Di’s Track Inn keeps fresh focus of local cuisine

Track Inn is chugging along with a new owner, and three letters added to its name, Di’s.

Residents may not even realize the business changed hands from 34-year-owner Donna Gondek to Dianne and Jack Thrall of East Peoria.

What residents also may not know is that Gondek and Dianne Thrall are dear friends, meeting when they waitressed together at Steak & Brew on Knoxville in Peoria during the 1970s.

Eventually they went their separate ways but kept in touch, including throwing each other’s baby showers and having children about the same time.

Gondek approached Thrall about buying the business.

“I just felt that she would be the perfect fit. We ran our businesses similarly,” said Gondek.

Thrall most recently owned Di’s Country Kitchen in Germantown Hills, just off Illinois Route 116, and Di’s Diner in Tremont before that.

With the concept of homemade food, Thrall said she liked the historical part of Track Inn, which served many meals to those coming or going on the railroad when it was in operation.

“If someone didn’t take it over it would die,” said Thrall, adding that the atmosphere needed to stay as well.
Gondek said she turned down a couple offers, holding out for someone who would keep Track Inn riding smoothly.

“If anyone can have a successful restaurant for 34 years, it’s Donna,” said Thrall, who also has been in the restaurant business for 30 years.

Thrall’s entrance into the restaurant business began years ago: her grandmother had a restaurant in Decatur where she served all home-cooked, German food. Her mother also worked in restaurants.

“I just kinda stayed in the business,” said Thrall, adding she loves meeting new people, visiting with them and cooking for them.

At Di’s Track Inn, Thrall has kept the same menu of fresh, home-cooked food and said she plans to add her own twist on some of them in the future, and a few more dishes.

The new owner listed a few things they should know about her.

“I’m a good cook. I love the business. I enjoy meeting new people, which is what keeps me doing it,” said Thrall.

“I’m glad I get to do a job I enjoy,” she added.

Track Inn boasts daily specials for both lunch and dinner.

While the restaurant is known for its homemade food, it also is known for its pie. Choices are plentiful for visitors, but coconut crème and lemon meringue are the favorites, followed closely by chocolate, Thrall said.

Three soups are offered each day — vegetable, chili and one that is changed daily. The restaurant also offers a variety of salads, some of which may be harder to find, including cucumber, bean, macaroni and potato salads.

She said she is trying to keep prices reasonable like Gondek did.

For example, a Tuesday special is anything on the breakfast menu for $3.99, and on Thursday, build-a-breakfast for $3.99.

Di’s Track Inn employs 10 to 17 people, including Thrall’s daughter, Chrystal, who works part-time and may take over the business someday. Thrall also has two sons, John and Virgil, and eight grandchildren, all who live in the area.

Timing of buying restaurants has become a joke for the Thrall family. They bought Track Inn on April Fool’s Day, and Di’s Country Kitchen was on Thrall’s birthday.  “My friends joke, ‘We get roses, Dianne gets a restaurant.’”

Thrall and Gondek both said they think some residents simply forget about Track Inn due to its location at the end of Santa Fe Avenue.

“Give me a chance to prove that it will be good,” Thrall said.

Two things set Track Inn apart from other restaurants, Gondek said: the food and the employees.

“I think there are very few places that you can find it all homemade. We make everything. The same people who worked for me work for her, some for 20 years.”

The main change is the night cook retired when Gondek did.

“I think she’s going to do a fantastic job,” said Gondek about the new owner.