Breakfast in Wicker Park

Can someone reccomend a great saturday morning breakfast spot, going to be about 9:30-10:00 am, so brunch works if they are open that early. Not worried about price, probably going to be 4 of us.

I'm fairly certain that the Bongo Room is open at 9 am on weekends. I've never been there myself, but it comes very highly recommended from people whose tastebuds I trust, and there always seems to be a line so they must be doing something right.

Bongo Room
1470 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
773-489-0690

Bongo Room is excellent, indeed. But be prepared to wait in line if you arrive during "prime time". Why can't more brunch places take reservations??

Forno on Milwukaee and Damen if you don't want to wait in line. Ultra casual and no wait is Janik's Subs on Division, and of course, Hollywood diner on North and Ashalnd. Some people like Milk and Honey on Division, although I am not a fan, as I like a lot of egg and meat options.

Hot Chocolate starts serving brunch at 10 a.m. on Saturdays (and Sundays). Their menus and info are on their website.

Milk and Honey is one of my favorite places to eat breakfast/lunch in the city. I can't speak to how busy it is at that time however, since I've never been that early.

Feast opens at 9 and has a very tasty brunch. Large space, including a patio, so you shouldn't have too long a wait.

Francesca's Forno opens at 10 and is perhaps my favorite brunch in the city. Smaller menu, but a little out of the ordinary and everything is excellent. The lentils and the truffled egg toast are both highly recommended.

Feast
1616 N. Damen
Chicago, IL 60647
773.772.7100
www.feastrestaurant.com

Francesca's Forno
1576 N. Milwaukee
Chicago, IL 60622
773.770.0184
http://www.miafrancesca.com/restaurants ... mation.asp

If you don't mind the wait, do Bongo Room. It deserves the crowds and the hype. I have been going since it was five tables under the L on Damen and never been disappointed. Get a cup of joe from a server and do a little people watching.

One tip, the pancakes usually come three to an order, but often times they are too just too indulgent in that quantity. You can order single pancakes though, so order a few of these for the table and have an egg dish (the Benedicts are awesome) for yourself.

Bongo Room opens at 9 on weekends, so on most weekends, at 9:30 you will have missed out on the first seating and will be in the line, which can be as long as 45 minutes. I agree about the size of the dishes there. When I'm with a group, I often time just order a side of their chicken sausage and then pick at everyone else's leftovers.



Feast doesn't seem to fill up until 10:30 or so. Fewer over the top sweet items like Bongo Room's chocolate pancakes, but some good savory items. It's technically Bucktown by standard definitions, but right by the border.

Moonshine also has some good savory dishes (i like their taquitos) to supplement their sweet options, and an added plus of a bloody mary fixin' bar, where you add your own olives, hot sauce etc to customize your bloody Mary.

Milk and Honey opens real early and in the summertime with outdoor seating is not too much of a line at 9:30 on a weekend morning. Fewer complex brunch items, but with a more wholesome look and feel about it.

Bongo Room
1470 N Milwaukee

Feast
1616 N Damen

Moonshine
1824 W Division

Milk and Honey
1920 W Division

You should note that the line pictured for Bongo Room is for the first sitting before the doors open and if you arrive after you will be able to give your name and not have to wait in a formal line.

technically not wicker pk, but close enough is dodo on damen just south of augusta. very good.

ok... yah bongo room has been packing them in for a long time but you'll have to wait 45-1 hr. i've heard from some it's not worth it, but clearly the line indicates otherwise. i've never been even though i used to live directly across the street from bongo room ... even 5 years ago they had a line for brunch, so that's pretty indicative of something. (i've heard their newer south loop location is much less busy)

toast is supposed to be good and this weekend the wait was 20 mins or so.

...i've heard more bad things than good about feast...


...Somewhere someone suggested Rodan as a good place to go that didn't have a wait. So we went. it was, interesting... i think the food could potentially be good if you ordered the right things, but the menu was pretty "out there" ... if you're into things that are "out there" this place might be good for you. the 2 ppl i was with didn't even find anything on the menu they liked so they ordered eggs, bacon and toast, which wasn't really even good .. (why do places that serve toast just warm the bread and kind of grill it for 2 seconds but not actually toast it? this seems to be very common).

by far my favorite breakfast place in the vicinity is Bite Cafe.. but it's not in wicker park, just west of there. (just north of augusta/western). usually not a wait for brunch though.

thanks for the tip on dodo, never heard of it but live very close, will have to looklook maybe this weekend

Anyway...

RE: Bongo Room

If you just 2, the bar seats are a great option and have been available to us when we were at the back of that line shown. When it opens, you get quite a few couples with kids, so no bar for them. Lots of people with out of town guests so no bar for them. Service has been very good at the bar as well.

Also, it took us a few visits to learn the half-order and 1 pancake trick. We usually get separate savory dishes and split a sweet.

Pure. Bloat. Bliss.

Bin actually serves a pretty good brunch with great bloody maries. They offer bloody marie flights, but they are overpriced for the amount you get. The breakfast pizza and chicken hash are great. I've never had even a slight wait for brunch there, they open at ten.

Bin Wine Cafe
1559 N. Milwaukee
Chicago, IL
773-486-2233

I've always enjoyed Dodo, and there haven't been any lines when I've gone. Last I knew, though, they didn't have any central air. May not be a problem for this upcoming weekend, but otherwise, be warned...

935 north damen avenue
chicago IL 60622
http://www.dodochicago.com/

Dodo is usually pretty cool if you go early, before it gets too hot. They open at 8 am. They also serve dinner M-F.

mailsf wrote:Feast
1616 N. Damen
Chicago, IL 60647
773.772.7100
www.feastrestaurant.com

Anybody know why Feast's website appears to be down?

nsxtasy wrote:

mailsf wrote:Feast
1616 N. Damen
Chicago, IL 60647
773.772.7100
www.feastrestaurant.com

Anybody know why Feast's website appears to be down?

Maybe they didn't pay the bill? Technical difficulties? Because the restaurant certainly seems open

FYI- Feast takes brunch reservations. The party may have to be large though, I am not sure, but we had a reservation a week ago for brunch (There were 8 of us)