A train horn blows. Whistles toot. A bronco named Champion bucks kids for a quarter while the aroma of french fries wafts from the kitchen. In this suburban equation, Grandkids + Spring Break = The Choo Choo restaurant in Des Plaines.

Barb and I brought our three oldest grandchildren to the landmark diner last week to welcome spring and shake off residual winter gloom. The tiny restaurant is not much bigger than a breadbox. Train trinkets fill every nook of wall and shelf space. The line of eagerly anticipating diners stretches out the front door.

There are half a dozen booths, into which owner Dale Eisenberg can squeeze half a dozen half-size diners, but we snagged prime seats at the U-shaped counter. Soon after we ordered our lunches, a train horn tooted, and an HO gauge model train pulled our burgers, hot dogs, and BLTs to a spot in front of us, where we were served by the always on-the-go staff.

The servers never rested, but none were more on the move than Eisenberg. As we waited in line, he peppered us with questions. “How many are in your party, where you are from, have been to the restaurant before? What’s the weather? And WHAT is in the brown paper lunch sack you have in your hand?”

When asked why he had removed booths that once lined the front of the restaurant Eisenberg told us “The kids couldn’t see the train from those booths I didn’t want families to take the trouble to come here, wait in line, and then be unable to see the main attraction–so I ripped them out. It may make the wait to sit down a little longer, but that’s ok.” As he spoke with us, he passed out quarters to the kids in line, giving them free rides on the Champion the Wonder Horse. We could see he didn’t want any child to be left out.

Eisenberg’s generosity extends beyond the Choo Choo. He is also President and Co-founder of the Veteran Business Project. This non-profit organization assists veterans and their families in pursuing small-business ownership opportunities. If you are interested, you can read more about the organization at www.veteranbusinessproject.org.

Our family didn’t linger at our counter spot. We ate quickly, paid the bill, and moved on. Another family quickly piled into our seats. As we left the diner we could hear the train horn blowing all the way to our car in the parking garage across the street. It was a wonderful sound.

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