The 100 best dishes in Chicago 2014: breakfast and brunch

These 14 plates, from eggs benedict to grits, are the best breakfast and brunch dishes of the year

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Thursday December 11 2014

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Brunch in Chicago is practically an art form, with brunch restaurants heaving with people partaking in biscuits and gravy, bacon and a coffee cockail (or two) every weekend. But Chicagoans also love breakfast, and occasionally stop for a fancy pastry or doughnut on the way into the office. The result of all this morning eating? Our list of the 14 best breakfast and brunch dishes this year.

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Best breakfast and brunch dishes

Poached eggs at Avec

Restaurants
Mediterranean
West Loop

This updated eggs benedict swaps the English muffin for sourdough toast and opts for a lemony hollandaise sauce. But the secret is a layer of ‘nduja, a spreadable pork sausage that adds spiciness to the dish. $12.

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Honey Badger at Bad Wolf Coffee

Restaurants
Cafés
Lake View

You won’t go wrong with any pastry Jonathan Ory makes, but right now we’re crazy about his latest offering, the honey badger, a sweet honey almond cake that’s a play on a bear claw. $4.

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Grits at Baker Miller Bakery & Millhouse

Restaurants
Bakeries
Lincoln Square

Dave and Megan Miller are grinding these grits in-house from a combination of yellow, red and blue corn, resulting in the freshest, creamiest grits in Chicago. $9.25.

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Oatmeal at Baker Miller Bakery & Millhouse

Restaurants
Bakeries
Lincoln Square

You haven’t had oatmeal until you’ve had Baker Miller’s perfect al dente oats, dressed with milk, cultured cream, raw sugar and other rotating toppings. $7.75.

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Chicken ‘n a biscuit at the Bristol

Restaurants
Contemporary American
Bucktown

Fried chicken, fluffy biscuits, sausage gravy, and a heap of bread and butter pickles—Chris Pandel knows how to make our brunch dreams come true. $13.

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Garlic bagel with sriracha spread at Brobagel

Restaurants
American
Wicker Park

The soft, garlic-studded bagel is enjoyable, but it’s the sriracha spread—lightly spicy and a little sweet—that elevates this combination to must-eat status. $2.74.

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Photograph: Anjali M. PInto

Carrot cake doughnut at Do-Rite Donuts

Restaurants
Bakeries
Loop

With a vanilla-glazed carrot cake base and topped with a hefty spoonful of barely sweet cream cheese frosting, this doughnut is the next best thing to eating cake for breakfast. No longer available, but may come back after the holidays.

Photograph: Martha Williams

Portuguese egg tarts at Fat Rice

Restaurants
South Asian
Logan Square

Fat Rice launched brunch this spring, adding three additional meal times. It also added these tiny sweet egg tarts, which the menu says are made with “puff pastry, custard, love, secrets.” Oh, Fat Rice. We love you, too. Two for $5.

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Photograph: Anthony Soave

Flapjacks at Gather

Restaurants
Contemporary American
Lincoln Square

At first glance, this tower of pancakes looks rather daunting. But once you start eating the incredibly fluffy pancakes, topped with whipped butter and maple syrup, you’ll wonder how they disappeared so quickly. $10.

Photograph: Nick Murway

Everything monkey bread at GT Fish & Oyster

Restaurants
Seafood
River North

The soft warm knobs of bread are seasoned exactly like an everything bagel. Pull them apart, dip them in dill buttermilk cream sauce and devour. $7.

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Photograph: Martha Wiliams

Soft scrambled egg on toast at Kinmont

Restaurants
Seafood
River North

Not only are these velvety-soft eggs scrambled with smoked whitefish and topped with salmon roe and crème fraiche, they come with perfect sourdough toast. That the dish is available for both brunch and dinner is just a bonus. $10.

Photograph: Amy Cavanaugh

Assorted pastry abbondanza at Nico Osteria

Restaurants
Seafood
Gold Coast

Smile at your server, because she selects the four items on your pastry board. While there are zero misses among Amanda Rockman’s pastries, you absolutely want yours to include the sweet and crumbly chestnut coffee cake and the kouign amann, flaky and buttery with a caramelized edge. $16.

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Photograph: Martha Williams

Cronut at Table Fifty-Two

Restaurants
Soul and southern American
Rush & Division

We did not expect to jump on the cronut bandwagon—until we tried Table Fifty-Two’s version. So warm! So buttery! We can see why people were lining up for hours for these in New York. No longer available.

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Photograph: Martha Williams

Waffle at the Winchester

Restaurants
American
East Village

The Liege waffles are just casually sitting under glass on the counter at the Winchester, waiting for you to notice them. Grab a whole or half size of the yeasty, caramelized treat to go with coffee or tack one onto your brunch order. $2.50/$5.

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