Southport Grocery & Cafe
3552 N Southport Ave., Chicago, IL‎
Neighborhood: Lakeview

Southport Grocery & Cafe (photo courtesy of Yelp).

Anna and I have been meaning to try the Southport Grocery & Cafe out and finally had an opportunity to check it out this weekend.  This boutique grocery store sells many upscale products for sale, but the real kicker is the fantastic cafe that offers breakfast and lunch all day long.  The cafe is cozy and the menu offers comfort food that is made from scratch and features local ingredients.  Anna had the sunflower dusted walleye pike sandwich that was topped with green tomato-sunflower sprouts and basil aioli.  I opted to try Southport Grocery & Cafe’s take on the classic steak and eggs breakfast.  My entrée included layered scrambled eggs, corn tortilla chips, black bean tomato salsa, queso fresco and of course steak that was cooked perfectly (tender, juicy).  I also ordered a mocha that ended up being my favorite part of our brunch.  After we finished eating, we browsed the market that was stocked full of gourmet treats like specialty olive oils, cheeses, pasta sauces, wine and many local food products direct from the city.  If you’re a “foodie,” Southport Grocery & Cafe is the place for you.

-Rob

Rob’s Mocha.

Anna’s walleye pike sandwich.

Rob’s steak and eggs breakfast.

Nightwood
2119 S Halsted Ave., Chicago, IL‎
Neighborhood: Pilsen

Nightwood.

Nightwood is a seasonally focused restaurant that Jason Hammel and Amalea Tshilds—the owners of popular Logan Square spot Lula Cafe—opened last year.  Anna and I finally made it to Nightwood for their exclusive Sundays-only brunch this afternoon and we absolutely loved it.  Nightwood is very charming inside with exceptional woodwork, exposed brick walls, and antique lighting fixtures throughout the restaurant, as well as a covered outdoor seating area that I’m sure will be in use once it gets a bit warmer in Chicago.  Anna and I started our brunch off by sharing a bacon butterscotch donut that was incomparable to anything we’ve ever tried before.  The pieces of bacon complimented the butterscotch very well, achieving the perfect balance between sweet and smokey.  For my main dish, I went with chicken wings and waffles that were topped with rum raisins, hazelnuts and vanilla anglaise.  I’m not an expert when it comes to chicken and waffles, but I enjoyed Nightwood’s version of the classic soul food entrée very much.  Anna had an amazing scrambled egg dish that included veal meatballs, ricotta salata, and arugula as well as tots and toast on the side.  She also ordered a Sunday Morning cocktail that consisted of seasonal fruit puree and prosecco that was very refreshing.  While it has many great contenders in Chicago, Nightwood is definitely our new favorite brunch spot.  Next time we plan on checking out their dinner menu, which, along with their brunch, is also a revolving menu that is hand-written each day for a different dining experience every time.

-Rob

Bacon butterscotch donut.

Anna’s Sunday Morning drink with the donut and Rob in the background.

Anna’s veal meatball, ricotta salata, and arugula egg scramble.

Rob’s chicken wings with waffles.

Las Palmas
1835 W North Ave, Chicago, IL‎
Neighborhood: Wicker Park

The bar area in Las Palmas.  Photo credit: Las Palmas’ website.

Rob and I have been to Las Palmas many times, but only for their amazing modern, up-scale Mexican cuisine.  Rob had eaten their brunch a few years ago and has been telling me for awhile how good it is, so we decided to venture over there and check it out this weekend.  The restaurant was almost entirely empty when we walked in around 12:30.  We snacked on their addictive chips and salsa and then feasted on our brunch selections.  I had the El Benito, which was a Mexican version of eggs benedict with chipotle hollandaise sauce and Rob had Huevos Rancheros.  Both were excellent and as you can tell from the pictures below, they were plated beautifully.  The best kept secret about Las Palmas’ brunch is how cheap it is.  My meal was $10 and Rob’s was $7.  For all of the food we received, you can’t beat a deal like that.

-Anna

El Benito.

Huevos Rancheros.