Best Breakfasts in Chicago!
 

What are your favorite breakfast places in and around the Windy City? This is mine:

Egg Harbour Café
200 N Arlington Heights Rd.
Arlington Heights, IL
847.253.4363
Open 6:30AM to 2:00PM.

(This happens to be the one I frequent. They also have locations in Naperville, Barrington, Wheaton and Northbrook, among others.)

Whenever I'm in Chicago, I try to swing by Egg Harbor for a bite to eat in the morning. Their orange juice tastes freshly squeezed and their entrees are served quickly and with a smile! It's a very comfortable place to sit and have an early meeting without feeling invaded by people around you. It's also a very family-friendly place to eat with large bench boothes and a wide variety of menu items.

Last time I was there, I feasted on their seasonal Pumpkin Pancakes that are deliciously baked with pecans and topped with whip cream and served with cinnamon butter. (Don't tell my doctor!) http://www.flyertalk.com/dining/ftdi...orum/smile.gif Well, they definitely try to come up with interesting, unique creations based on breakfast standards, and they rotate a seasonal menu in and out as well. Another thing I like is that they give their patrons the choice to select healthier turkey sausages instead of the fatty pork ones. Similarly, there are many healthy breakfast combos if you are so inclined.

So, that's my favorite. What's yours?

Leo's Lunchroom on Division is legendary.
Clarke's is reliable - they have a few locations throughout the city.
Wishbone is great - especially the downtown location. My new favorite is Toast on Webster and Halstad in Lincoln Park. It's a small, diner-style restaurant with healthy, electic dishes.

Ann Sather's is always a good bet - the one on Belmont has the most character, but the Broadway location is typically more convenient for me. Nookies Tree on Halsted. The Golden Pancake at Clark and Diversey is a good, IHOP-style breakfast place.

yep, Ann Sather
929 W. Belmont Avenue

I too, like the food at Egg Harbor, in a previous life, they used to be an account of mine by purchasing turkey sausage and canadian bacon.

Two other places I've only heard about for good breakfasts are:

Orange
3231 N Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60657
773-549-4400
Chef Dale Levitski creates inventive breakfasts for people who are just plain sick of the same old stuff. Items such as French Toast Kebabs (marinated in coconut milk, baked, then grilled and spiked with pineapples and strawberries) and Frushi (fresh fruit rolled in rice paper, topped with mint leaves or edible flowers) might just be intriguing enough to open those half-closed eyes.

Toast
746 W. Webster St.
Chicago, IL 60614
773-935-5600
Mascarpone-stuffed French Toast and an excellent breakfast burrito


[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 01-30-2003).]

Ann Sather is always a great bet especially the pancakes with lingonberry sauce. The Belmont location is in a great section near the Red Line stop where there are many other afffordable restaurants that one can discover.

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Hillary's Urban Eatery or HUE on Division just east of Ashland is one of my favorites. Great food in a great atmosphere. If it is suitable weather, ask to sit outside.

Abe

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The question isn't "what are we going to do," the question is "what aren't we going to do?" - Ferris Bueller

West Egg Cafe (there are a few locations around town) is fast, friendly, and does an excellent job at breakfast basics (big portions, too). I like the french toast with turkey sausage.

The original Walker Brothers Pancake House in Wilmette (I-94 to Lake east to Greenbay south for about a mile) is still a winner. Portion sizes have come down a bit since I was a kid in the early 70s but the quailty is still there.

There are other "Original Pancake Houses" out there, but Walker Brothers is still special.

Let's not forget about Walker Brothers Pancake house. They have several locations in the suburbs. You probably figured out I don't get into the city to eat that much although I work there. They are famous for their apple waffles. Very famous. They also have a store in Glenview but I can't find the address.

WALKER BROS LAKE ZURICH INC
LAKE ZURICH , IL
WALKER BROS ORIGINAL PANCAKE
ARLINGTON HTS , IL
WALKER BROS ORIGINAL PANCAKE
HIGHLAND PARK , IL
WALKER BROTHERS PANCAKE HOUSE
WILMETTE , IL

As ElmhurstNick states the original is in Wilmette and this may be blasphamy, but I can not tell any difference between the various locations.

Wife and I just went to the Walker Bros on Waukegan just north of Lake Ave. Waited about 20 mins around 10AM on a Sunday. I ordered the apple pancakes and the wife ordered the german pancakes. Maybe I am getting old or something but my apple pancakes were too sweet for me and I had to eat them together with pieces of the plain (no powdered sugar by request) german pancakes. As usual, didn't come close to finishing it. Wife didn't come close either, even with me helping. Once again, due to old age maybe, didn't like all the noise and general confusion going around while we ate. The food took about 35 mins so we weren't too happy with that either.

Two mentions of "old age" korea71!!, not good, liven' up yourself.

Sherman Kaplan on WBBM radio gave a rare breakfast review this past weekend. Gave it a 20 out of 20. Victory Banner (may not be Banner, but is Victory "something or another") 2100 W Roscoe. (chicago)

Victory's Banner is an all vegetarian restaurant in roscoe village. although i hear that there are few options for vegans. if you eat here for lunch, do walk across the street to get some sorbet or soy ice cream at mario & gino's, listed above. (note: victory's banner is only open for breakfast and lunch)

2100 w. roscoe st.
chicago, il
773.665.0227

from j3n.net

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. :)

Orange -- 75 W Harrison
 

Yesterday morning, Wendy, Nick and I met up at Orange (on Harrison) for a late breakfast. Wendy had the pancakes, Nick had the French Toast Kabob (leaving them to comment on theirs) and I had the Pancake Flight of the week -- this week's theme is Italy.

Willie, we were thinking of you so I snagged the card so could do a description...the four mini stacks (3 each of plain silver dollar pancakes -- my pancakes by themselves were "okay" in taste - but I certainly wouldn't order the plain pancakes there on future visits based on this sampling) were: Canoli (a sweet mousse made of ricotta & mascarpone cheese, garnished with crushed peanuts, lemon zest & powdered sugar), Tiramisu (Coffee mousse and marsala wine reduction, garnished with cocoa powder and lady finger cookies), Venezian Sabaglione (OMG>>>this was my favorite>>>marsala wine infused sweet pudding served over sliced cantaloupe, mango & strawberries), Panna Cotta (Vanilla flavored flan garnished with caramel sauce -- my #2).

I had a side of the chicken-apple sausage which was "okay" - wouldn't order it again on future visits.

Nick & I split an order or Frushi -- two had red grapefruit, the other two pieces had pineapple & kiwi (sorry, forget what the rice was infused with). While Nick wasn't impressed with the frushi (see his comments above), I really did enjoy it and will order on future visits. It was $2.50 per person which covered two pieces/person. We didn't ask, but given their negative reaction to Nick's request to leave off a peanut garnish on the pancake flight due to food allergies, I doubt they'd let you make any changes to the pieces they bring out (i.e., since Nick didn't care for grapefruit, sub an extra kiwi/pineapple one for a grapefruit one).

Their reason for "no substitutions" (which I didn't notice on the menu or card) was because it gets so busy in there on the weekends. While it was full, I didn't notice at any point a line of more than 1 or 2 parties waiting to be seated....not like the Clark St location. In short, if you have food allergies, don't expect them to accommodate your needs, you'll have to find something else. :td: Aside from that, I'm looking forward to future visits and have a few things in mind I look forward to trying ^

Clarke's in Evanston & Various Walker Bros
 

Enjoyed Clarke's frequently when I was in grad school oh so many years ago. Still open.

Never gone wrong with the various Walker Bros. Frequented Wilmette, Glenview, Highland Park and the one on Waukegan out in some north 'burb. Favorite was the sourdough flapjacks.

Egg Harbor Cafe in Arlington Heights has consistently good breakfast.

My absolute all time favorite traditional breakfast spot in Chicago is the Golden Nugget. I usually frequent the one on Clark but they're all about the same. Hardly a fancy place but I dream about the 4x3... I've been known to arrange for long layovers at ORD now that I don't live in Chicago anymore just to make a stop at the Nugget.

Hilton has a good buffet breakfast on the weekends. I forgot the restaurant name but it was within the Hilton Hotel on Michigan. It was tad expensive, $18 for breakfast buffet. But you get unlimited freshly squeezed OJ and lots of other good stuff.

Most Hiltons seem to have pretty good breakfast buffets. The European Hiltons generally charge about 30 Euros for their buffet breakfasts - and often have OJ that is little better than orange colored Hi-C. Keep that in mind and it will seem cheap! :)

As a result, I was amazed at how awful the Crystal City (DC/VA) Hilton's buffet was. About what you'd find at a small city Holiday Inn.

But I digress. We need to get back to Orange, maybe some Sunday when I have a 2pm White Sox game to attend.

But I'm still looking for a place that can rival the kind of southern-style breakfasts that I used to have as a teenager; really good bacon and sausage, biscuits, gravy, grits, country-style hashed browns, etc. Of course, I used to cheat because I had access to a full restaurant kitchen, but every once in a while I want to have that kind of heart-attack breakfast not in a hotel buffet setting. I have to go try Wishbone some morning for that, but I don't want to go alone.

In the suburbs, I have to agree with the people who recommended Walker Bros. In the city, Ann Sather's is a great place for breakfast. Also, in Wicker Park there's a place called Bongo Room. It's on Milwaukee ave and they have really good food. Also, Victory banner on Roscoe was mentioned, another good choice.

Can't forget Valois in Hyde Park--where the book Slim's Table was set. The food isn't spectacular, but the crowd and conversation is.

A review of two more places for breakfast:

Andersson's
Westfield North Bridge
520 N. Michigan Ave.
(312) 222-0559

The sign on the door calls Andersson's a patisserie and chocolate shop, but beginning at 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday, it also serves some classy breakfasts to go.

A made-to-order granola parfait ($6), mixed with sliced fresh peaches, blueberries, watermelon, organic milk and yogurt, was a great way to start the day. So was a cup of hot fresh-brewed lotus green tea ($2.50), selected from 38 imported loose-leaf varieties. (Coffee lovers beware: For java, you'll need to go elsewhere. Andersson's, oddly, doesn't serve coffee.)

Both orange and grapefruit juices ($3) were amazingly good. Management buys them fresh-squeezed from First Season, a company that makes daily deliveries to several of the city's most posh hotels. Pastries and quiches come from 28 different sources. Breads are brought in from three bakeries.

The crust on the asparagus quiche ($7.50) was a bit soggy, but the filling was delicious, and so was an almond croissant. Cinnamon muffins and Scandinavian sticky buns ($3.25 each) looked great but tasted as if they were from the previous day's order. Cheese blintzes ($8.50) were too doughy.

Classical music plays softly on the sound system, and the welcome is friendly. The employee on duty greeted me like a regular on my second visit, suggesting that in the future, I call ahead so she could have my order waiting.

I may just do it.
________________________________________

Fox & Obel Café
401 E. Illinois St.
(312) 379-0112

The cafeteria-style cafe at the rear of the upscale Fox & Obel Food Market offers a lengthy breakfast menu. Some, but not all, would transport just fine.

Forget truffled eggs Benedict ($10) and pick the lox platter ($11) instead. Our order contained plenty of lightly salted smoked salmon garnished with generous slices of cucumber, capers, leaf lettuce and the best tomatoes I've been served yet this summer.

Sturdy steel-cut organic oatmeal ($3.50) with raisins, bananas and maple cream syrup tasted delicious back at my desk. So did chicken sausage ($4), flavored with apples and sage, and a granola parfait ($6) with vanilla yogurt, strawberries and blackberries. Orange juice ($3.99) and grapefruit juice ($2.99) are squeezed fresh each morning, then sealed in plastic 16-ounce bottles that make them great travelers.

Breads and pastries are baked in-house daily. You won't go wrong with the orange Danish ($1.89), speckled with orange zest and glazed with marmalade, the buttery croissant ($1.69) or the feather-light blueberry muffin ($1.69). But nothing about the sweet angel food muffin ($1.69) says breakfast. It should be renamed a cupcake and moved to the noontime shift.

The cafe opens daily at 7 a.m., but even an hour later, when I arrived for three separate visits, the unsmiling staff could have used a wake-up call. Outside, the weather was steamy. Inside, there was a chill in the air.

This is a little bit of a backhanded compliment, and probably not one that will go down well with the purists. But...

If you like a good, tasty, decent breakfast, and you hate to wait and search for parking as I do, I suggest:

Noyes Street Cafe in Evanston.

Another reluctant admission is that while the service is fine, I've found it to be a bit surly depending on the particular member of the waitstaff.

I know, that doesn't sound like much of an endorsement, but I actually like to eat on a Saturday or Sunday morning rather than drive myself nuts looking for parking, or stand around waiting for over-hyped food.