Brunch at Bongo Room

On weekends in Chicago, it seems like every restaurant is full with a line going outside and halfway down the block. There are so many places to get a good plate of eggs and it seems that no one wants to make them at home. The Bongo Room is very popular for brunch, but I was able to go on a weekday and not have to stand in a long line and suffer.

No brunch is complete without some form of alcohol. Our favorite of the moment is a mimosa with grapefruit juice instead of orange. At Mercantile in Los Angeles, this is called a Lilosa. At most restaurants here, it's just called a mimosa with grapefruit juice ($8). Regardless, it's delicious and not as sweet as a regular mimosa.



I also pretty much require eggs at brunch so it was a natural choice for me to go with the croissant sandwich ($9.50). The buttery croissant is filled with melted muenster, bacon, and one egg any style (I chose over easy). It comes with a very large serving of the oddly addictive house potatoes.



As kind of a dessert for our meal, we ordered the Pumpkin Spice and Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake Flapjacks. A stack of flapjacks is usually $9.95, but you can order a single one to share. Unfortunately this was a bit of a miss for us as the chocolate chips overpowered the pumpkin flavor and I think we waited a bit too long to eat it so the pancake was soggy. The pancake flavors change by the season and they have some new berry cakes on the menu that sound really great.



The service at the Wicker Park location was a bit sullen, but they do a swift business. There are now three locations of Bongo Room so hopefully that wait in line will be just a little bit easier.


Bongo Room
1470 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 489-0690
Website