When I visit a new city, my natural instinct is to brunch. Hard. Chicago was no different – as you can see from my interactive Google map, there was no lack of brunching during my visit.
My first brunch in the Windy City was at Nookies, of which there are multiple locations. The food is pretty straightforward, with the exception of mango-coconut pancakes, which were a little too sweet, but I ate them anyways because mangoes and Indians will always go together no matter what.
My friend and I opted for a slightly fancier brunch at Nellcôte, a French spot on the Randolph restaurant corridor, which I would metaphorize as the Valencia Street of Chicago. The interior is beautiful, with high ceilings and lots of natural light (something I’m weirdly obsessed with), but the service was so incredulously slow that it made me forget the food completely. Unfortunate, because the dishes were not terrible,
While I believe that San Francisco does brunch better – it is our favorite sport, after all – when it comes to hearty, old school, food-coma inducing meals, Chicago wins. It might be a Midwest thing, but with regards to dinner, every place I ate at ended with an uncontrollable desire to nap profusely.
One of the most Chicago-esque dinner spots was Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab. It’s a place where the servers are dressed to the nines and the walls are adorned with gray scale photographs of local celebrities and sports legends that have dined there. Menu items included hot oysters Rockefeller and a Chilean sea bass that has been haunting me since that fateful night. The market prices are expensive, but well worth it if you have some to spend.
Of course, no Chicago trip is complete without some deep-dish pizza eaten the right way – picked up from Lou Malnati’s and devoured on someone’s rooftop with a glass of wine. You best find someone with a rooftop, because otherwise you’ll be waiting over an hour for your pizza.
I’m sharing some photos from the meals below – tomorrow will be a feature on arguably one of the best restaurants in Chicago!
Nora says
It sounds like you had a blast! Nookies is one of my go-to brunch spots, and they do these amazing loaded skillets…but I guess that doesn’t help convince you that all the food isn’t super heavy here 🙂 (It is, mostly). Talk to me about this Chilean Sea Bass. Where is that from!?
Shikha says
Phew, I’m glad I chose a good brunch spot! Next time I visit (and I see you!) let’s do a skillet. That Chilean sea bass – OMG. It’s from Joe’s in River North. Where in Chicago do you live? YOU HAVE TO GO.
Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health says
i didnt go to any of these places while i was there…i love that feta on omelet. and deep dish pizza is a MUST 🙂
Shikha says
Which places did you eat at? I’m gonna have to try where you went the next time I go!
Daniela @ FoodrecipesHQ says
have you eaten all these dishes? I would have eaten everything, seriously. That key lime pie is making me drool!
Shikha says
I definitely ate all these dishes and it was amazing. I’m usually not a big fan of Key Lime pie, but that slice was so good!
Ben @Focus:Snap:Eat says
Catching up on your posts! Love Chicago, and you look like you ate at some interesting places. I may have to disagree with you, though, about San Franciscans doing brunch the best. I actually think Portland people are super crazy about brunch because waits are long everywhere. I hope I can visit Chicago soon, and I’m going to use your list. 🙂
Shikha says
You know what, I stand corrected – Portland does do brunch best. I can’t believe I forgot that, and I was just in Portland in June!