Bakin' and Eggs

We had lunch at Bakin' and Eggs on Lincoln on Wednesday. The food was excellent and, unlike our attempt the prior Saturday, we were seated promptly. The room is bright, clean, and looks like it could be noisy when full.

I had the meatloaf sandwich, a moist slab meatloaf that seemed to have a bit of mustard flavor (rather than ketchup or even catsup), on a fresh pretzel roll with cheddar cheese and grilled onions. My wife had the BLT that could best be described as BACON!, lettuce, and tomato. She opted to have it cheeseless. The bacon was wonderful but the baugette was dry. We both ordered the house made potato salad, but they ran out, so we split a potato salad and a pasta salad. Both were good, but the former was better (IMO) than the latter.

The only unfortunate thing was that while they were wrestling with the lack of sufficient potato salad in the back, we were left to sit for over 20 minutes, just sippin' our coffees. To their credit, my wife's entire sandwich was comped and we got a free plate of cookies for desert. Given that they'd been open for less than a week, I think this is a shakedown error. We'll be going back in a couple of weeks after things there settle into a routine.

With respect to BACON!, the menu offers "Flight of Bacon", five different flavors of bacon for $5.

Bakin' and Eggs is part of the Lovely group.

Here's a link to the menu. http://www.bakinandeggschicago.com/menu/

Bakin' and Eggs
3120 Lincoln Avenue
773-525-7005

Open for breakfast and lunch.

Looking forward to getting to this place, maybe on Sunday. I'm a near-daily visitor to Lovely and am jazzed to see these ladies try their hands at a full brunch menu.

I stopped in this week and really enjoyed the food. The bacon is thick cut and some of the best I've had. I had the honey flavor, but didn't really taste any honey, which wasn't an issue since plain bacon is still delicious. I was really bummed that the actual menu doesn't contain all of the items on the menu posted on their website. I had the caramelized onion frittata, which was excellent, although I've never been a fan of house potatoes/home fries as a side item. I felt it was a fair amount of good quality food for $9. There are also a number of desserts available near the registers, I'm anxious to give them a try.

I do worry about the longevity of the restaurant. It seems the place is way too huge for the relatively little seating area provided.

Had brunch there today.

The room is bright clean and plenty of space between tables. The coffee is very good. The muffins, blueberry, cranberry and banana, were tasty but a little pricey for their size. We had a frittata and croissant sandwich, substituted cheddar cheese. They were both fine, nothing special. All ingredients seemed to be very fresh and made to order. They are with in their first two weeks and that being said everything was excellant. There is room to improve but then there is time for improvement since they are so young.

PS had the bacon flight. Nice idea but it is very hard to tell the difference from what type of wood is used to smoke the bacon.

I went to B&E for breakfast today. It was okay. I'm not sure I would run back there again. I shared a flight of bacon. The only real standout was the jalapeno bacon...wow...delicious! Then I got the bacon waffles which were disappointing and flavorless. Their house potatoes were tasty: covered with fresh herbs and not too greasy. They had a biscuits-and-gravy dish that people in my party were raving about, but that was a special and not a regular menu item. Service was slow but friendly.

Mr. Scamp Jr and I enjoyed brunch with a couple of friends at Bakin' and Eggs this past Sunday. Our table started with the Flight of Bacon, and our entire group enjoyed sampling the different varieties. While the Maple Pepper was my favorite, Jalapeno got the nod from the rest of the table. I had the half-order of Biscuits and Gravy which came, not surprisingly, with a strip of delicious bacon resting gently on the biscuit, beneath the gravy. The gravy was rich and creamy, but not overly heavy or salty - nicely done. I was skeptical about pairing rosemary parmesan drop biscuits with sausage gravy, but the biscuit flavors were subtle, and a nice companion to the gravy. My over-easy eggs were cooked perfectly, and the fresh-squeezed OJ was wonderful. Arriving at 10, we had a brief wait, but nothing unreasonable. The place was quite busy, but service was attentive and prompt, and we never lacked for warm-ups of our coffee - we'll be back.

This place has really found it's "stride"!

Went for an early Sunday morning breakfast- got there around 9:15am- and the place was full- with a short 15 minute wait (which, in actuality, only was 10 minutes )
We were seated by the owner- an ex Pastry chef- who shared a bit of the background of his place with us.
His baking background and his wife's design background (she worked for the very well regarded Interior Design firm of Gary Lee Partners) meshed
well in their planning and execution.
So many small details show "someone" was thinking.
For example- each tables setup, places all the usual condiments/salt & pepper ,etc. on a matt black,rectangular shaped, CB2 looking ceramic tray.
A simple detail- but the way that this "organizes" each wooden table top, shows a layer of attention,
not seen in so many dining establishments.

We already had a cup of Intelligensia coffee, provided at the waiting area (added to the bill ($2.50) later), when we were ordered a fritatta, flavored with blue cheese,carmelized onions & drizzled with a syrupy balsamic vinegar reduction that was served with wonderfully seasoned home fries and Chicken Apple Sausage (and toast) for me> and a Sweet and Savory combo breakfast sandwich- Cinnamon Raisin toast /Apple Chicken Sausage/ and SunnySide Up eggs.

As noted the room is bright and airy- the southern wall is painted a cherry shade of light blue and the soffited ceiling detail is well executed.
I really enjoyed watching the magnetic charm the display cases filled with cup cakes and other baked goods had upon the
"smaller set" of waiting clients.
Perfectly designed so that the eyeballs of wee ones wouldn't miss a treat!
Genius!

All in all a very nice addition to the "usual suspects" of nicer breakfast spots (Bongo Room,Toast,Lula's, etc).......jsut be sure to get there b4 11am to avoid a longer wait.
3 stars!

I went yesterday for brunch around 1pm and to be honest I thought the amount of food received for what I paid for was really poor.

I ordered the two eggs any way breakfast with chicken sausage. I have food allergies so I am not able to eat the potatoes, grits or toast and ordered a side of the cherry smoked bacon. The two slices of chicken sausage were comparable to the size of jimmy dean sausage links and then I received two pieces of bacon. I usually order the exact same meal when I eat brunch and I was so disappointed and hungry after I finished my meal. I expected the sausage to be larger or at least three links as well with the bacon. If you cannot eat gluten or have food allergies, I would not recommend this restaurant. And the bacon was just okay....I've had better at whole foods ordering from the butchers behind the counter.

I had a wonderful breakfast at Bakin' & Eggs, and I recommend this restaurant to others.

I ordered the “Bacon Waffle”.

Wow, it was delicious, and I recommend that you try it if you eat here.

Here is the menu description: bacon & rum batter + butter + maple syrup + bacon garnish

To me, the waffle was perfectly balanced: not too heavy and not too light, neither tough nor chewy, great combo of crisp and soft, cooked correctly and neither raw nor doughy inside. The rum flavor in the batter was subtle but delicious. There was a generous amount of bacon cooked in the batter. The butter was a soft whipped butter, so it spread easily over the waffle. The bacon garnish was a large strip of crispy bacon placed on top of the waffle.

The Intelligentsia coffee was fabulous.

I was there at 9:00 a.m. on a Thursday morning, so there was no wait and no crowds at the tables. But of course they can be quite busy during normal meal times and weekend brunch. The light and airy décor with the high ceilings made a beautiful ambience; I don’t know if the size makes it noisy during busy times or not.

I had an awesomely friendly and competent server. I drank a mug of coffee with my meal, and when I indicated that I’d be eating and leaving relatively quickly, she asked if I wanted additional coffee to go, and brought me a nice full cup to take with me.

When it comes to the price of restaurant food, I’ve totally lost perspective regarding what is “bargain”, “appropriate” or “overpriced”. Lately, to me, everything seems expensive!! The entrée I described was $9.00 and the bottomless coffee was $2.50. That’s probably normal for this type of restaurant in Chicago’s Lakeview and Lincoln Park neighborhoods.