The 100 best dishes in Chicago 2014: breakfast and brunch

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.