? There was SNOW on the ground. SNOW! I'm tellin' ya! I hate snow! I moved to Tucson to AVOID the snow! On top of the snow and cold, the entrance to this Denny's is pretty difficult to find for a first-time visitor. You think you're going to the entrance, but no. You discover only too late that you missed it and now have to go around the corner and enter the mall parking lot and eventually weave your way back. For those who plan on visiting, just look for "Entrance #6".
• On a brighter side, my dismay at the utter lack of warmth was eventually pushed to the backside by the joy and goodness that greeted me when I opened up the menu. My absolute favorite discontinued menu item was no longer discontinued. It even brought reinforcements. That's right, the Garden Fresh Skillet is back! And so are a whole shitload of other skillets! For my money, you can't get a better breakfast than the Garden Fresh Skillet. Well, maybe the Ultimate Omelette. Or the Moons Over My Hammy. But the Garden Fresh Skillet definitely ranks right up there.
• Amie, who has become increasingly unappetized by meat products, opted for what is a relatively newer addition to the Denny's Menu, the Sunshine Slam. Or, as I like to refer to it, the Stinking Unwashed Hippie Slam. For those who don't know, Denny's offers the Grand Slam breakfast at a low price during certain hours of the day, but they don't allow substitutions, so those who don't like meat were forced to spend more. So they came up with the Sunshine Slam, which is the same as the Grand Slam, except you can get hashbrowns or fruit instead of the charred pig flesh.
• I've been finding WAYs more difficult to spot in recent years. Maybe it's just a Midwest phenomenon. The result is that my criteria are becoming more lax. Lalo (our waiter) sort of fit the bill this time as far as appearance was concerned. But at one time during our meal, he walked up, took away our salt and pepper without a word, and left. Later he returned them (presumably freshly filled), also without a word. His somewhat odd way of going about this earned him special recognition.
• WAY: Lalo (sort of)
• Free Stuff: Coffee Insert (stolen)

Denny's #6714 Aurora, Illinois 8 March 1999 2:30pm CST 412 S. Lincoln Parkway, 1/2 mile south on I-88 (708) 906-6925

• Attendees: P7A77, Amie
• Wait-person(s): Tracey
• What we ate: P7A77 - Country Slam, Eggs Overeasy, Coke; Amie - All American Slam, All Sausage, Water
• Don't believe the Travel Guide. This Denny's is not right off of I-88. Plus, the phone number didn't seem to work. We had to call the other Denny's in Aurora to get directions to this one. Of course, the people there said that there was no such street as Lincoln Parkway, so they gave us directions based on landmarks and other roads. (By the way, there was a Lincoln Parkway, and the Denny's was right on it.) We ended up making a few turnarounds on the highway, and we ran out of loose change, so we ended up busting through a few toll booths. Breakin' the law! If any Illinois Troopers are reading this, I'm really sorry! I just didn't have any money! Please don't arrest me!
• The part that made this whole thing really fun was that Amie had bought a big bottle of something called "Water Joe" that morning. She had been feeling on edge most of the afternoon, and wasn't sure why. Then we read the label on the Water Joe. It's caffeinated. Caffeinated water. She just thought that it was a brand name put out by a guy named Joe. The end result is that she had consumed the equivalent of eight cups of coffee in a three hour time span. Needless to say, once we discovered this, I did all the driving. I also refused to allow Amie to order her usual Coke with her meal. Only decaf water for her.
• Amie had wanted to substitute grits for the meat on the all-american slam, but they didn't have grits, so she just ordered all sausage. Of course, it arrived with the usual mix of sausage and bacon. My Country Slam (or, as I like to think of it, the Heart-Stoppin' Slam) was tasty all around. The eggs were not runny at all, and finally some sausage gravy! Woohoo!
• WAY: undetermined
• Free Stuff: All Dogs counter display (stolen)

Denny's #1295 Collinsville, Illinois 17-Mar-96, 2:50pm CST 522 Ramada Blvd, I-55/70 at Rt. 157 (618) 345-8995

• Attendees: P7A77, Amie
• Wait-person(s): Undetermined
• What we ate: Water
• This is a pretty slick-lookin' Denny's, what with the neon lighting in the inside and all. It had a certain "diner" feel to it. Additionally, it had a Baskin' Robbin's inside. The waitress was quite feisty. When I asked for water, she asked me if I wated ice in that, because "we charge for ice". Also, when I asked where we were so that I could check it off in my travel directory, she said "You're at Denny's". We were able to get the upper hand with her, though, once we explained why we were there and what we were doing. After that, the wait-staff in general seemed pretty flipped out by us. The manager was quite friendly and helpful, though. As we were sipping our water, we happened to chat with the gentleman sitting next to us at the counter. He told us that he had met his wife at this Denny's fifteen years previous. Ain't that sweet?
• WAY: Yes (Steve - works dishes)
• Free Stuff: Dessert Promotional Menu Insert

Denny's #0168 Effingham, Illinois 17-Mar-96, 1:15pm CST 1307 N. Keller Dr., I-57 exit 159 (217) 342-4543

• Attendees: P7A77, Amie
• Wait-person(s): Chris
• What we ate: Coffee
• The Terre Haute Denny's had helped me adjust to the time difference, and this Denny's finished it off. This was perhaps the wackiest Denny's from this trip. Not only did they have a Weird Al working for them, but he was a manager, and he was there at the time. I even got a picture with him. The waitresses told us that they like to call each other "goon", and Kevin, the manager, was the high goon ("Heil the High Goon"). Kevin was so cool, in fact, that he gave us a free name tag without us even having to ask for anything. The cook, however, seemed to be just generally annoyed by us, and kept throwing us dirty looks.
• WAY: Yes (Kevin, the High Goon)
• Free Stuff: Denny's Balloon, "Trainee" Name Tag

Denny's #0717 Glen Ellyn, Illinois 6 March 1999 3:40pm CST 750 E. Roosevelt Rd., 1/2 mi. west on I-355, exit Roosevelt (630) 469-3080

• Attendees: P7A77 - Keylime Pie, Water; Amie - Coffee
• Wait-person(s): Jamie
• What we ate: P7A77 & Amie - Keylime Pie
• We sat at the counter and I spotted a label in the pie rack for strawberry rhubarb. Yay! Alas, the labels lie. They didn't have it. So I ordered keylime. Still good, but not as good as strawberry rhubarb, which I've actually never seen served in Denny's. Must've been discontinued ages ago. If this is the case, it's my opinion that it, like the Garden Fresh Skillet before it, should be brought back.
• We thought Jamie would be kind of cool and fun, but it turned out he was a bit on the slow side. Oh, well. On the good side, when we asked if there was an employee who looked like WAY, Jamie just said, "Oh, Dwayne?"
• The manager seemed a bit lethargic, and in retrospect, I think it might have been Manager Lee. Those who know this Denny's should know what I mean.
• I should perhaps take the extra space in this brief review to mention that Amie was in Aurora on business and I flew in to visit. Our initial plan was to spend the weekend in Chicago visiting various architectural sites, but the both of us had hell-awful weeks at our respective jobs, so we ended up sleeping most of the day and not even getting within the city limits until it was dark. We weren't really feeling in a Project:Denny's sort of mood anyway. I blame the snow.
• WAY: Dwayne
• Free Stuff: Harlem Globetrotters Adventure Pack

Denny's #1561 Harwood Heights, Illinois 3 October 2002 5:07pm CDT 4609 N. Harlem Ave. (708) 457-1010

• Attendees: P7A77, Amie, Michael, Wellsie, Lindee
• Wait-person(s): James
• What we ate: P7A77: Ultimate Omelette; Amie: Moons Over My Hammy; Michael: Breakfast Dagwood w/ Seasoned Fries; Wellsie: Breakfast Dagwood; Lindee: Veggie Cheese Omelette
• On down to Illinois, where the state trees are plentiful and annoying. Our friend Michael was kind enough to let us crash in his Chicagoland house and eat all his food. After we emptied his fridge, it was off to Denny's. No surprise there, considering you're reading the entry for it.
• As we sat sat anxiously awaiting our food, Wellsie regaled us with descriptors of the leftovers from her previous relationship, at the time occupying the back of her car. Feeling the need to preserve it for the ages, she wrote us a lovely little poem to commemorate the occasion. As a picture is worth a thousand (or, in this case, nineteen) words, I snapped a shot of the aforementioned sporting accessory. Ensuring nobody would forget the events that seemed so amusing at the time but lose a bit in translation, there's also a photo of me taking the photo. Now I need a photo of somebody looking at the photo of me taking the photo, and then time and space will collapse upon itself.
• Oh yeah, on the way out of town, we stopped by the Frank Lloyd Wright studio in Oak Park. It was raining. Of course.
• WAY: No
• Free Stuff: timeless poetry

Denny's #2029 Melrose Park, Illinois 6 March 1999 4:50pm CST 8349 W. North Ave., across from Maywood Race Track (708) 450-0026

• Attendees: P7A77, Amie
• Wait-person(s): Alma
• What we ate: P7A77 - Hot Chocolate; Amie - Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• We were seated in the very back of this entirely empty Denny 's (see photo). Most of the people with whom we interacted during the entire trip were extremely mellow. Alma was no exception. Our order was "no problem" for her. When she brought our orders, she put them on the table very slowly. I think she was on ether.
• As I was sitting in the middle of all the inactivity, I realized what a moron I was for not reading my own Viewer Entry reviews for the various Chicagoland Denny's that are here at this very site. If I had, I would have at least been looking out for various features and people. I'll try to do better in the future. I'm a bit out of practice.
• Back to our purpose in Chicago, in addition to the college friends, Amie and I were also going to meet other friends of ours in the area, and as it turned out, they lived in the same area. Within walking distance, even. That night we ended up going to some crappy Greek restaurant. Actually, the restaurant probably wasn't that bad, but I ordered the Greek nachos, which really weren't what I expected. I expected them to be drastically different from Mexican nachos, but even still, they weren't what I expected. Oh, well.
• WAY: The Manager! (a sort of older, fatter, drunker Al, with a bad tie)
• Free Stuff: nothing (I was going to take a table display, but they were all sticky)

Denny's #0825 Oak Park, Illinois 6 March 1999 5:35pm CST 711 N. Harlem Ave. (708) 386-6964

• Attendees: P7A77
• Wait-person(s): Mike (manager)
• What we ate: P7A77 - French Fries (to go)
• Amie sat in the car, so she doesn't get credit for this trip. I wasn't terribly hungry, so I just got french fries to go. There were a bunch of poorly colored leprechauns pasted on the Mother Butler display. While I was waiting for my order, two people walked in (not together) for the sole purpose of using the phone. Seemed a bit odd at the time. I noticed that this Denny's closes at midnight. Stinking bastards.
• But that's not important. What is important is that we had a great time hanging out with Josh (formerly "The Bear"), Chad, JCR3, and Jern. Josh has got a pretty fun apartment in the "Ukranian" part of Chicago. Here is a picture of Amie navigating the cold icy stairs. It's worth noting here that Josh and Chad, who were big social revolutionaries in college, now currently have the most corporate sellout jobs of us all. Actually, that's probably not true, but it seems that way because of how vocal they were at the time. Real Life will do that to ya.
• The big fun of this trip was the morning breakfast at Daisy's. It was suggested that I do a Project:Daisy's page, but I forgot to get photos inside the restaurant. Standard greasy spoon sort of fare. I had the chipped beef and eggs. I wasn't sure what chipped beef was, but it sounded good. I'm still not sure. I think it might just be hamburger meat cooked to taste like sausage. I tried to order biscuits and gravy, but everyone else yelled at me when I mentioned it. They pointed at the big sign that said they serve biscuits and gravy 'til 11am and that they cost $2.50. Okay, fine, I was okay with paying the $2.50. But then someone pointed out that it was well past 11am. Damn. I was really looking forward to them, too.
• For some reason, the waitress decided that I really like ashtrays, because she kept pushing them in my direction. I think I had three or four by the end of the meal. I wasn't even smoking. The cook had a bit of a cold. She coughed into her hand and then proceeded to pick up food. Fabulous. I would definitely eat there again.
• And if you really feel the need to see a photo of this Denny's, here it is. But trust me - it looks the same as two thousand other Denny's in the world.
• WAY: no
• Free Stuff: take-out menu (lousy, but appropriate)

Denny's #0525 Schiller Park, Illinois 8 March 1999 5:00pm CST 4824 N. River Rd., near airport (847) 678-5556

• Attendees: P7A77, Amie
• Wait-person(s): Salvador
• What we ate: P7A77 - Chicken Quesadillas (no guacamole, extra sour cream), Coke; Amie - Mozzarella Sticks, Water
• After we placed our order and Salvador left our table to enter it in the computer, he returned to ask me if I wanted tomatoes and peppers in my quesadillas. I wasn't aware that this was an optional item. But I told him that, yes, I would like everything except for guacamole. Amie pointed out to me (after he left again) that he had gangbanger tattoos on his arm. She said that the waitress at the previous Denny's also had them. I'm not sure what gangbanger tattoos are supposed to look like, so I just believed her and didn't question how she knew this. This Denny's took the longest with our food out of any of the Denny's we visited on this trip, and we only got appetizers. Finally, the manager (not Salvador) delivered our food, but he first took it to a different table. My quesadillas were soggy and had guacamole.
• Salvador brought us our check, but we told him that we wanted to order some lemon merengue pie. He went off to get the pie. A long while later he came back and told us that he forgot to get the pie. Then a while later he came back and told us they were out of it. It seems that every time I order it, they're out. So we got keylime. Salvador finally delivered the pie and looked at our check several times. Then he left. I figured, hey, free pie. But as we went to the register, he remembered and charged us for it. Damn.
• The reason we were in this area in the first place was that I was going to be flying back to Tucson that night. That made me sad, because as it so happened, March 8 was our first wedding anniversary. On the way to the Denny's I saw an iMac bus, so that made me a bit happier. Those who know me know why I find the merging of those two things especially fun and good.
• But the real adventure came after the Denny's. For those who don't know or don't remember, the weekend I was in Chicago was the weekend of the big freak snowstorm that hit the area. Remember how I was complaining about how cold it was? Well, getting eight inches of snow didn't lift my spirits any. Actually, it seems that whenever I go on a trip these days, some sort of weather disaster happens. When I went to Miami, hurricane Georges hit. When I went to Atlanta, it was unseasonably cold and rainy, and now a blizzard. I'm telling ya, people should pay me not to go places. Anyway, even though I knew the blizzard was imminent, like the moron I am I didn't call ahead to see if the flight schedule was altered. My flight was cancelled. The storm hit when we were in the airport, so we got to make the drive back to Aurora in fresh snow during rush hour. What is usually a 40 minute drive tops expanded into several hours. We got to watch trucks spin out of control in front of us. Happy freakin' anniversary.
• But aside from the stress of driving in a snowstorm, I was very happy to be able to spend an extra day with Amie. Yay!
• WAY: undetermined
• Free Stuff: All Dogs table display (stolen)

Denny's #0845 Villa Park, Illinois 6 March 1999 4:20pm CST 202 W. North Ave., 1/2 mile west of Rt. 83 (630) 279-1379

• Attendees: P7A77, Amie
• Wait-person(s): Ramero, Naz
• What we ate: nothing
• This Denny's had a bit of a bad layout. Lots of wasted space in the lobby. Ramero didn't speak English very well, so he passed us on to Naz, who tried to give us a crayon and a kids menu, but we held our ground, so after he went in the back room for a while, he eventually gave us a funky-styled name tag out of him. In spite of the time, we didn't smoke some tasty bud.
• Continuing with the visiting Chicago train of thought, even tho' our plan to visit the city went unfulfilled, we were also meeting up with friends of ours. A friend of mine from college (and co-founder of Project:Denny's) now lives in Chicago, and other friends were up visiting, so we were going to catch up with each other and relive our youth. Standard recent-graduate sort of stuff.
• WAY: undetermined (they didn't know who WAY was)
• Free Stuff: Name Tag

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