2Toots Train Whistle Grill

FYI! This place has moved!
Food is not all that great, but kids love that it is delivered to them by train!

This is the closest train restaurant to our home so we brought our kids here the day after my son’s 2^nd birthday. We received a flyer in the mail for a free meal for the birthday boy. This restaurant is super cute and right next to the train station! We came in an hour before closing time so it wasn’t so busy. Although the place was being run by high school students, service was quick but I didn’t like the feeling of being rushed out. Our food was fine, wasn’t amazing but wasn’t bad either. We ordered burgers, fries and milkshakes… typical. As long as they’re still here and my son is still a train freak, we’ll be back.

2Toots is a cute little train café hidden in downtown Downers Grove. You can walk right by it unless you know it’s there. It’s in a little strip mall of 4 or 5 stores across the street from the Tivoli Theatre.
It’s a very small space that gathers, I’m sure, hundreds of children every day. The last time I came in on a field trip at work with a group of children. I’m pretty sure we took up all of the booths (sorry, other patrons!) and there were only about 15 of us total. You order food with the servers behind the counter and your food is delivered to you on a toy train. Very cute!
I didn’t have any of their food, but their service was impeccable! They were great with our special needs and the food came out incredibly fast. I was sipping on a pink lemonade and before I could even get the last slurp back someone was always there to refill my drink. They were really flexible and understanding, especially when one of the sneakier kids stuck a ketchup bottle in his mouth and slurped away. She took the bottle immediately and threw it away, with a smile on her face the whole time even though I’m sure she was a little pissed. I would say we were in and out within 30 minutes. Incredible turnover time and it was the perfect place for a fast meal!

The seating is fastened to the floor and set up for 12 year olds. If you’re over 5’5″ or 140 pounds you’ll have problem fitting in the chairs or booths. It was miserable until the food arrived.
The burger was an awesome smash burger. I’d get it as take out adain if I was in the area again. That does kind of defeat the concept of having the food delivered by train.

My first review was a 5-​star review, based primarily on the fact that this was the only «Choo Choo Restaurant» I had ever been to. After visiting the All Aboard Diner in the strip mall on the northwest corner of 75^th and Lemont Road, I had to revise my rating accordingly. After looking at some of the other reviews here, it seems I’m not alone in my dwindling appreciation for this place.
Compared to All Aboard, this place is small, dirty, has a limited menu, and the surly waitstaff (which I mentioned in my original review) seems even surlier. The only upside to 2Toots is its close proximity to the BNSF tracks and the Downer’s Grove train station. For those kids who don’t get enough trains inside, they can watch them outside as well.
Given the choice, I will definitely be headed to All Aboard with my 2 ½ year old. I apologize for all those I led astray with my previous 5-​star review. Forgive me, for I knew no better.

Our only other previous train restaurant experience was Choo Choo in Des Plaines. We stopped by for an early lunch on Saturday around 11am since the place opened up at 10am. We were pleasantly surprised to see that all seats were right on the track! The only problem that I could foresee is that the booths only sat 4 – 5 people maximum.
Otherwise, I like the variety of food and my son ate up all of his dino chicken nuggets and fruit cup (I like that there’s an option for fruit cup instead of fries).
Also, prepare yourself for TRAIN overload. Besides the fact that all the glass windows show you the Downers Grove Metra train, there’s the mini train that brings the food around the track, AND the flat screen tvs are showing you Thomas the Train. My son kept telling me «SO HAPPY SO HAPPY»
My husband loved the chocolate shake and I liked that instead of a cupcake, there was also a brownie and rice krispy treat option with a train whistle on top. By the time we left, the place was packed and I can’t wait for us to go back again!

I wish 2 Toots was better since we live so close by and my son loves trains, but it’s not good. The food was bad – how can you mess up a chili dog and cheese fries? It was really poor quality, on par with bowling alley food. The whole place is dirty. The ceiling panels look like they leak and have browned. It was also very cold. Every time someone opened the door, I wished I had my coat on, and we weren’t sitting near the door. The booths are uncomfortable, you sink down in the cushion because the springs have gone bad. The service isn’t great. It was hard to get their attention when we wanted a straw and a knife. My son liked it because of the train, so that’s why I gave it two stars instead of one. I don’t think we’ll be going back soon – we’ll drive the extra few miles to All Aboard Diner. Their food is much better, the service is very attentive and friendly, and it’s much cleaner.

Excellent… I love the food (cheese burger) and little guy loves the food (chicken nuggets) and the TRAINS… we arrived around 11:15 and had our choice of seats… sat at the counter… and by 11:45 the place was packed…
You have to have a rootbeer float…
LOVE THIS PLACE!
1 Root beer float 4.25
1 cheese burger 6.95
1 kd chicken nuggets 4.25
Total — $ 16.69

I live near here and have been several times. The food is OK, nothing spectacular but not bad either. The décor is cute and the kids love it! My 13 month old son and 2 year old nephew love that the food is delivered on a train and they can see the real trains across the street. The owner is friendly and the staff is as well. The lack of tables is disappointing but as long as you plan (go early) for it’s fine. Every time I’m there I think of all the potential the restaurant has for more décor or expansion! Definitely check it out if you have kids!

Kids go apeshit over this place, located across from the Downers Grove Metra stop. The food is not very good, but hey, we don’t come here for the food. Food comes out on a toy train, a la the movie «Nothing But Trouble» (the one with Chevy Chase and Demi Moore when she was, gasp!, a little chubby and pre-​total body plastic surgery).
Be prepared to wait a while if you go during the weekend; it’s a tiny place.

My kids just love that the train delivers your food. It is definitely their main draw. Food is okay — burgers and hot dogs and such… nothing too difficult to screw up. All in all — we’d take the kids back if we were in the neighborhood. Definitely wouldn’t go for a date night with the hubby.

The experience is straight nirvana for the under-​6 crowd and parents interested in delighting them without breaking the bank.
The food is «meh», but fortunately it’s hard to screw up burgers and hot dogs, so it’s passable. The milkshakes are «the real deal», and while pricey (4.25) they’re tasty.
Our favorite element of Two Toots is their «birthday club». The birthday boy (up to age 12) gets a free meal (5 dollar value or so) on the big day. Sure, mom and dad have to pay their own way, but as a once-​per-​year trip, the dollar-​to-​smile ratio work out in our favor.
Psst: As Grown Up food goes: The Chili Dog is where it’s at.

My daughter loved this place and it was definately worth the visit, but overall we probably won’t be stopping in often. The train that delivers the food was of course the main draw and loved by all. The food left a lot to be desired and was pretty expensive for what you got. With that said, this place is fun and was a pretty good time.

Another winner for little kids but be prepared to wait or sit at the bar. The biggest issue with this place is the lack of space. My little guy is now two years old and sitting at the available bar seats just isn’t an option. There are about four or five four-​top booths in the restaurant. I can’t make any comparisons to other train themed restaurants as this is our only experience. The burgers are similar to steak and shake. It’s a lot of fun to see my train-​crazed boy excited about the food coming on a train car. When the train phase goes I can’t image going back for the food.

Yes I ate here, No I’m not a baby mamma. My nieces wanted to go here so my mom and I gave in and took them one afternoon for lunch. I love the location goes well with the theme.
The décor is cute it has trains running all over the place and of course the train brings you your food. The menu is what you would expect kiddie food. Hamburgers, hot gogs as my niece calls them and grilled cheese. I opted for the GC and the gals got hot gogs. The food is fine nothing great. The manager man was really nice and hung out at our table a lot, I think he had a crush on my hot a** mom. My nieces had a blast and ended the meal with a cupcake each.
No offense 2toots but I hope the nieces hold back their inner conductors and dont make me go back. Just not my cup o tea

With a three-​year-​old once again in tow, we’re slowly making the rounds of the Chicago area train themed restaurants this summer.
Situated across the street from the DG Metra station, 2Toots would seem ideally located for train-​loving kids. Being on a BNSF mainline, we saw three freight trains, two Amtrak, and two Metra trains during an early afternoon stopover at 2Toots.
The décor of the facility is fairly interesting and diverse, ranging from framed Lionel toy train manuals to large historical posters for legacy Hiawatha service. A television (maybe two?) is playing Thomas the Tank Engine for kids of that persuasion. A fair amount of counter seating along with maybe half a dozen tables, and a rail delivery system that stretches along it all to deliver your food tops it off.
Unfortunately, this is kind of where it stops. I think they might have missed out a bit by not doing a few more things. Both All Aboard and Choo Choo Johnny’s have functioning train layouts and a train running overhead as well, which helps to provide something for kids to look at when food isn’t currently being delivered.
The food itself was average to below-​average. I would like to see them work on that a bit. We also got served a cup of milk that seemed like it was (way) past its prime, though they promptly credited us for that on our check.
I feel that this is a fine idea, and that they have some elements that could put them a step above their competition, particularly in terms of location with those real trains whizzing by outside, but as it stands, I have to call it as being a bit below average.

My kids love this place. Menu has varity for kids and adults. Not just hot dogs and chicken tenders.
The food is good for a kids place.

Well, I ended up hear with the fiancé sort of on a lark. This is absolutely a spot to take kids. The train motif is solid and the model train that delivers your food is definitely a cool idea for the little ones. The little crumbs it leaves under the track and around the restaurant maybe aren’t as cool.
I had the BLT which I recommend and my lady had a burger which she also «liked». The staff is a group of 16 year old girls who all do a good job entertaining the little ones. I wouldn’t go here without kids though (we do). The menu is a little limited and if it is cold outside you will be enduring a draft every time the door opens. Still, good family fun.

«Great food served on Toy Trains» is the slogan of this place. We went here on President’s day and it was like Caddy Day at the pool. If you don’t get that refernce, then it was like that scene in Parenthood where they go to the kid’s play and spin the camera around and play roller coaster sound effects. It seats about 40 people and we waited in line for 40 minutes for te 5 of us to sit down. The skeptic in me was very ready to see how «great» the food was.
The look on my daughter’s 21-​month-​old face when we finally sat down was enough to make all the wait worth it.
Yes. It’s food served in baskets attached to toy trains that make a circuit around the restaurant.
I had the burger which I would say is very much like Steak’n’Shake’s, but I added the bacon because they tout the crap out of in on their menu ($ 8 with the bacon add). It was totally worth it. If I go back I’ll definitely get the BLT just to get on that bacon. My daughter had chicken nuggets that were pressed into animal shapes, and my wife had the egg salad sandwich ($ 5). She liked it, but I’ll never know what one tastes like. I also added a chocolate shake which was Terrible. It was totally flavorless, and they must use shake base instead of ice cream because it didn’t taste like ice cream, let alone chocolate (a complete waste at $ 4).
So this place is definitely for kids (and creepy grown ups in striped overalls), but the food makes it bearable. I’d be interested to know if there’s a day it’s not a total zoo in there.