Fun that never gets old

Many of us look back and fondly remember lazy days of childhood playing toy trains in our basement with our neighborhood pals. Others may yearn for a simpler time before the distraction of iPads, smart phones, video games and MP3 players. At 2Toots Train Whistle Grill®, we certainly do!

Long time business partners and restaurateurs Dale Eisenberg and Mike Ventre were fed up with today’s over abundance of technology geared at kids and decided to create a fun train-focused place where a new generation could connect with that heritage and develop treasured memories of their own. After years of success owning and operating Original Pancake House © franchises in Illinois and Ohio, Eisenberg reopened a nostalgic train restaurant built in 1950 (located in Chicago’s northern suburbs) that had been shuttered. After getting that restaurant back “on track,” Eisenberg and Ventre decided to create their own special place for families to enjoy a tasty meal delivered on toy trains.

In May 2006, Eisenberg and Ventre leveraged their 45 years combined experience in the restaurant world and ongoing love of toy trains to introduce the 2Toots Train Whistle Grill® concept to diners. Their first location opened in Downers Grove, Illinois to much media fanfare and diner enthusiasm. After six successful years, the Downers Grove location was closed due to the inability to acquire additional space to accommodate the constantly growing volume of customers. We have since been actively searching for a more suitable location to reopen another 2Toots in or around Downers Grove soon.

Together the duo plans to expand the 2Toots Train Whistle Grill® concept to more communities in Illinois and nationwide in the coming months and years ahead.