Good breakfast joints near University Village?

I have been to Le Peeps, Hash browns and Wishbone... and I'm just not satisfied with any of these places... there's nothing especially good... anyone have any secret breakfast joints in the area?

These aren't secrets, but some of the closest breakfast destinations around UIC other than Wishbone and Le Peep:

over the 90/94 to the east"
Lou Mitchell's Restaurant
565 W Jackson Blvd
or
Manny's 1141 S Jefferson St
or
White Palace Grill 1159 S. Canal St.,
(Intersection of Roosevelt and Canal)

Or, a few blocks west/north on Taylor St.
Sweet Maple Cafe
1339 W. Taylor St.

Also, not far away to the West are Chilaquiles at
Nuevo Leon
1515 W. 18th St.
in Pilsen (first block east of Ashland)

And not too far to the south, Dim Sum in Chinatown...

If you'll go as far as 18th St in Pilsen, you might as well try Bombon Cafe at Ashland and Ogden. It's bigger than the 18th St bakery location and features a Mexican take on breakfast. It's not your basic taqueria fare - I had the tlacoyos, filled with black beans and topped a nice mix of shredded lettuce, cilantro and chopped tomato. There were a number of tortas (hot sandwiches) in good breakfast cominations, and I think a number of egg dishes. I topped the tlacoyos off with a honeydew melon agua and a truly outstanding latte.

There are only 5 or 6 tables so it may get a little crowded on the weekends, but it's a really sunny and cheerful space. In addition to the menu and specialty coffees, there's a case featuring a lot of the same great pan dulce and other sweets as the 18th St location.

It's not exactly in University Village, but it's close. For a great diner style breakfast, you can't beat the Palace Grill in the West Loop.

Palace Grill
1408 W. Madison
Chicago, IL
312-226-9529

Look into Kristoffer's Café on Halsted at 18th (east side of the street).

Antonius

kristopher's is really more of a coffee house that serves food than a breakfast/lunch place that serves coffee...

DCG, just take the S2000 and go to Chinatown for either St. Anna's bakery or Golden Horse for chinese pastries, dao foo fah, shredded pork buns, polo buns, etc. AFAIK, there are no 'secret' brunch joints nearby.

for mexican inspired brunch food in a coffee house setting, i'd try Efebos Cafe (in Pilsen) as well. they have some wonderful soups:
1640 S. Blue Island
312-633-9212

Of course, if you really want to go Western style, you could head to Roosevelt/Wabash for the Bongo (112) Room.

I'll second the recommendation for Sweet Maple Cafe. Their pancakes are out of this world. be warned, there's usually a considerable wait, but I have never been disappointed.

And for a typical "Greek diner" breakfast (with add-ons of grits and passable biscuits) there's always Eppel's smack between Manny's and White Palace both in location and quality.

Eppel's Restaurant
554 W. Roosevelt Rd.

All of the recs. above are solid, so I'll warn you off of one place: Hashbrown's on the "new and improved" Maxwell Street. Their signature sweet potato hashbrowns--which should be oustanding if they're gonna name the restaurant after them--are greasy, limp and flavorless. Don't get me wrong: I'm not against eating a stick of butter. But this was over the top. And I don't know how you take the flavor out of eggs and bacon (the breakfast panini), but somehow, they managed.

If you're willing to schlep down to Bridgeport, Lithuanian Healthy Food on Halsted is one of my regular favorites for cheap, easy breakfast. Their kugelis can be kind of tired during the week when it's slow, but it's usually excellent on weekends. And don't let the name of the restaurant fool you: aside from the fresh vegetable juices, there's not a whole lot of 'healthy' going on here.

Lithuanian Healthy Food
3236 S. Halsted
(312) 326-2724

(edit): oops...just reread the original post and saw that you've already tried Hashbrowns.

jbw wrote:And for a typical "Greek diner" breakfast (with add-ons of grits and passable biscuits) there's always Eppel's smack between Manny's and White Palace both in location and quality.

Eppel's Restaurant
554 W. Roosevelt Rd.

jbw,

Thanks for mentioning and describing Eppel's even in such terse terms. I've been passing it for years and always wonder what it's like but never get around to checking it out or even asking other people about it.

Antonius

Antonius wrote:

jbw wrote:And for a typical "Greek diner" breakfast (with add-ons of grits and passable biscuits) there's always Eppel's smack between Manny's and White Palace both in location and quality.

Eppel's Restaurant
554 W. Roosevelt Rd.

jbw,

Thanks for mentioning and describing Eppel's even in such terse terms. I've been passing it for years and always wonder what it's like but never get around to checking it out or even asking other people about it.

Antonius

I've actually been thinking about posting on Eppel's for some time. In addition to the above, the staff is usually very accommodating, their skillets are a pretty good value (altho the turkey sausage is to be avoided), their eggs-over-easy have always been over-easy, and their biscuits have always been fresh for me. A good alternative, if the WPC is crowded, your budget is tight, and your expectations aren't too high. In general, a pleasant place to have a traditional diner-breakfast if you're in the area.

Though, again, it's not exactly UIC, it's worth the bus ride across Roosevelt to hit Bongo Room at Wabash/Roosevelt. They don't have nearly the lines/wait (at least on weekdays) as the Wicker Park location.

And if you're in that area, there's also Eleven City Diner up the street on Wabash.