Cafe Meli

We stopped in for brunch today to Cafe Meli: the new, dressed-up, Greek diner on Halsted and Jackson in the heart of beautiful Greektown. It was a nice room, a step above your basic diner, with dance music playing. The service was slightly awkward, in that new restaurant kind of way. The menu was large and comprehensive with a lot of vegetarian items. That is great for us because my veggie sister lives around the corner from this place. They serve Lavazza coffee and Phil's cage-free eggs. My husband had roasted red pepper benedict, which was great. I had crepes with asparagus and proscuitto topped with hollandaise. The crepes themselves were not great, they were too eggy. So my meal was more like thin omeletes filled with very fresh ingredients and a decent, although skimpy portion of hollandaise. Our friend had good-looking french toast served with real maple syrup. Overall, we need more breakfast options in the area, and I will be back to try some of the other options on the menu.

yes, gina, you have it right. young professionally-trained chef Frank is very good and Phil's eggs are grrreat! Recently had steak benedict--2 thin, tasty filets with two poached eggs and hollandaise was just right for $10.95. also had a wunnerful french onion soup there. Unfortunately, the place is only open for breakfast and lunch. The meli omelet with Boursin cheese and pancetta is nice too. havent' had a bad dish yet. Soups are very good. always daily specials. It's not greek food, but there are some greek touches such as a pasta salad with feta and olives. the baby reds that come with most breakfast offerings are perfectly cooked. fresh juices, baked breads. They make their own preserves. not crazy bout the music or the honey-infused butter, but that is my personal taste. btw, i have found there is one very competent waitress. most dishes $7.95 or $8.95. very good quality/value for the $$

We visited the new Meli in the South Loop the other night for their dinner service, seeking something light, something similar to the Greektown reuben or club or omelette. What we found was a menu that looked as if Meli had met and copulated with Custom House somewhere between Halsted and Dearborn and engendered this:

http://www.melicafe.com/images/new%20menu%202014.pdf

Although our expectations for a diner meal were disappointed, what we had was very good, and i would be willing to nominate the substantial braised lamb neck tagliatelle as one of the better dishes I've had so far in 2014. As I mentioned, we ate light, but we'll be looking forward to future encounters with their breakfast and lunch menus.

500 S. Dearborn
312-834-0500

Well, we've had several encounters recently with breakfast at Meli on Dearborn, and they've come through with flying colors.

Like the Halsted Street diner, they take breakfast seriously, and have a large menu with many offerings (crepes, waffles, pancakes, "bowls," etc., along with the usual egg dishes). The interior is very pleasant (with al fresco on Dearborn, weather permitting), they're open early every day (they're attached to a hotel) and late on weekends, and they have occasional specialties (like today with an Independence Day menu, which included an excellent rib-eye hash, with a slice of cheese and a cream-horseradish sauce, topped by perfectly prepared over-easy eggs).

It now rates as our No. 1 go-to place for breakfast in the Loop.