Yolk in the South Loop

I work in the South Loop...quick lunch options are pretty limited so I was excited to see Yolk opening right down the block. Does anyone know anything about this joint? I know it's only breakfast and lunch, but nothing more. It looked like they were training staff today.

Yolk
Michigan Avenue at 11th Street
Chicago

The only thing I've seen so far was in the Oct 11 Dish Newsletter:

Dish wrote:French toast enthusiasts, unite—and meet at Yolk (1120 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-789-9655), an eclectic breakfast spot opening November 1st in the South Loop. “I have five different kinds of French toast,” says Taki Kastanis, the owner. “Stuffed with raspberry jam and cream cheese; cinnamon roll French toast; a banana split French toast; an almond-crusted version topped with fresh strawberries; a pecan roll French toast.” Kastanis, who also owns the charmingly named Egg’lectic Cafe (2905 Algonquin Rd., Rolling Meadows; 847-577-2613), promises that everything at Yolk will be baked in house, fresh every morning—and the place will have its own personal coffee blend.

You'll have to tell us how it is once you've gone!

Thanks........I'll report back!

This weeks Time Out Chicago had a positive report and a nice looking photo of crepes, I believe.

I was planning on going there for brunch today (Sunday). Unfortunately it's not open yet. Why would they put it in Time Out if it's not open yet?! In any case, there's a sign on the door that says it opens on Tuesday, November 14.

Very excited to see another breakfast place in the South Loop...does anyone else find it strange that breakfast places are getting all these trendy names now? Too funny...Orange, Toast, now Yolk?

FoodGirl Robyn wrote:Unfortunately it's not open yet. Why would they put it in Time Out if it's not open yet?!

How can they review a restaurant that's not open yet? I could invite you to my house, make you a great meal, and claim that I'll always feed you and everybody else that well, but that doesn't make me a good restaurant.

Giovanna

Giovanna wrote:

FoodGirl Robyn wrote:Unfortunately it's not open yet. Why would they put it in Time Out if it's not open yet?!

How can they review a restaurant that's not open yet? I could invite you to my house, make you a great meal, and claim that I'll always feed you and everybody else that well, but that doesn't make me a good restaurant.

Giovanna

To be honest, they didn't review it, the had a write up on it.

Originally posted on TimeOut Chicago
MORNING RUSH Taki Kastanis would like to visit his aunt more. But Kastanis is a breakfast guy, and he thinks her South Loop neighborhood doesn’t have much to offer in the way of eye-opening eats. So he decided to do something about it: This week he’s opening the breakfast-lunch spot Yolk. Kastanis already has two breakfast eateries under his belt (Grandma Sally’s in River Forest and Egg’lectic Cafe in Rolling Meadows), so he knows a thing or two about the most important meal of the day. He says the South Loop needs fancy crêpes (including one stuffed with caramel and topped with cinnamon apples, pictured), veggie-packed skillets, endless cups of Yolk’s private-label coffee and freshly squeezed juices for making mimosas (you bring the bubbly). If he’s right, and the city crowds keep him busy, Aunt Kastanis might have to clear out her spare bedroom. 1120 S Michigan Ave between 11th St and Roosevelt Rd (312-789-9655).—Heather Shouse

Too bad it isn't open yet, my wife and I were going to stop in this morning on the way to the Field.

SSDD

First visit:

Atmosphere: pleasant, with a well lit, spacious contemporary interior and some window tables looking out on Michigan Avenue and Grant Park. Service: very attentive without any of the glitches typical of a newly opened restaurant. Kudos.

Now for the bad news:

Most of the breakfast entrees focused as expected on omelettes, benedicts, skillets, frittatas, and gravitated toward the $10 price point (so figure on a $30/2 cost unless you're cutting corners, which puts the tab in the range of Custom House--a sobering after-the-fact thought for us). There was a rather large selection so I chose one of the specials, a 3-egg omelette supposedly stuffed with chorizo, avocado, green pepper, onions, and topped with cheddar cheese and sour cream. You'd think that with those ingredients the worst that could happen would be one of flavors dominating the total, burying the delicacy of the eggs. Exactly the opposite. The eggs themselves had no flavor at all, making me think that I had mistakenly been served a yolkless omelette (which would've been an ironically egregious error considering the restaurant's moniker).

But even with the absence of flavor at the core of the dish, no other flavor dominated or barely even existed, leaving the dish spectacularly, institutionally tasteless. The impression that the omelette was made with some pre-scrambled, processed mixture was only enhanced by its texture (the consistency of soft, mealy, tiny curds) inside. I added salt near the end (something I hate to do with an omelette) but all that succeeded in doing was bringing out the flavor of the salt.

Oh well, even though our experience was similar to the kinds of places you wind up in when you want to go upscale from Denny's in some edge-city mall, we'll give it another try. I suppose we shouldn't render final judgment without at least trying one of the benedicts, although the fact that many restaurants pre-poach their eggs nowadays (often with good results, altho the potential for disaster is limitless) does give us pause.

I may admit some bias as my wife and I really are looking for an alternative to Eleven City Diner which is a hell-hole due to the owner and his attempt to infuse attitude over quality (we live in the South Loop). That being said, we had a great experience and did not think that the place was too pricey. The wait staff was attentive and the food was great. In an unexpected yet hilarious turn of events, the jerk owner of Eleven City Diner actually had the audacity to come in to spy on the place while we were there. He should spend more time trying to assist diners at his own dump. I agree that the decor is excelent and there is a great view of the new Agora sculpture exhibit across the street. Again, the breakfast was fine and I can't say enough about the service which made the experience a nice one. I will visit again and recommend it.

I finally had a chance to eat lunch at Yolk...or should I say, order carryout. I got the Smoked Turkey Reuben: Sliced turkey breast piled on rye bread with 1000 Island dressing, sauerkraut and melted swiss cheese.
I must say it was very good. They didn't skimp on the tasty kraut or turkey and I got the dressing on the side. The sandwich is BIG ($8.99) and came with a choice of fries, fruit cup or chips..........which are actually deep fried onion chips.......really good little devils but a tad greasy. We both got a huge dill pickle spear to top things off and for an extra $1.49, you can add a cup of soup to your order.

My friend got the Avalon Sunset: Grilled chicken with bacon, avocado, tomato and melted swiss on grilled sourdough ($9.49). She loved it and had nary a bad word to say about it. (She has tried their tomato tortellini and chicken tortilla soup on separate occassions ($3.25 w/bread) and declared them to be very flavorful, not too salty and worth every penny.

I have to add that while I loved my sandwich, I finished feeling stuffed to the gills and fearing my cholesterol had shot through the roof. (It may not be fair to add commentary fueled by a guilty conscience!)
The service was fast and friendly.

Has anyone been to Yolk on a Sunday morning? I'm wondering how crowded it's been. I haven't been yet, but was hoping to take my parents there for breakfast before heading to the Field Museum......

Was there on a morning of a Bear's game.

table of 10 bumped to a table of 14. I did call in a week before for reservations.

pancakes are avail for $1.50 in addition to any omelette entree:

no one finished both. but every woman at the table went for the optional pancakes.

typical pancakes found @ yolk (this particular one is the banana blackberry):


a not-too-bad eggs benedict:


I missed a pix of the most interesting item: banana bread french toast. Yolk was able to avoid the trendy brioche french toast (stuffed or otherwise) all together. the banana bread french toast was much more interesting. overall, the food was ho-hum. not bad, not great, not that interesting, but fun enough. not up to the par of rodan/Jane's/sweets & savories/custom house brunch, but i'd still chose Yolk over Bongo down the block just to NOT eat at 112. but the mimosa... o the mimosa... the next time-it'll-be-bottom-less mimosa...

Center of the room overlooking Michigan Ave:


we had outstanding service topped off by 2 bottles of champagne/brut matched to the house strawberry orange juicy yielding TREMENDOUS MIMOSAS. I can not stress how damn good the BYO mimosas were. The staff was accomodating; our server Amy kept up well with a huge group, the manager and hostess were both keenly aware of our needs. Fabulous time. valet parking is available in the same building - $5 for 90min. even on Bear's game days.

I had breakfast at Yolk December 3rd, the day of the Bears game. It's a big space, so even though it was busy, me and my two friends were seated immediately. The food was good, the service friendly and efficient. One friend ordered an omlette off the menu and he was very pleased with the result. This was their second trip, my first. I would go back in a heartbeat and recommend it without hesitation.

I live a block away from Yolk so I was excited to see it finally open. I found the food to be heartier than Bongo Room or Orange. The pancake deal mentioned by others is really awesome. It's a surefire way to feel stuffed for the rest of the day. I had the Trip to Venice omelette which was great. My only complaint was the potatoes - I like the way Orange does theirs.

Here's Yolk's menu.

Went to Yolk for brunch today and was pretty meh about the place. The counter setup makes it good for a solo diner and the menu does include more "normal" items than the Bongo Room, just one block to the west. The food, however, was pretty boring and, as stated above, institutionally tasteless.

I ordered the West Coast Crepes and a strawberry-Nutella crepe. The West Coast had egg, avocado, mushrooms, and cheese, yet nothing really popped. The crepes themselves were too thick as well. The food came out quite slowly too, not only for me but for everyone in my immediate area.

For this type of brunch, I much prefer Bongo Room.

Yolk is not the most innovative or trendy place for breakfast, but it is a great place for good food, fast and friendly service and some extra touches. Sure we wish everyone made their own jam and had real crab in their crabcakes, but Yolk does a great job of turning out standard breakfast fare (eggs, omelets, pancakes, scramblers) that are delicious.

Today was our third visit and we've been impressed with nearly all of the food (and the speed of delivery). It was just figjustin and I today. figjustin had the bacon quesadilla, which turned out to be more like a breakfast burrito, with nice thick bacon and a salsa that actually had some spice to it and the side of pancakes (the $1.50 bargain, as described previously), which would have only been made better by non-whipped butter (I'm not a fan of the whipped). I had The Farm House which is biscuits and gravy with two eggs (I ordered overeasy). My eggs were perfectly cooked, the biscuits were extremely buttery (if lacking some of the lightness I like in biscuits) and the sausage gravy was good. With my dish I got the choice of potatoes (red skinned, fried) or fruit, since I couldn't decide I got both (an extra $2.50 and therefore not nearly the pancake deal). The potatoes were the lowest point of the meal (and I love potatoes) - they were undercooked and could have used some onions. The fruit - meh - was winter fruit (tasteless cantalope and honeydew, watermelon (!), and oranges.

Our server was quick getting to our table and refilling water and coffee. In the past I've had good potatoes so I wouldn't rule them out, but definitely opt for the pancake sides rather than fruit (just get some fresh squeezed juice for your vitamin C).