McCook, IL -- They don’t make places like Snuffy’s anymore. But they did make truck-stop grills like this in 1930, and this place has remained a trucker’s heaven and haven ever since --without ever changing its layout.

As I dropped off the latest edition of the Route 66 Pulse last month, co-owner Nancy Nikitoboulous yelled to me to “put them on the cigarette machine so my truckers can read them.”

When it comes to Snuffy’s, the old maxim holds true: Eat where the truckers eat. And no matter what the time of day, there always seems to be a few big rigs in Snuffy’s parking lot.

Seventeen stools face an open grill and three booths grace a windowed wall. “We can sit nearly 40 and have 20 standing and, believe me, honey, we’ve done it,” owner Nancy Nikitoboulous said.

If you want one of the best Roadie breakfasts you’ve ever had (24 hours a day), eat at Snuffy’s. If you want a hamburger or cheeseburger to die for (24 hours a day), eat at Snuffy’s. You want some home-flavored comfort food -- dare I repeat myself? -- eat at Snuffy’s.

It’s a no-frills grill with a long list of plain sandwiches and plenty of breakfast items.

The original owner ran Snuffy’s from 1930 until 1969. In that year, Tony Nikitoboulous took the place over. And it’s still run by that same happy Nikitoboulous family today. Snuffy’s may look like a hole in the wall from the outside. But on the inside, this place is beaming with pride and brimming with great conversation, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Snuffy’s is located at 8408 Joliet Road in McCook, Illinois. So when driving Joliet Road (U.S. Route 66 from 1926 until it was decommissioned in 1977), eat at Snuffy’s. But don’t blink, because you’ll miss the joint (and don’t blink hard because you’ll miss McCook).

McCook is a very small Chicago suburb wedged between Lyons and Countryside. Snuffy’s is a longstanding Route 66 institution that truly deserves Route 66 legendary status.