Restaurant Review – Bongo Room

Brunch is becoming a weekly ritual for me, and I’ve gotta tell you, I’m not upset about it. This week took me to The Bongo Room. The Bongo Room has three locations in the city. We visited the Andersonville location during prime time brunch time on a Sunday, around 10:30 am. We waited about half an hour before getting a table. One of our brunch guests said that the Wicker Park location has up to a two hour wait sometimes! The restaurant is much larger than we expected- it’s narrow, but it stretches a long way. The place was packed, but it wasn’t too loud for conversation. My dad had the Croissant Sandwich: a buttery, grilled croissant topped with melted muenster, crispy bacon, and one egg. It was served with house potatoes, which were fantastic: slightly crispy on the outside and spiced with an herb mix. My mom had the Egg White Omelet with corned beef. I’ll be honest, this sounded awful to me, but it made up for it in taste. The omelet was filled with chopped corned beef and sautéed onions, and was served with a small green salad and whole grain toast. I had the Breakfast Burrito: a massive spinach tortilla, stuffed with eggs and guacamole, topped with melted jack cheese, ancho chile sour cream, and salsa. You can also add meat for an extra fee, but I decided not to. The portion was huge, in fact, I could only eat half of it. I took the other half home for leftovers, which is one of my favorite things to do. The breakfast menu on the website isn’t exactly the same as the one we looked at in the restaurant. The brunch menu displays all of their “sinful” offerings- which all looked fantastic. I was practically breaking my neck looking at other people’s food- I saw at least three orders of the Chocolate Tower French Toast. The chocolate chunk bread is stuffed with rich  maple mascarpone, a banana creme brûlée sauce, fresh bananas, and shaved chocolate. Definitely on my list for next time!

This was a fantastic spot with great energy, good and efficient service (without feeling rushed), and loads of choices, from the most decadent to the most reasonable. At the Andersonville and Wicker Park locations, hours are Mondays through Fridays from 8 am to 2:30 pm. The South Loop location is open these same days from 8 am to 2 pm. All locations are open from 9 am to 2 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Note: the South Loop location does not serve alcoholic beverages. Find more information on their website!

RACHEL HOOVLER & DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO