Easter Brunch

I'm trying to decide on a nice yet recession healthy Easter brunch to take the parents out. I think I've deciding on one sixtyblue's three course menu, but I was wondering whether there were any reccomendation. Last year we went to North Pond's brunch which was absolutly fantastic, but at $70 dollars a person before bloody mary's I don't think I can make it work. Recently became a fan of what 160's Chef McDonald has been doing with the menu, (Short ribs with grits anyone?) An accessible three star brunch with pork belly biscuits and gravy followed by smoked salmon eggs benedict sounds pretty tasty! Check out the rest of the menu.

http://www.onesixtyblue.com/pdf/onesixt ... h_2009.pdf

What is everyone else thinking?

For some reason the pdf comes up blurred for me. What's the last course and the price? It sounds like a good meal based on the first two courses.

The last course is the dessert. Which includes the brown butter carrot cake which I had last time I was there. (Carrot cake was excellent, but the ginger snap ice cream sandwich was probably the best thing I've tried thing year.) I pulled the menu off their website. I don't know maybe it will work from there. www.onesixtyblue.com

Chi-Nate wrote:The last course is the dessert. Which includes the brown butter carrot cake which I had last time I was there. (Carrot cake was excellent, but the ginger snap ice cream sandwich was probably the best thing I've tried thing year.) I pulled the menu off their website. I don't know maybe it will work from there. http://www.onesixtyblue.com

I went to their website and it still comes up blurry...weird. The meal sounds great. I would be there for brunch if I weren't already working brunch at my own job.

We are heading to the decidedly unfancy La Villa

http://www.lavillabanquets.com/default_ ... ge0007.htm

They have this in the banquet hall. Everything is homemade and fresh. And all our children eat free!

We went to Prairie Grass Cafe for Mother's Day brunch last year and it was one of the best brunches I've ever had.

It was a buffet with some really excellent options, including wonderful crepes made and filled to order. I would imagine that their Easter brunch will be equal to or better than that.

Old Town Brasserie (Haven't been since Roland left) and Eve seem to have some pretty good deals. I'm still searching for good choices too so if anyone knows of good deals with spectacular looking choices for me while at the same time offering somewhat familiar selctions that won't scare my P's let me know.

http://oldtownbrasserie.com/easter_menu.pdf

http://evechicago.com/eastermenu.pdf

Monticchio does brunch now...we have gone there a few times since it is down the block (and I always forget to take a camera). They do a breakfast pizza that is great. Half for brunch and the other half for breakfast the next day. Actually they have several breakfast pizzas but the one I do is the Monticchio (eggs, cheeses and your choice of ham, italian sausage and bacon). I get tomatoes thrown on as an extra. Nice crust...

Jim (the owner) said they would be doing a ham or roast beef dinner in conjunction with the regular brunch menu. They also have a do it yourself bloody mary thing going at the bar.

Sepia has an Easter menu comprised of starters and desserts served family style and then a choice of entrees, as well as Metropolis coffee for $39.00. Andrew Zimmermann has already replaced Kendall Duque as chef. Here's the menu, looks promising:

http://www.sepiachicago.com/menus/easter2009.pdf

qofu2 wrote:Monticchio does brunch now...we have gone there a few times since it is down the block (and I always forget to take a camera). They do a breakfast pizza that is great. Half for brunch and the other half for breakfast the next day. Actually they have several breakfast pizzas but the one I do is the Monticchio (eggs, cheeses and your choice of ham, italian sausage and bacon). I get tomatoes thrown on as an extra. Nice crust...

Jim (the owner) said they would be doing a ham or roast beef dinner in conjunction with the regular brunch menu. They also have a do it yourself bloody mary thing going at the bar.

Where is Monticchio?

The GP wrote:

qofu2 wrote:Monticchio does brunch now...we have gone there a few times since it is down the block (and I always forget to take a camera). They do a breakfast pizza that is great. Half for brunch and the other half for breakfast the next day. Actually they have several breakfast pizzas but the one I do is the Monticchio (eggs, cheeses and your choice of ham, italian sausage and bacon). I get tomatoes thrown on as an extra. Nice crust...

Jim (the owner) said they would be doing a ham or roast beef dinner in conjunction with the regular brunch menu. They also have a do it yourself bloody mary thing going at the bar.

Where is Monticchio?

Monticchio
4882 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60640
773.275.7080
http://monticchiopizza.com/

We'll have a large family group going to Café Lucci for the 3-course prix fixe, $22 menu.

I just got uncommon ground's e-newsletter and they're doing Easter brunch at both locations from 9a-3p. I can't find the menu online, but the newsletter did indicate $5 bloody marys (@ clark location) and $5 bellinis (@ devon location). Their bfast is amazing and pricing very reasonable for the quality. I suggest checking it out (and letting me know how it was since I'll be working).

uncommon ground - wrigleyville
3800 N. Clark
Chicago, IL
773-929-3860

uncommon ground - loyola/devon
1401 W. Devon
Chicago, IL
773-465-9801

www.uncommongroundchicago.com

LTH,

Just talked to my niece, her family is celebrating Easter in Chinatown with dim sum. Sounds like a great plan, not one my wife will go for but a great plan none the less. Far as place, they are partial to Won Kow, which has rolling cart dim sum service on Sundays. Not my first choice for dim sum, but well within range.

Enjoy,
Gary

Won Kow
2237 S Wentworth Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
312-842-7500

G Wiv wrote:LTH,
Just talked to my niece, her family is celebrating Easter in Chinatown with dim sum.

My family is still arguing about where we're going for Easter. We have a reservation at David Burke's, but I'd say there's a decent chance we'll end up at my mom and sister's favorite, LTH (which, BTW, they insist on calling "Three Happiness" just to annoy me...they will never admit that I'm right about anything food-related... ). Oh, holidays and family time...

happy_stomach wrote:but I'd say there's a decent chance we'll end up at my mom and sister's favorite, LTH (which, BTW, they insist on calling "Three Happiness" just to annoy me...they will never admit that I'm right about anything food-related... ). Oh, holidays and family time...

H_S,

Annoying, maybe, but at least you have two terrific choices on the horizon.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:but I'd say there's a decent chance we'll end up at my mom and sister's favorite, LTH (which, BTW, they insist on calling "Three Happiness" just to annoy me...they will never admit that I'm right about anything food-related... ). Oh, holidays and family time...

H_S,

Annoying, maybe, but at least you have two terrific choices on the horizon.

Absolutely. I'm very grateful. Sometimes I get extra lucky, and Mama happy_stomach decides we're going to eat at all of our choices--our own little Family happy_stomach-a-thon, which happens more holidays when we're together than not.

Speaking of recession-friendly Easter brunches, Bananas Foster Cafe is doing a buffet for $18 a person. I took a quick look at the menu walking by today and it's quite extensive and includes, ham, turkey, salads, breakfast dishes, desserts, etc. Quite a bargain. I haven't eaten there myself yet and can't vouch for the quality, but I believe they got a decent/OK Time Out Chicago review. I think the BF and I might give the buffet a try.

Bananas Foster Cafe
1147 W Granville (at Broadway)
773-262-9855

Scratch that brunch possibility. I stopped in last night to make a reservation and it seems they've decided to do neither a buffet nor to take reservations for Easter, even though the Easter brunch menu was still up in the window. So we will stick with our original plan of Mixteco Grill which is sure to be a delight.

I am flying in from Italy for Easter and was wondering if you guys have any recommendations or past experiences for a good Easter brunch and dinner.

I moved from Chicago to Milan 3 months ago, and as wonderful as the food is here, I of course miss all my favorite Chicago spots. Anything new that has opened that I absolutely have to try? Are most restaurants open on Easter Sunday?
No price range, just somewhere in Chicago that will accomodate 6 people.

Grazie!

CVittorio wrote:I am flying in from Italy for Easter and was wondering if you guys have any recommendations or past experiences for a good Easter brunch and dinner.

I moved from Chicago to Milan 3 months ago, and as wonderful as the food is here, I of course miss all my favorite Chicago spots. Anything new that has opened that I absolutely have to try? Are most restaurants open on Easter Sunday?
No price range, just somewhere in Chicago that will accomodate 6 people.

Grazie!

we love bin36

CVittorio wrote:I am flying in from Italy for Easter and was wondering if you guys have any recommendations or past experiences for a good Easter brunch and dinner.

I moved from Chicago to Milan 3 months ago, and as wonderful as the food is here, I of course miss all my favorite Chicago spots. Anything new that has opened that I absolutely have to try? Are most restaurants open on Easter Sunday?
No price range, just somewhere in Chicago that will accomodate 6 people.

Grazie!

Some restaurants do something special for Easter brunch. The high-end hotel restaurants (Sixteen, the Lobby) are now up to $130-140 for their special holiday brunches. Yes, per person. Yes, for brunch. A few places have something special for dinner, but not very many. Opentable has a listing of what their restaurants are planning; click here (and note that these listings will multiply in the next 4-6 weeks as more of their restaurants finalize their plans).

Other than that, though, most restaurants will do whatever they usually do on Sundays. That includes our breakfast-focused restaurants for brunch as well as our dinner-focused restaurants that always do brunch on Sundays. Any restaurants that are normally open on Sundays will be open on Easter Sunday, so you'll have the usual choice of restaurants for dinner.

If I had to choose just a few favorites, they would include three places for brunch. Jam is a breakfast-focused restaurant in Logan Square with high-end creative cooking; they don't take reservations and you may have to wait to be seated, especially on a Sunday. (I don't know if a party of 6 puts you at an advantage or a disadvantage.) Shaw's Crab House, in River North and Schaumburg, does a sumptuous all-you-can-eat buffet with some of the best breakfast foods, seafoods, and desserts in town; reservations are available and they do fill in advance. And North Pond on the North Side does an a la carte brunch that features excellent food along with their exquisite setting in the middle of the park, and they take reservations also.

For dinner, wow, it's tough to narrow down without any additional information. Alinea is still the best restaurant in the country, and lately reservations (via advance ticketing on their website) are a bit easier to get, including 6-tops. Acadia, in the South Loop, opened about a year ago and is one of the very best high-end restaurants in Chicago, at not-quite-high-end prices. On the not-so-high-end, you've got all the usual great places that take reservations, including small plates from Sable, GT Fish & Oyster, Mercat a la Planxa, etc. In the neighborhoods, Ruxbin in West Town now accepts reservations on Sundays only (and is BYOB), and Deleece on Southport in Lakeview is great and usually offers a special dinner menu on holidays. All of these accept reservations including parties of six.

Those are a few top suggestions, but again, dinner is like any Sunday (and so is brunch at most places), so whatever strikes your fancy will work, other than the minority of places that are closed every Sunday.

I can second the nomination for North Pond. The setting should be close to glorious at Easter. My wife and I have gone there for anniversary brunches for many years. It's always great. I've been anticipating a return visit for months now.

I've enjoyed the Easter brunch at Devon Seafood. The menu for Easter should be posted soon--a nice variety of selections, not your typical gut-bomb AYCE affair at a reasonable price.

39 E Chicago Ave
Chicago
(312) 440-8660

Who has a good Easter Buffet Brunch this year? Suggestions for family and friends. Thanks

paulc wrote:Who has a good Easter Buffet Brunch this year? Suggestions for family and friends. Thanks

We certainly did.

My initial searches didn't bring up this option since they're on Tock and not Open Table, but we had a spectacular brunch at Spiaggia yesterday. It was a Sardinian themed meal, which I think is what they do each year. The service was spot on as always, and we thought $65 was a fair price.

This is a served meal, and not a buffet, which is actually our preference - no lines, no hustle and bustle, no crammed hotel room, just the usual calm of Spiaggia.

It began with an asparagus frittata, with a little pea shoot salad. It was the lightest fluffiest frittata I've ever had and perfection. This was followed by a pasta course, Casonsei stuffed with cheese flavored with lemon and served with a fava bean sauce with the whole fava beans. Served family style, there were six for the two of us, and we had to stop to save room for what was yet to come. Again perfection. Then a choice of lamb or salmon. We both had the lamb, which the server said is on their tasting menu - perfectly seared lamb with a touch of sea salt on top along with a great potato stick. Impossible to describe, utterly delicious. We finished with a dessert of chantilly cream, mixed berries some sorbet and crunchy stuff. All this was accompanied for us by a bottle of great Sardinian white that was featured on the brunch menu.

Service wasn't rushed and they were happy to let us linger as long as we wished - no "gotta go now, time for the next flood of people." We left completely relaxed. The room of comfortably occupied but far from full. I'd label this my "hidden Easter Brunch gem" and we'll be back!

In a general shout out - Spiaggia continues to hit all the right notes - beautiful room, trained staff who have been allowed to keep their edge of personality. Not stuffy, comfortable space.