Local Lunch: Snackville Junction Whistles its Way into my Heart (through my Stomach)

I grew up not far from Evergreen Park in La Grange. As a kid, I was familiar, as many suburban kids are, with Saturday morning soccer games. Sometimes, following a game where my athletic abilities had failed me particularly harshly, my dad would take my sister and I for hot dogs or burgers at a place with charm, character and some pretty good fast food. Since then, this is the closest I have ever come to finding an equivalent. Except this may be better. This is Snackville Junction.

Snackville Junction, 9144 S. Kedzie Ave., charms my socks off when I walk in the door. The service is friendly, and the atmosphere is just as jovial. Also, because I may or may not be five years old at heart, I cannot get over all the train decor and the toy train that delivered food to anyone sitting at the counter. Some might find that gimmicky or over-the-top, but I am five so I am giddy.

I ask one of the servers what I should order. She says people come mostly for the burgers, so I order a Freightcar Express (the baconburger) with the works, except pickles - I've never been much of a pickle person. The server rings the bell every time an order's up and when the order is ready, the server toots the horn and clangs another bell. I'm almost embarrassed by how amused I am at this, to the point that I'm really starting to question whether I'm a college student or a kindergartener. I look around. There are arcade games, like that game with the claw from Toy Story and some older video games. I have died and gone to my childhood version of heaven. I'm definitely a kindergartener.

My food arrives by train. First stop, the fries. They come with every hot dog or burger and are the perfect consistency - not too crispy but not flimsy and soggy. They're also much fuller than your average fast food fries.

The baconburger is also pretty good. The bacon is crispy, the meat is tender, the bun is a little soggy from the lettuce and tomato, the onion adds a satisfying flavor and texture and I can imagine why someone might enjoy pickles on this even though I'd never do it - all the more flavor to add to the burger experience. If nothing else, I can tell why the lettuce and tomato are on here: so I can pretend like I'm being healthy while actually devouring an incredibly delicious, potentially artery-clogging masterpiece that's less than $7.

Everyone in the place this afternoon is sitting at the counter, enjoying the train whizzing by in front of them carrying lollipops to treat the kids on their way out. Five-year-old me is a little upset that I wasn't offered one, but I am otherwise quite satisfied with my visit.

Overall: Sure, Snackville Junction isn't a gourmet 5-star restaurant, but it's not trying to be. It's just a very real, down-to-earth kind of restaurant: really yummy, really family-friendly and really well-priced. Five-year-old me loved the atmosphere and twenty-year-old me loves the grub, so Snackville's a win-win in my book.

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