edited for dupe info

Orange has a sister location at 75 W Harrison St also. Opens at 8am, phone: (312) 447-1000. This morning had the French Toast Kebabs, unfortunately very poor breakfast. There was no hint of the coconut milk, french toast was baked until dry, so not good at all. :( The best part were the strawberries on the kebabs that due to the baking almost became packets of warm strawberry essence. :) A wide variety of fresh juices were offered which I really liked. Service was great. I'll go back and try the Frushi sometime. Another special they had which almost caught my eye were their jelly filled buttermilk pancakes, jelly changes weekly.

If you're in the Evanston/Wilmette area and want to try something other than Walker Brothers, check out Blind Faith Cafe and Bakery. It's a vegetarian restaurant in Evanston on the northeast corner of Chicago Avenue and Dempster Street (street address is 525 Dempster).

The website contains the full menu. Breakfast items include huevos rancheros, tofu scrambled eggs, chilaquiles, aztec hash, pancakes, french toast, and omelettes. Fresh squeezed orange and carrot juices are available.

Blind Faith also serves lunch and dinner. Plan on spending $30 for two people for breakfast with tax and tip. It has been an iDine participant for over two years, giving out ten miles per dollar all day every day on your first visit each month.

Zagat Ratings: 17 food, 12 decor, 16 service.

Personally, I've only been there for breakfast, and it's usually on a weekend after a late night of partying. The aztec hash is a solid performer and my usual selection, although next time I'm going for the tofu scrambled eggs. I've also sampled the blueberry pancakes and they were excellent. The Zagat decor rating isn't too far off the mark -- there's nothing bad about the setting, per se, but you cannot help but feel as though it hasn't been renovated much since it opened in 1979. Overall a good place though.

I like Wishbone, specifically the one at 1001 W. Washington. The food is tasty and different than you find in most restaurants. I love anything with a little spice to it.

For a typical breakfast, I am partial to the Palace Grill, 1408 W. Madison.

When I worked at Union Station, it was hard to pass up Lou Mitchell's

Jackson and Jefferson

Another vote for Lou Mitchell's. They are kind of pricey but they are good.

I have a few others off the top of my head.

Country House - 127th & Cal Sag Road
The Original Pancake House (Several locations)
Eggman - 127th & Pulaski
Izola's - 79th St (We're talking "Down Home" breakfast)
Les Brothers - 87th & Ridgeland
Lumes Pancake House - (Chicago and Palos Heights)

My favorite spot for breakfasts was Gladys' Luncheonette on 45th & Indiana. I think they had gotten closed several years ago for various violations.

The Hot Spot
 

The Hot Spot is a breakfast/lunch only place. Decorated with a painting scheme and furniture reminiscent of something from Austin Powers.

Judi had an omelet and I the “Logan” berry sour cream pancakes w/a side of their corned beef hash.

Judi pronounced the omelet quite good. My pancakes were terrific, rich sour creamed flavored w/the sweet/tart lingonberries, a great dish!

Corned beef hash was homemade as there were ½”x ½” hand cut chunks of corned beef in the hash. Good, not great.

The breakfast burrito w/egg, black beans, bacon, and avocado was recommended to us by the waitress as her favorite.

Both of us had the fresh squeezed OJ.

I will be back for those pancakes at some point.

The Hot Spot
2824 W Armitage (just west of California)
Chicago
773.770.3838

Lumes is also in Villa Park, on Roosevelt one stoplight west of 83.

I need to find some breakfast places that open really early, like 5am.

Is that because you get up obscenely early or because you're staying out late?

Michael's North, at North Avenue and Clark, in downtown Chicago is open 24-7. They have good eats for breakfast. It's 4 1/2 blocks from the beach at North Avenue, near Chicago Historical Society, and Moody Bible Institute, across the street from North Savings Bank.

I’m a little (ok, VERY) bothered when a restaurant does not have their signature item. Such was the case this morning at Orange on Harrison. No Frushi! :mad: :(

While I enjoyed my pear/cantaloupe juice (GREAT juice combination) I gravitated towards the steak benedict. I’m not normally an AM steak guy, but this morning I was.

An excellent cut of steak, prepared perfectly to my medium rare w/two poached eggs, hollandaise and a bit of balsamic reduction all sitting atop a thick piece of brioche toast. Great breakfast, hit the spot.

Now if I can only get to try this Frushi.

I agree about Wishbone being good, in part, because it's different from the run of the mill and would be able to accommodate a local FT breakfast some morning. What do you think, Mr. Food (that's you Willie)?

I wonder if I'll ever be able to pull this off. Last year about this time I was in Lake Tahoe for a bachelor party and witnessed one of my friends eating what had to be a 24oz chunk of prime rib for breakfast. Parts of it hung over the edge of the plate.

Meanwhile I was having a few pieces of cantaloupe.

On the other hand, I had bacon with breakfast last month. Forgot how good that stuff was. Now I'm just making myself hungry... sigh.

If I drove in all the way from the suburbs for the Frushi instead of being less than a mile away, I'd have been pissed. There were two pieces to a plate, and no other choices. One piece had grapefruit on it to look like snapper. I hate grapefruit but was able to pawn that off and just ate the rice (infused with apple and grape). The other piece was better, but a bit dry for something that's supposed to be infused. OTOH, I never eat real sushi so I don't have a base of comparison.

At $2.50 for two pieces, it would add up to a very expensive breakfast - it's definitely just a gimmick starter course. Fortunately, the French Toast kebobs were very good. The pancake flight looked better, but the chef wouldn't leave the crushed peanut garnish off of it so I couldn't order that. The canadian bacon was not great. I didn't try any of their juices because the food was already going to send my blood sugar into orbit.

The best part of the place was the atmosphere. We sat in the front room which I thought would be a little noisy at first, and it was very comfortable - we literally didn't want to leave.

Biscuits and grits and gravy. Yummmmm. :)