It's all at the Whistle Stop, a truly quaint spot just steps from the Metra Train stop in Tinley Park. It all started with Michael's dad, Klaus Ditschler. A cook for most of his career, Ditschler opened his first restaurant, Zum Frankfort Huff, in 1972 in Frankfort. In 1980, he transformed that restaurant into Beer Stube, still operating today under Michael's brother, Karl. Michael opened his first restaurant, Chef Klaus' Country Cookin', in Mokena three years ago Dec. 17.
Stools line a countertop up front.
The waitresses in jeans, T-shirts and aprons chatter amiably with guests. Next to the cash register is a sheaf of coupons for local businesses, all for the taking. Breakfast is the busiest time of the day at the Whistle Stop, where newspapers are offered for browsing, children are greeted with a separate menu, and a miniature train lines the shelving. Lunch specials are offered daily, including a choice of soup or salad. Hot dogs and tasty saut ed chicken breast salads, cheese blintzes and biscuits and gravy, a hearty corned beef sandwich on rye or three eggs with a slab of New York strip steak, are all served on delicately decorated ceramic dishes of white and cranberry, looking much like you guessed it the set in Grandma's cabinet.