Julius Meinl---unbeschreiblich gemutlich

I confess I am a bigot. I don't like chains (though some do a very good job), I don't like the gentrified to death Southport corridor (though there are nice shops, restaurants, and people to be found there), and I am somewhat dubious about haut bourgeois Viennese culture, since the Anschluss an' all.

That said, I decided, spontaneously, to celebrate the first recorded arrival of my son to kindergarten on time, by dropping in to Julius Meinl and treating myself to breakfast.

I've been there once or twice before and found it pleasant enough, but this time I was completely disarmed and won over.

I willed myself to screen out the Banana Republicans with the $300 "barn" jackets and $1000 strollers around me, and settled into an obscure table.

A waitress arrived almost immediately (though the joint was jumpin') and her demeanor was of a warmth so genuine that I began to have, if not exactly impure thoughts, certainly impractical ones.

I ordered the baked eggs with spinach, mushrooms, and feta. I can't say enough about how satisfying this turned out to be. The spinach appeared to be absolutely fresh, the thinly sliced mushrooms were plentiful, and, perhaps because the dish was baked, not sauteed, they really imparted a deep earthiness to the dish, despite not being wild, or even brown so far as I could tell. The whole thing was bound by the balanced creaminess/tartness of the layer of feta on top. (Prosciutto is optional, and next time I will try it.) Even teh toast was both perfectly golden, and actually hot when the dish came out.


I'm a big fan of the traditional greasy fried breakfast, either the skillet variety, or off the griddle. But the absence of grease in this baked dish really seemed to allow it to have more flavor as well as feeling pretty healthy.

And it's $6.50! A mediocre omelet at a faux diner is $8-$9 nowadays.

The coffee was, of course, very good and served in that appealingly generous cup, with the little chocolate square and pitcher of cream.

I refilled my coffee and had a small berry tart for dessert.

Everything worked: from the pleasantness of the physical space, to the friendly and thoroughly professional service to the presentations and the flavors of everything I ate.

On top of that, my bill was about $15. Now as much as I love my greasy spoons (A&T, Augie's, Sherman Snack Shop, Cambridge House of sainted memory, etc.), my breakfast there also tends to be about $15, and the coffee is no good, there's no Viennese pastry, and it costs me a couple of weeks off my probable lifespan.

If there were any demerits attached to my visit, it would be that the butter served in the plastic food service single serving with the tear-away foil top detracted from the elegance of everything around it, and that the waitress did call me "sir" in a way that made me feel even more middle aged than usual. Then I reflected that I am even more middle aged, with every passing second.

All in all, this was superior both to most tranditional breakfast places in both value, taste and atmosphere, but also to coffee houses where however good the drink, service is invariably iffy, and the scones, etc. are just passable.

This is hardly a discovery, but I'm a convert.

In a possibly interesting side note: I had walked by Southport Kitchen on the way over to J.M., having heard a lot about it. I stopped to read over the menu in the window and was thinking about going in when i noticed that in the several minutes it had taken me to peruse it, I had not seen a single wait-person visit a table, or even visibly on the floor. No plates of food, water or coffee refills, checks dropped --- zilch. This may have been just a statistical anomaly and every table there was in fine shape, but it made me think twice, and move on.

And on the subject of service, don't even get me started on my recent visit to Samuel's to pick up some bagels. Oy.

Amen. I've been several times and have been happy each time, particularly with the page (sadly only a single page) of Austrian specialties. Now, as you say, if we could just get the neighbors out...

Maybe we could just lobby for a new JM in a different neighborhood. I LOVE the pear-n-brie sandwich. and I'll second that compliment on their service - they've always been pleasant when i've been there.

i wanted to hate JM, too. I really did; if for no other reasons than (1) it reminds me of starbucks, which i pretty much hate (and not for their megachain status), and (2) it's uber clean, an aspect i normally instinctively don't like in a cafe. but they make it so hard not to love them. from the fine coffee to the finely executed dishes and pastries to the live classical music to the darned tasteful elegance of most every aspect of the place, it's just a great cafe. and i wish there were a lot more of them.

mrbarolo wrote:I had walked by Southport Kitchen on the way over to J.M., having heard a lot about it. I stopped to read over the menu in the window and was thinking about going in when i noticed that in the several minutes it had taken me to peruse it, I had not seen a single wait-person visit a table, or even visibly on the floor. No plates of food, water or coffee refills, checks dropped --- zilch. This may have been just a statistical anomaly...

No, no it wasn't.

Funny how opinion has come around. For the record, I've always admired what they were trying to do and are now accomplishing. Except for the lack of smoke, the place is turning into the neighborhood hub/destination that it set out to be. Also, the kitchen has gotten to be quite good, and the pastry is top-notch in most respects. I like the coffee, the espresso not so much. The owners/managers are genuinely nice people, best I can tell.

I was won over from day one. I've never found fault with the service or management. They are, in large part, wonderful. It's only that the place is often too crowded and noisy. Go at off hours.

They also have (well, have had for sure) music on Saturday early evenings - string players and such. Quite nice! I was never impressed with the pastry, it always tasted like it was flown in from Vienna But if it's gotten better, then yay!

leek wrote:I was never impressed with the pastry, it always tasted like it was flown in from Vienna

I'm with you on this. I've been in there twice for a post-dinner cup of coffee and dessert. I love the place but both times I found each dessert I tasted inedible. Also, I'm a decaf coffee drinker and it's hard to find places that use purchase high-quality decaf beans. Meinl's decaf coffee was terrible.

Based on this thread, I'm holding out hope that the desserts have improved. There are woefully few places to stop for a casual evening dessert.

Best,
Michael

I love Meinl. The Croissants are very good, and the Blackforest Ham and Gruyere one is a steal for $3.50.

I HATE their coffee. It's almost too strong and gives me a headache (and I love strong coffee). Their espresso drinks are much better, decaf and regular (and iced in the summer) It's bad enough there are a couple of places in town that serve Meinl coffee and I don't order it (Toast comes to mind)

I particularly like the melange.

And where else can you get perfect soft-boiled eggs served in an egg cup with a tiny spoon, toast points, Black Forest ham, Gruyere cheese and a truly good cup of drip coffee? This is a delightful breakfast, on par with Tre Kronor's dainty version of corned beef hash.

Add my voice to the chorus of great things to say about this place.

Excellent food (particularly the breakfast egg dishes - one step beyond a traditional "two egg breakfast")

Good, efficient service.

And an excellent atmosphere - very nice wood and good seating options. Haven't tried the pastry there yet, but plan to do so very soon.

kafein wrote:I love Meinl. The Croissants are very good, and the Blackforest Ham and Gruyere one is a steal for $3.50.

trixie-pea wrote:And where else can you get perfect soft-boiled eggs served in an egg cup with a tiny spoon, toast points, Black Forest ham, Gruyere cheese and a truly good cup of drip coffee?

I use to get their ham and cheese croissant while doing laundry Sat mornings. What a treat! Once a long time resident of the neighborhood (it seems too transient to be called a neighborhood nowadays), the last time I was there I opted for the very satisfying soft-boiled egg with sliced ham and cheese which I ate with toast and jam. It's a wonderful place to meet friends after work for their 1/2 sandwich and soup. It's rather quiet in the evening. The chicken soup with crepe noodles is also delicious. Their coffee to go was always too sour for my taste. Service was always excellent.

The buttermilk chocolate cake there is a must. One of the best chocolate cakes anywhere.

I went a few months ago with some friends for dessert and coffee. I am no dessert afficianado, but the banana mousse cake was draw-droppingly good the night we had it. One of my friends was literally having some type of sexual experience after trying it(which can be quite awkward in a restaurant).

We LOVE Meinl's. Given that it is the only locale in the US currently, it fits our defn of excellent breakfast: 1) proximity, 2) non-chain, 3) non-greasy spoon and most importantly, the combination of pastry (my husband is a sweet breakfast person, while I am a savory breakfast person.

I should note that we were recently severely disappointed to find out that our coffee would no longer be accompanied by the individually wrapped sweet biscuit, but rather a chocolate square... don't get me wrong, I'm a chocolate gal thru and thru, but these biscuits are damn near perfect with coffee. Oh well.

My husband (the sweet one) adores their nutella crepes, the granola parfait (though I swear it has gotten smaller in the last few months) and the almond croissant. (It's the real European deal, and Almost identical, if not the same, croissant at Vanille Patisserie on Clybourn.) Me (the savory one), I'm partial to the baked eggs. Mmm. And after a few visits, I learned that you can can actually order these baked eggs to your liking! I used to order the bacon and swiss (loaded with bacon), but now get the tomato, basil and goat cheese, but sub the goat for fontina. Yum.

JM is at the top of our breakfast list. I will have to take note of the other recs here!

I heartily agree with the assessment of the Baked Eggs and Perfect Coffee. However, I've gotten some attitude from the hostess (the asian one) both times I've been there. And, even on a slow day last week, our server took nearly 5 minutes to visit us after we were seated.

All of this can be forgiven, however, for what I am now racking up as the perfect breakfast - caffe au lait, and baked eggs with ham & swiss. AMEN!

I think the coffee at JM is good, but not quite great. (My favorite coffee along Southport is the Intelligentsia coffee from Bobtail, where it's usually served fresh and hot). Unmentioned thus far is the great tea that JM has. JM has many tea options and the tea is served in an oversized tea pitcher with a plunger. The tea is a bit pricey (around $3 for a pitcher), but it's worth it to me given that JM can be a pleasing place to sit and read if it's not overly crowded.

Finally, when the weather is decent, the outside seating at JM is nice, probably the best among Southport cafes, although not so nice as to let me forget the delightful adirondack chairs outside of the Fremont location of Caffe Ladro in Seattle.

While dining at Chalkboard (which serves Julius Meinl coffee) on Friday evening, our server told us that a new Julius Meinl is slated to go into the space at Montrose & Lincoln that most recently housed Block 44 and Acqualina. Any one else hear this rumor? I haven't seen any signs of activity or renovations in that space since Block 44 closed a few months ago.

(The same server also told us that a sports bar is going into the Cafe Florida space on the opposite corner.)

borborigmy wrote:I am no dessert afficianado, but the banana mousse cake was draw-droppingly good the night we had it.

Was this what they call "Banana Slice"?

If so, I've tried and enjoyed it, but I have to say that I find it very hard to resist the Topfenstrudel. So simple and yet so satisfying.

I know that the company has bought the building, but I'm not sure when they are going to start renovation. Probably in the spring so they can open during the patio season.

There has been a Mienl sign up on Irving just west of Southport on the North side of the street for almost a year. Looks like they are opening a second one but it is taking a while.

I have a friend who worked at Mienl and was treated very, very badly, so I have mixed feelings about the place (it was more than a just a personality conflict situation). My friend is very gracious and an extremely competent person, so while I don't wish Mienl ill, I probably won't ever go in again there.

cleanplateclub wrote:There has been a Mienl sign up on Irving just west of Southport on the North side of the street for almost a year. Looks like they are opening a second one but it is taking a while.

I believe that's their corporate office and/or baking facility. It's been there for several years, at least.

I'd be interested in hearing about what happened to your friend (I checked the posting guidelines and this type of discussion does not seem to be prohibited, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

If it involves allegations of a legal nature, it's definitely off limits without some outside verification like a news story.

If it's dishing dirt by one employee against another, well, that's not exactly what we're here for, and we reserve the right to decide when it seems like it's unfairly singling out one working person for the whole world to read about.

I kept it vague because my friend would be horrified to have her experiences aired -- I mostly brought it up because a couple of posters had mentioned that the management seemed like really good people, so I thought my comment was fair game, but only in that context. Just to be clear -- it wasn't violent or illegal or anything ugly like that, just questionable in terms of being honorable -- I think it was a bad situation but I don't want to make more of it than that; plus I don't even know if it is still the same management.

I stop for coffee a handful of times per month for coffee-to-go on my way to work. I usually also pick up a breakfast item, usually a croissant, occasionally a turnover. This morning, the bacon & cheddar scone caught my eye, so I opted for one of those. It was still a little warm and it was delicious! This may develop into a new morning vice.

From this week's Dish via Chicago Magazine's website:

An outpost of Julius Meinl (3601 N. Southport Ave.; 773-868-1857), an upscale Viennese coffeehouse, is going into the old Block 44 space (4365 N. Lincoln Ave.). “The owners are saying this fall,” says Carolyn Minor, a manager, “but we haven’t even started any renovations yet, so that might be a little enthusiastic.”

As JLenart posted last week, the new Julius Meinl at Lincoln and Montrose is open. The major differences are that the new store is smaller and has no sidewalk seating. Based on one visit, things appear to be running smoothly.

...since this has turned into a where to find JM coffee thread, in part at least... I'm not sure if Pie has been mentioned... There's a really lovely flower shop in River North called Epoch ...the owner added a table in back, a barista area, and some unknown pastry chef makes wonderful pie, available by the slice or whole. This pastry/coffee section is called Pie, but they've tastefully integrated the two concepts into one space. It feels like you could be sitting in Martha Stewart's kitchen or something. It's quite a lovely space, and I've only been a few times but it seems like a little bit of a kept secret.... I admit to not having an actual drip coffee, I've only had mochas (no chai here). The Julius Meinl mochas here are incredibly rich and chocolately and delicious, perhaps some would find them too rich even (maybe made with real chocolate?).

Pie / Epoch Floral
615 N State
Chicago, IL

as long as we're posting on where to be served JM:

I mentioned this on the Over Easy thread - we were served JM coffee and JM loose leaf tea at brunch. The tea was very good and served in a generous sized plunger pot. JM coffee is also available free to those waiting outside for a table.

Over Easy
4943 N Damen Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 506-2605