Your expectations might be low when first looking at Star 66 Café. The sign hasn't been updated in what looks like quite a while, and a gas station adjoins the place. There were repairs to the front windows on a recent visit, a remnant of the car that came crashing through the front of the building back in July.
Step inside, however, and it feels like back home. How many 24-hour diners serve fried tilapia, walleye and grilled trout along with bacon and eggs? The Star 66 does, not to mention dozens of other choices.
It takes a while to leaf through all of the glossy pages of the Star 66 menu, but its depth and breadth is truly impressive. This is not a place for the indecisive. Just for the pork chops, the menu advertises nearly a dozen different preparations.
Just think: you really can go to a place in Springfield at 3 a.m. and order any of the aforementioned options, along with so much more, such as huevos rancheros or a horseshoe breakfast of three eggs, ham, sausage or bacon, sausage gravy and potatoes. Rarely is there an entrée above $16.
One tip, too: Get the pie for dessert. It's all homemade in a classic glass case, and the coconut cream is particularly delicious. The staff, you can tell, have all worked there a while, which – unlike the one out front – is always a good sign.
