BONGO ROOM

He says:
Several years ago my grad school roommate, who is always the first to know about everything cool (she knew about blogs, Sufjan Stevens, and Barack Obama at least 3 years before everyone else!) took me to Chicago’s Bongo Room claiming it served the best brunch around. The shops of Wicker Park are filled with funky antiques and avant-garde shoes, but the uber-trendiness surrounding Bongo Room doesn’t hold a candle to what’s going on inside of it …

With a hodgepodge of exposed brick walls, lime green accents, and capacious wooden booths occupied by hipsters and tots alike, the Bongo Room clearly thrives on its eclectic décor and clientele. Its free-wheeling vibe is complemented by the adventurousness of its kitchen, which consistently churns out dishes more daring and creative than any other eatery I’ve ever found. Pancakes topped with nutella and vanilla sauce in a chessboard pattern? Check. A croissant breakfast sandwich with hollandaise and muenster? Got it. That the Bongo Room can reinvent nearly every standard breakfast item with as much verve as it does easily confirms its status as the best brunch spot in America.

She says:
We recently visited the new location in the South Loop of Chicago, and so we’ve now found the other best brunch spot in America. Shiny and new, the downtown location attracts the same crowd as the Wicker Park original. And the food is just as good.

As soon as I saw it on the menu, I knew I had to order the chocolate tower French toast. I believe that they concocted this dish with me in mind. Made with bittersweet chocolate chunk bread stuffed with maple mascarpone, the toast is served with a banana crème brulee sauce and banana slices. The thick slices of bread were actually not that sweet, but with shaved chocolate melting over the top, the dish achieved an acceptable degree of chocolatey-ness. Dipping it in the crème brulee sauce added some needed sweetness. As a whole, it came together quite nicely.

However, as shocking as you might find this coming from a chocolate-lover such as me, I agreed with everyone else at the table that the lemon ricotta pancakes were hands down the morning’s winner. The ricotta created a very light pancake which, when flavored with lemon zest, were like a gift from an angel. Each bite was made even more heavenly by the topping of crushed gingersnap and brown sugar butter.

Another great thing about Bongo Room is you can ask for half-orders, which alleviates the dilemma of having to choose between so many delectable dishes. As a result, on top of our pancake and French toast half-orders, a friend and I also managed to scarf down an order of eggs benedict. The variety we chose came with spinach, roasted red pepper, and a feta hollandaise sauce. It was certainly very good, although less interesting than the other dishes we tried. The accompanying rosemary-sprinkled roasted potatoes were very tasty.

He says:
Bongo Room’s breakfast burrito isn’t as innovative as its pancakes or French toast, but it’s just as delicious. After all, you can’t go wrong with guacamole and a heap of scrambled eggs wrapped in cilantro-jalapeno tortilla. On our most recent visit, a chipotle sour cream served on the side spiced this bad boy up. If there’s a better breakfast burrito out there, I haven’t tasted it.

We say:
Chicago is blessed to now have two locations serving the best brunch in America.




Bongo Room (Wicker Park)
1470 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622
773-489-0690

Bongo Room (South Loop)
1152 S. Wabash, Chicago, IL 60605
312-291-0100