Jane's in Bucktown

Last night a girlfriend and I tried Jane's in Bucktown. This place catches my eye often and I have wanted to try it for a while. It is in what appears to be an older house that was renovated to become a restaurant. Very cute blue painted exterior and a small amount of seating on the sidewalk.

We arrived just past 6.30p and there were not many people at that time. We were offered a window seat (they have 2 window tables where a couple can dine - it is at the front of the restaurant, elevated up a few steps - it would be a very romantic table but was just as fun with a good friend). We ordered a bottle of wine which was a bit too warm. I asked them to chill it a bit to bring down to temp. They happily did this and brought it back later at the right temperature.

Both of us started with the avocado gazpacho soup of the day. It was a lovely light and spicy gazpacho with a good amount of avocado in it. It had an outstanding fresh tomato flavor and the spices were great - a bit of heat but not overwhelming.

For entrees my friend had a huge Asian chicken salad which was a popular order. She said it was great - I actually didn't try it. I ordered New Orleans style grouper served with Asian vegetable. This was a great entree and the combination of flavors was lovely. Portion size was ample but certainly not sized for leftovers.

For dessert we split the key lime tart which was wonderful. I didn't ask, but the crust had a slight undertone of caramel in it which really added a lot to the tart. I would recommend it!

The total bill was $100 and we had a great dinner. By the time we left (after 9 I think) the place was packed and everyone was having fun. They also do brunch on the weekends and the menu looked nice for that meal as well.

Jane's
1655 W Cortland St
Chicago, IL
(773) 862-5263

I ate at Jane's for the first time last weekend. Their Sunday brunch was a bit more moderately priced than their regular menu, and my boyfriend loves their banana bread French toast, so I gave it a shot.

The banana nut bread French toast was definitely worthy of the visit: thickly cut but perfectly browned, sweet but not teeth-achingly so, served with a side of real maple syrup. My only complaint would be that it's too heavy, difficult to finish, food-coma inducing. The side of turkey sausage was surprisingly good too, and I'm not that into turkey.

Against all precedents, I ordered their breakfast burrito. Breakfast burritos kinda freak me out conceptually, but the waitress assured me it was good. And it was: fluffy eggs inside, crisply browned tortilla (not freshly made though), perfect ratio of beans and veggies to other stuff. And the avocado mousse it came with was heavenly. I can't speak for the side of potatoes, as I don't like potatoes, but my dining companion seemed to enjoy them.

Also, they bring out some bread and butter for you to munch while perusing the menu; the butter was sugared and cinnamony, so good. I like sweet things early in the morning. Seemed like sweet cream butter, possibly locally made. My only complaint is that it was served with really boring white bread.

So yeah, I'd definitely go back. It was nice having two dishes to eat from: sweet (French toast) and savory ( breakfast burrito), a good way to sample their range of brunch dishes.

While I agree with the previous "posters" that the food at Jane's is very good, I was less happy with my two experiences there. Both times (on weeknights) my table was very rushed through our meal. The first time, we had a reservation for five people. Four of the five of us were early, but when the 5th had not appeared by 5 minutes after the reservation time, the host pressured us to find out where she was, and when she would be there. (All this, instead of seating us at our obviously reserved , vacant table.) After she appeared (less that 8 minutes late), we were seated, but the rest of our meal was rushed by the server and the busboy. I had a similar, although less egregious, experience when I gave Jane's another shot several months later. There are many good restaurants in Chicago which do not rush you through your meal, so I haven't been back to Jane's since. Admittedly, it's been more than a year, so I hope things have changed!

mija - that is unfortunate - it is definitely a huge pet peeve of mine to be rushed. However - we arrived at 6.30p and left after 9 and we certainly were not rushed. Perhaps things have changed.

Thought for my first post I would add another review to this short Jane's thread. I was there with my boyfriend this past Friday night, and we had a lovely time.

We didn't get an appetizer but instead started with drinks (Cotes du Rhone for him, gin & tonic for me - both were very good). For dinner, I had a beef tenderloin dish. It was beef tenderloin medallions on a bed of greens and cherry tomatoes, with some grilled onions scattered in. Topped by a horseradish sauce drizzle, and with a sliced hardboiled egg and potato crisps on the side. It was a great dish. The greens to beef ratio seemed way skewed toward the greens at first, but it worked out really nicely.

The SO had a prosciutto & mozarella stuffed chicken breast, but I don't remember what the sauce was (I was concentrating on my own meal too much). There were grilled squash strips on the side (yellow and zucchini), but those were very bland.

For dessert, he had the creme brulee which was a disappointment. The top wasn't crisp and it didn't crack nicely, and there was a slightly watery consistency to the custard. It was also slightly warm all the way through instead of hot on top and cold on the bottom. His espresso was a tad bitter, he says (though he also points out that he's picky).

I had a lemoncurd cheesecake for dessert which was fabulous. Not too tart like key lime pie - just enough lemon, and a great texture. The crust was crumbly-moist, just the way I like it. I had a dessert wine with it that set it off just right.

The service was great - helpful without being overbearing. I asked our waitress to pick out whatever wine she thought would go well with my dinner, and she brought a glass of the cabernet, and it was perfect. We weren't rushed at all, but I don't think we were moving slowly.

The restaurant is nicely set up, with a huge ceiling. We were in the back by the kitchen (next time I defnitely want to score one of the tables by the window), but even with a group next to us, we could hear each other pretty well.

It was just a really good dinner. Not mind-blowing, but perfect for what I was looking for.

I'm glad you had a good dinner there, but to me, Jane's is one of those sheeples where the food never justified the crowds. I would go there occasionally when I lived in Bucktown and just plain didn't know any better back then. It never ceased to amaze me how long people would wait for a table there, only to be seated literally wedged in amongst more standing and waiting people. In addition, the kitchen, which is located behind the bar, always managed to smoke something up, so while you're waiting you could choke on smoke. Good times.

I guess I never saw what there was about Jane's food that would set it apart or justify the crowds. Maybe I just don't get it. Won't be the first time.

aschie30 wrote:I guess I never saw what there was about Jane's food that would set it apart or justify the crowds. Maybe I just don't get it. Won't be the first time.

I agree with this completely.

gleam and aschie30 - like I said: not a mind-blowing dinner, but very pleasant. We had a reservation and so didn't have to wait, and I'm not sure how I would have felt about the whole thing had there been a long wait or had our table been rushed. I think it's a lovely place to go for dinner, especially if you live in the neighborhood. I would never put Jane's in the same category as, say, onesixtyblue. But I thought it would be nice to give a more recent review of the place, so there you have it.

Meelo, thanks for the review on a place not talked about much here. Welcome to LTHForum.

aschie30 wrote:I'm glad you had a good dinner there, but to me, Jane's is one of those sheeples where the food never justified the crowds. I would go there occasionally when I lived in Bucktown and just plain didn't know any better back then. It never ceased to amaze me how long people would wait for a table there, only to be seated literally wedged in amongst more standing and waiting people. In addition, the kitchen, which is located behind the bar, always managed to smoke something up, so while you're waiting you could choke on smoke. Good times.

I guess I never saw what there was about Jane's food that would set it apart or justify the crowds. Maybe I just don't get it. Won't be the first time.

gleam wrote:I agree with aschie30 completely.

I offended by these two posts, by long-time posters. I'm sure Meelo is a big girl/boy who can stick up for her/himself, but it was Meelo's first post, and he/she was then called a "sheeple" with the implication that the only people who eat at Jane's are people who don't know better. Gee...that's a warm and friendly way to encourage new posters to make themselves at home on the board. I don't know if there's a rule against ad hominem attacks, if there is, these posts come pretty close to crossing the line.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the OP is a sheep. I meant to imply that I've never been impressed, in any way, by Jane's, and that I, also, don't understand the crowds. I quoted more than I should have, and I'll go back and edit it now.

I do not doubt that the OP had a great experience, I just have never been so lucky, and have crossed it off my list.

chgoeditor wrote:

aschie30 wrote:I'm glad you had a good dinner there, but to me, Jane's is one of those sheeples where the food never justified the crowds. I would go there occasionally when I lived in Bucktown and just plain didn't know any better back then. It never ceased to amaze me how long people would wait for a table there, only to be seated literally wedged in amongst more standing and waiting people. In addition, the kitchen, which is located behind the bar, always managed to smoke something up, so while you're waiting you could choke on smoke. Good times.

I guess I never saw what there was about Jane's food that would set it apart or justify the crowds. Maybe I just don't get it. Won't be the first time.

gleam wrote:I agree with aschie30 completely.

I offended by these two posts, by long-time posters. I'm sure Meelo is a big girl/boy who can stick up for her/himself, but it was Meelo's first post, and he/she was then called a "sheeple" with the implication that the only people who eat at Jane's are people who don't know better. Gee...that's a warm and friendly way to encourage new posters to make themselves at home on the board. I don't know if there's a rule against ad hominem attacks, if there is, these posts come pretty close to crossing the line.

In my defense, I didn't actually notice it was Meelo's first post when I responded, but looking back on it I didn't say anything that should have caused you or Meelo any offense. If you read my post closely, I never called Meelo a sheeple or made any ad hominem (or personal) attack on anyone. I said that "to me," Jane's was a sheeple. That's a fair assessment, in my opinion. It is not necessary nor even relevant to take every post which disagrees with someone else's assessment about a restaurant personally. The good thing about LTH forum is that opinions are often backed up, as opposed to yelp and metromix where every reader review is comprised of "this place sucks" or "joe m doesn't know what he's talking about," without further elaboration. But you're right, we're all big people, so hopefully, we're not all so apt to take someone else's opinion about a restaurant as being a personal attack, which it clearly isn't.

No offense taken. I am, as mentioned, a big girl. Just wanted to let anyone else reading this (because maybe they were interested in going to Jane's) that I had a good experience there.

Jane's, a Bucktown restaurant that attracted a loyal following and was known for its weekend brunches and being a reliable date spot, is closing after more than two decades.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2017070 ... s-bucktown