Little Branch Cafe--branching out

On the approaches to Museum Campus and and in the shadow of Soldier Field, Little Branch Cafe is now offering a light dinner service W-Sat from 5:00-9:30, with ambitions for something larger. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, it remains an excellent lunch spot for the area (lots of freshly made sandwiches and panini with quality ingredients and interesting selections of smoothies, coffees and the like, with full bar service); a relaxing high-end cafe ambience with indoor and outdoor seating both near and removed from the tourist and event crowds; and an alternative to Bongo Room for breakfast when the wait there becomes intolerable. Its breakfast menu is limited and not for the traditional minded (i.e., the bacon-eggs-hashbrowns crowd), but it does offer specials: an occasional artisanal pancake a la Bongo Room and an intriguing mascarpone-stuffed French toast on the weekends, which I haven't tried. But I have tried the lox-and-bagel platter, and, for the price ($8.95), it's one of the best in town.

Little Branch Cafe
1251 S. Prairie Ave.
Chicago, IL 60605
312-360-0101

jbw wrote:an intriguing mascarpone-stuffed French toast on the weekends, which I haven't tried.

I've had it there, and it's very good!

One thing working against Little Branch Cafe is its location, on the ground floor of a high-rise on a side street, below the level of Roosevelt Road. Unless you live there or are looking for it, you'd never notice it. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

It's an interesting little place, seeming like your basic neighborhood coffee shop where people are mostly just getting coffee. You wouldn't expect complete meals made to order, but they were doing a fine job when I went there for a solo Sunday brunch (and yes, it's a good alternative for avoiding long lines at nearby Bongo Room or Yolk).