The decor is British: cricket bats and bell pulls and photos of Diana and Winston Churchill, who is quoted: “My tastes are simple; I am easily satisfied with the best.” In the front window is a painting of the fictional Cedric L. Bluffington, a proper English gentleman, done by English pub sign painter Mike Hawkes.
The food is straightforward American, ranging from meatball sandwiches to Philly beef.
And Ken Karnazes, who operates Bluffington’s Cafe in Lake Bluff, with his father, Jim, and the part-time help of his mother, Irene, and an assortment of brothers and sisters, knows almost everyone who comes in by name.
Breakfast fare is continental: bagels, danish and muffins made on the premises, with cranberry nut and blueberry the favorites. A muffin and coffee would set you back $2.
Hot and cold sandwiches, salads, including homemade potato salad and coleslaw, and homemade soups are served for lunch. Chicken caesar salad ($5.75) is a big lunchtime favorite, as is Italian beef ($4.75).
Cappuccino is not on the menu at Bluffington’s, but what you will find different among the usual array of soft drinks, tea and coffee is hot cider at $1 a cup.
Sandwich wraps, tortilla-like wrappers filled with meat, are the hottest new item, Karnazes said. He is also planning to introduce an express lunch: a sandwich and beverage prepackaged and ready to go for diners in a hurry.
Occasionally Bluffington’s is booked for an after-hours party such as the one held recently for British Airways employees and guests. The restaurant also does some catering.
Karnazes and his father previously operated the Scranton Cafe in the same location but sold it about eight years ago when Ken went to work for the Lake Bluff Park District. The new owners of the Scranton Cafe closed it, and the Karnazeses reopened it as Bluffington’s last November.
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Bluffington’s Cafe
113 Scranton Ave., Lake Bluff
Hours: 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.
Phone: 847-295-3344
