Buttermilk

The line out the door on a Saturday told us everything the Yelp reviews already had: Buttermilk has become Naperville's breakfast institution, and there's a reason 1,500-plus reviewers keep coming back. The red velvet pancakes arrived as a stack of three, each one dyed a deep crimson and topped with a cream cheese drizzle that pooled into the warm surface like icing on a cake. They walked the line between breakfast and dessert without falling to either side. The biscuits and gravy, homestyle and unapologetically rich, came with a sausage gravy that had visible herbs and enough black pepper to remind you this is a savory dish. What earns Buttermilk its cult status is the range: omelets, crepes, skillets, bennys, French toast, and a full burger menu, all executed with a precision that a breakfast-only restaurant can afford when it focuses on one meal and does it right.