M. Henrietta and M. Henry

There doesn't seem to be a dedicated M. Henrietta thread.

We went for lunch the other day. We both had the Sweet Pea Soup, and, as I remarked to our waitress, it could easily have just been titled The Best Vegetable Soup Ever. Full of all kinds of vegetables bursting with flavor in a delicious, perfectly seasoned broth.

My main dish was a "pan-Asian" noodle bowl with lots of veggies. Enjoyable.

I am introducing more vegan meals into my diet, so the fact that M. Henrietta makes it so possible to eat that way without sacrificing deliciousness or satisfaction goes a long way in my book. They have plenty of "animal protein" options as well, of course.

I was there previously on a Saturday for lunch, and naturally it was much busier that time--I didn't groove on the feeling of overwhelm I picked up on, nor the fact that tables to either side of us could hear our conversation. Going there on a weekday--when they do a nice business, but are not crowded--seems ideal to me. A really pleasant feeling overall, combined with food ranging from the very good (noodle bowl) to the truly outstanding (soup).

In deference to nsxtasy's suggestion, in the post that follows this one, I've expanded the title of this thread. I will say, however, that I've enjoyed my meals at M. Henrietta more than my meals at M. Henry, so I don't know how much similarity the places have beyond their common ownership. Whoever is in the kitchen at M. Henrietta is better, IMO.

riddlemay wrote:There doesn't seem to be a dedicated M. Henrietta thread.

What's more surprising is that there's no dedicated M. Henry thread, despite being one of the most popular and well-known breakfast restaurants in Chicago, although it has been mentioned in the thread on best brunch places in the city. Because M. Henry and M. Henrietta are sister restaurants, would it make sense for this thread to cover both restaurants? [EDIT: Thank you for doing so, riddlemay!]

Michael Henry opened his namesake restaurant, M. Henry, on Clark in Andersonville in 1993; in 2006 it expanded into the adjacent storefront and opened the bakery counter. Last year he added M. Henrietta, on Granville in Edgewater. Both specialize in breakfast/lunch/brunch, and both menus for those meals are virtually identical between the two. M. Henrietta is also open for dinner; M. Henry is not. Neither restaurant accepts reservations for breakfast/lunch/brunch, although M. Henrietta does so for dinner.

I've been to M. Henry numerous times, although I have not yet been to M. Henrietta. Like many of our other breakfast specialty restaurants, waits to be seated can be 30-60 minutes on weekends between 9:30 and 1:00, but are usually non-existent at other times. They also sell baked goods to go in a counter at the entrance.

I've enjoyed everything I've eaten at M. Henry, A LOT. Their sweeter items are terrific. They always have at least one version of their "blisscakes" on the menu, sometimes more than one; these are pancakes stacked with mascarpone and fruit. Their "out of this world bread pudding" is equally wonderful, and has fruit mixed in; it's only on the Sunday brunch menu, not on the weekday menu, but it's also been on the specials card every time I've been there on a Saturday. I've also enjoyed the savory items I've had, including soups (as noted above) and egg dishes. It's a local gem, one of our very best places for breakfast/brunch.

M. Henrietta
1133 W Granville (a few doors west of the Granville stop on the CTA Red Line)
Chicago IL 60660
773.761.9700
Tuesday - Friday 7:00am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:00pm
Saturday 8:00am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:00pm
Sunday 8:00am - 3:00pm

M. Henry
5707 N. Clark
Chicago IL 60660
773.561.1600
Tuesday - Friday 7am - 3pm
Saturday, Sunday 8am - 3pm

Thanks for posting the address info for M. Henrietta, nsxtasy. I should have done that.

I must respectly disagree with nsxtasy. I've complained similary on another board as well. I live mere blocks from M. Henry and used to visit somewhat regularly. I have been quite disappointed with M. Henry, especially as popular as it is and well-known. (In fact, I was just conversing on this topic last night.)

Anyway, I feel that M. Henry is not consistent with their delivery. Food preparation or Service.

For one, they do not know how to cook eggs properly. I have ordered eggs with standard lingo at M. Henry, only to receive undercooked or overcooked eggs. I have also learned from my mistake and proceeded to explicitly describe to the server how I would like my eggs cooked, so that s/he can convey to the kitchen, or even perform a simple "jiggle" test prior to serving me my plate. In either case, M. Henry FAILS. I'm not the only person to complain about this. I also feel that as a breakfast/brunch establishment, it is a horror to not know how to properly cook eggs to order!

I firmly also believe the service here is very inconsistent. It's been great, then the next time it's horrible. I don't have an explanation for this. I've been when quite busy, I've been when barely another table was sat. Doesn't seem to matter much.

While nxstasy is a huge fan of their blisscakes, I have yet to try...that's because I really enjoy eggs and bacon for breakfast.

Going out to breakfast/brunch is something that my husband and I thoroughly enjoy. We go somewhere at least once per week. So imagine our disappointment when M. Henry couldn't suit our regular pursuit of eggs, bacon and the like. Despite the oft mentioned long waits. Now we do venture a bit farther for those comforts, where consistency & excellent service seem to be the norm, not the exception.

I find that surprising. While I no longer live near m. henry, I live close enough to come by at least once a month, often more in the summer. Usually our visits are with a group of at least 4 and eggs are always ordered. I've never had an issue with them "not knowing how to properly cook an egg." That's often a criticism I have with restaurants, but I've not found that to be the case here. I'm also surprised that despite your many visits you've never tried the pancakes - which are very good. We also enjoy eggs for breakfast but usually get a sweet dish that everyone shares, and we've had nearly all of the sweet dishes at m. henry, some more than a few times.

As for m. henrietta, I've only been twice. On once occasion the waitress talked me into the vegan meat loaf (I usually balk when I hear "vegan"). It was fantastic.

So all told, I give them both a solid thumbs up.

Last year I lunched at M. Henry 3 or 4 times. While I liked the food, especially the curried chicken empanada, I too felt the service was lacking. Except for the first time I felt rushed and somewhat neglected. The waitress was surprised that I might want dessert. No one offered to refill my iced tea. It was so long before someone checked on me the last time, that there was no point in asking for a refill -- I was ready to go. This was on a weekday; the restaurant at least half empty. I thought perhaps it was because I was on my own. Anyway, I haven't been back.

spinynorman99 wrote:I find that surprising. While I no longer live near m. henry, I live close enough to come by at least once a month, often more in the summer. Usually our visits are with a group of at least 4 and eggs are always ordered. I've never had an issue with them "not knowing how to properly cook an egg." That's often a criticism I have with restaurants, but I've not found that to be the case here. I'm also surprised that despite your many visits you've never tried the pancakes - which are very good. We also enjoy eggs for breakfast but usually get a sweet dish that everyone shares, and we've had nearly all of the sweet dishes at m. henry, some more than a few times.

As for m. henrietta, I've only been twice. On once occasion the waitress talked me into the vegan meat loaf (I usually balk when I hear "vegan"). It was fantastic.

So all told, I give them both a solid thumbs up.

I, too, like something sweet for breakfast along with eggs and bacon...dessert, if you will.

However it's usually just my husband and me for breakfast, so I'd prefer to not spend $40 on breakfast, after two egg dishes, coffee, juice AND an order of blisscakes.

Upon further reflection, I do recall ordering either a "side" of french toast or pancakes...and they were nothing special. For the price, definitely not worth it.

I know I'm in the minority about this, but I've had similar discussions with other diners who have shared the same sentiment about M. Henry...just inconsistent.

jewel4352 wrote:I know I'm in the minority about this, but I've had similar discussions with other diners who have shared the same sentiment about M. Henry...just inconsistent.

I'm idly curious whether others share my view that M. Henrietta is better than M. Henry. I know it shouldn't be--same owner, one place kind of a "spin-off" of the other, etc.--but my experience is that it is.

I'm wondering if the problem that I (and perhaps others) have had with M. Henry is a certain difficulty in reconciling "consistency" with "packed-to-the-rafters."The two times I was there (weekend-mornings, line-'em-up) the major problems I had were not with the preparation/quality of the food but with a harried waitstaff and an inordinately long delivery time from the kitchen launch pad to the table (particularly disastrous with most egg dishes).

FWIW, the last couple of times I've been to M. Henry are on weekends (one Saturday, one Sunday) when I have arrived between 9:00 and 9:30. At these times, I have been seated immediately, but lines started forming shortly thereafter, and waits were 30+ minutes by the time I left. (Earlier visits had been during the week.) The food quality has been top-notch in my visits; although the waitstaff has been busy, the only problems I've experienced is once or twice with delays in taking our order, and not with bringing it to the table promptly, with the food piping hot.

And not to suggest that this is a prime indicator of reliability, but the long lines can't possibly be comprised solely of first-timers never to return again. There's a reason the place still draws crowds after this long.

spinynorman99 wrote:And not to suggest that this is a prime indicator of reliability, but the long lines can't possibly be comprised solely of first-timers never to return again. There's a reason the place still draws crowds after this long.

3 words: Breakfast Bread Pudding!

I've been to M. Henry a couple of times and M. Henrietta once.

I believe they have overcooked my eggs every single time I've gone there. Service is friendly, but sometimes a bit on the slow and oblivious side (waiting 5 minutes for toast kinds of ruins eggs with toast).

I think I could make a lot of money by running a van service that takes people from the line at M. Henry to the empty seats at M. Menrietta.

Darren72 wrote:I think I could make a lot of money by running a van service that takes people from the line at M. Henry to the empty seats at M. Menrietta.

That's actually what I've been wondering about. I love M. Henry but not the waits on weekends. If M. Henrietta has the same food without the long waits, I'm all over it.

My mom and brother are coming out tomorrow afternoon to celebrate my acquisition of an Illinois real estate broker's license (looking to rent or own, and dining access holds an important place in the decision? - I'm your man ).

My brother recently moved to Uptown, so we are meeting there and then heading out to a place of my choosing. In the interest of efficiency, I was thinking somewhere in Uptown or Andersonville.

I've been to a lot of the neighborhood favorites , but not M Henry - seems like I'm overdue for a visit. But, my mom isn't fond of long waits.

If we were planning to go to M Henry tomorrow, Saturday, for a late brunch/lunch around 1:30pm - would we still run into monster crowds? I've never been, but the wait time at M Henry precedes its reputation. I'm wondering how it differs between prime 10a-12p brunch time vs. a little later in the day.

Or, if you think the wait time here would be too much, even late - then would you recommend M Henrietta instead?

It seems like the menus are very similar and I know this was something being discussed before, but would you say the quality is the same between the two locations?;

Thanks!

I would throw Tweet into the mix if you're going later. (which really doesn't answer your question, but we like Tweet a lot)

Tweet
5020 North Sheridan Road
773 728 5576

Based on my own experiences, I think the two restaurants are extremely similar. I'd be surprised if there was a consistent quality difference. I can't tell you what the wait will be like at 1pm at M. Henry, but my guess is that there won't be any wait at M. Henrietta. They are only a few minutes apart by car, so it is easy to check the first and then head to the second as a back up.

You might also like Uncommon Ground.

DClose wrote:If we were planning to go to M Henry tomorrow, Saturday, for a late brunch/lunch around 1:30pm - would we still run into monster crowds?

In my experience, most of the breakfast specialty places (including M. Henry) start having waits to be seated on weekends around 9:30, and those waits taper off to nothing between 12:30 and 1:00. Of course, there are no guarantees, but this is what I've observed on numerous occasions at both ends of that range, like clockwork. At 1:30 I'm guessing you won't have to wait at all.

Note that M. Henry and M. Henrietta both serve from their weekday breakfast and lunch menus on Saturday; the brunch menu is only served on Sundays. However, you won't be missing much on a Saturday. In particular, when I've been to M. Henry on Saturdays, they have always had the "out of this world bread pudding" as a daily special, even though it's only on the Sunday brunch menu.

The suggestion above is a good one; if you arrive at M. Henry and find that the wait is lengthy (again, I doubt this will happen at 1:30), you could always drive over to M. Henrietta. I wouldn't do it in the reverse order, though; since M. Henrietta is new and M. Henry is so well-known, I doubt the wait would be significantly shorter at M. Henry than at M. Henrietta.

Enjoy it! (Blisscakes, yummmm....)

This thread made me real curious, so I had breakfast today at M. Henry. The place didn't do anything for me, although the eggs were cooked properly and the service was fine. I guess I like my breakfast prepared a bit simpler, and I found the food to be overwrought for my tastes. There was nothing bad about it, it was just a bit more pretentious than I had hoped for.

stevez wrote:This thread made me real curious, so I had breakfast today at M. Henry. The place didn't do anything for me, although the eggs were cooked properly and the service was fine. I guess I like my breakfast prepared a bit simpler, and I found the food to be overwrought for my tastes. There was nothing bad about it, it was just a bit more pretentious than I had hoped for.

I take it you didn't try the breakfast sandwich? Eggs, bacon cheese and tomato on sourdough. Nothing pretentious about it.

spinynorman99 wrote:
I take it you didn't try the breakfast sandwich? Eggs, bacon cheese and tomato on sourdough. Nothing pretentious about it.

This is one of my standard orders also.

spinynorman99 wrote:

stevez wrote:This thread made me real curious, so I had breakfast today at M. Henry. The place didn't do anything for me, although the eggs were cooked properly and the service was fine. I guess I like my breakfast prepared a bit simpler, and I found the food to be overwrought for my tastes. There was nothing bad about it, it was just a bit more pretentious than I had hoped for.

I take it you didn't try the breakfast sandwich? Eggs, bacon cheese and tomato on sourdough. Nothing pretentious about it.

Actually, that's exactly what I tried. Are you telling me that you can actually eat that like a sandwich? I couldn't, and I assume that's why they serve it with a steak knife.

The GP wrote:I would throw Tweet into the mix if you're going later. (which really doesn't answer your question, but we like Tweet a lot)

Tweet
5020 North Sheridan Road
773 728 5576

Any additional information about this place? Even with the much-lauded Google site-search, I only found a couple passing mentions and two small, mediocre-sounding reviews of the place.

DClose wrote:

The GP wrote:I would throw Tweet into the mix if you're going later. (which really doesn't answer your question, but we like Tweet a lot)

Tweet
5020 North Sheridan Road
773 728 5576

Any additional information about this place? Even with the much-lauded Google site-search, I only found a couple passing mentions and two small, mediocre-sounding reviews of the place.

Tweet's really great. Also part of our regular breakfast rotation (in addition to m. henry, Tre Kronor and some others). Quality ingredients and delicious food. Love the benedicts, breakfast burritos and chilaquiles. One of the best red velvet cakes anywhere and a funky ambiance.

http://www.tweet.biz/brunch.htm

Ended up having a pretty good meal at M Henry - thanks for the advice everyone!

We arrived at about 1:30 and I think the timing was perfect, because the restaurant was completely full, but there was no one waiting for a table. We told the hostess we were a party of three and in about 2 minutes we were seated at what appeared to be the only open table in the restaurant.

I went with the egg sandwich, and though it was very good. The eggs were cooked to a perfect over-medium (I know some people have had issues with this up-thread), the bacon was crisp, and the bread well toasted. The gorgonzola was a nice touch, though I think it was a bit low-quality, as it was not very creamy and quite crumbly - still, it tasted alright and nicely cut the richness of the bacon and eggs. The bread, while toasted well, I thought would have used a little butter (or more butter?) as it was a little dry. The potatoes were perfectly cooked and I liked the onion, green onion, red pepper, and garlic blended in.

My brother had the empanada special with some sort of chicken filling, along with a bowl of the Portugese kale soup. This meal was a little odd, because the empanada was literally just a single empanada (granted, a large one, made of pastry dough) on a plate with some sort of green leaf garnish. It looked a little lonely on a full sized plate, with no salad, slaw, starch or any other item to accompany it. Still, despite the odd set up and inauthentic preparation (pastry dough) he liked it. The soup was also a bit odd. When I hear Portugese kale soup, I immediately picture a cloudy, kale-packed soup with slices of Portugese sausage. This was more like a bean chili - with garbanzos and black beans, in addition to a relatively scarce amount of kale and chorizo. Still, as with the empanada, despite it being different than expected, he really enjoyed it.

My mom had the open-faced harvest sandwich, which she loved. Granted, she is a suburbanite empty-nester, who usually doesn't go out to eat very often, so almost anything she gets she always loves. Still this was definitely the prettiest, and most unique dish of the afternoon. The sandwich had roasted beets, goat cheese, spinach, and pecans - dressed in a vinaigrette. She selected the plantains as her side and despite the trend we saw through most of the meal of M Henry doing very odd takes on Latin American standards, the plantains were right on point - caramelized, cooked perfectly with great flavor.

And what else could we end the meal with but an order of blackberry bliss cakes to share? It was the perfect desert - the best part of the meal, but decadent enough where I was glad I didn't order it for my main meal. Rich but not too sweet, incredibly fluffy pancakes with fresh berries and a tasty vanilla mascarpone that was a welcome change to the normal whipped cream and/or powdered sugar you usually see.

Service was great, very friendly and attentive - we always had our waters and iced teas refilled without having to ask.

I enjoyed the meal and, while there were a few things that could have been a bit better, can see why the place is so popular. Waiting an hour to get in during brunch rush? I think not. But, as a fun destination for a late brunch or lunch when in the area - absolutely.