Punta Cana Reunion Brunch

Some girls from the Punta Cana trip got together for brunch. Brunch that lasted all afternoon and night!

1. Publican

2. Punch Bowl Social [no photos, only had 1 drink. no one wanted to bowl w kelly 🙁 ]

3. Bar Takito [Federales had a line in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday!]

Swung through Aviary. Nope.

4. Swift & Sons

 

Espanola at Wildberry

wildberry_espanola_omelette

A few months ago, before Makai was born, I had lunch at Wildberry with some coworker friends. Britt and Becky are always raving about the Espanola omelette which has chorizo, jalapenos, avocado, onions, cilantro, mushrooms & Chihuahua cheese and is served atop a tortilla, with salsa on the side. I decided to give it a try. Actually, I think 4-5 of the maybe 6-7 people at our table gave it a try! It was so good! And I think I got pancakes as a side, seasonal pumpkin ones, if I remember correctly! So good.

Brunchy Brunch to Forget Our Troubles

the_chicago_diner_logan_square

Finally visited Chicago Diner in Logan Square with Jess. This vegetarian restaurant has been in Lakeview for 30 years and last winter they opened a second location in the old Logan Square Kitchen space. I had the Soul Bowl – seasoned quinoa, eggs, chimichurri, brussels sprouts, mashed sweet potatoes, black beans and avocado. I don’t know how these things all were supposed to combine together, but each separately was delicious. Except the chimichurri. No one makes it like El Nandu!

After brunch we went to the Logan Square Farmers Market (the indoor market at the Congress Theater). When I went home this was when I first discovered our water damage nightmare!

harmony_grill_crabcakes_eggs_benedict

A week or two later I went to Harmony Grill with Kristin to get out of the awful house. By now it was (and still is) all torn up. Carpet out, holes punched in the drywall. Industrial fans and humidifiers. Ugh! Thankfully, we both had the Eggs New Orleans – fresh lump crab cakes, two poached eggs, & sliced tomato on English muffins with hash browns – and they were delicious!! I hate when the crab cakes are mostly filler, and luckily these were not. Kristin had a Groupon and we got our meal for free. Nice!

cozy_corner_diner_and_pancake_house

banana_strawberry_french_toast

We’ve had to be around the house a bit more on weekdays to let contractors and insurance people and plumbers and appliance delivery guys into the condo. On a few occasions, Dallas and I got up early to have breakfast at Cozy Corner. The food here is pretty simple, but everything is always so good and very reasonably priced. Recently I had the California Omelette – avocado, bacon, & tomato with Swiss cheese – and also the strawberry and banana french toast.

jam_chicago

One day I woke up and sneezed thirty hundred times. I had to get out of the condo construction zone, so Alden and I went to Jam. This place opened probably almost two years ago, but whenever I try to go to Jam on the weekends … it’s … jammed! So a weekday was the perfect opportunity. Alden had been to the Ukranian Village location before they moved to Logan Square and wasn’t that into it, but we both liked this place. I had the Malted Custard French Toast – with macerated cherries, lime leaf cream, and pink peppercorns- and Alden had the Corned Beef Sandwich – with horseradish cream cheese, marble rye, potato chips. Oh, and they surprised us in the beginning, after we ordered and before our food came, by giving us a mini black and white cookie.

New Places Over the Weekend

city_winery

On Thursday, we had dinner with Adam, Christine, Todd, Kelly, Brian, Sara and Josh at City Winery. None of us had been here before (it’s been open for about 5 months) and our friends are really into wine, so they were definitely interested. City Winery has its house wine on tap and a long list. We drank the tap wine from carafes. Our friends who know said that the list was overpriced. Overall, we thought the food was good, but no one thought any of it was outstanding.

scofflaw_menu

scofflaw

Scofflaw has been open in Logan Square for about 10 months, but I just made it over for the first time on Friday. I met Paul and Kate and Alden for fancy drinks (I had hot buttered rum) and some great food. I thought it was funny that the cocktail menu had a glossary! Loved the atmosphere, and we got there earlyish so getting a great spot to sit was no problem. Can’t wait to go back.

frasca_bloody_mary

Frasca is not new by any means and I’ve been there many times, but not for a couple years! So, new in my mind recently. On Saturday we met friends for brunch and I ordered a cup of coffee and a small bloody mary and didn’t realize the bloody mary came with a baby beer chaser. I didn’t drink it, but the beverage lineup, along with a glass of water, made it look like I was going to be very hydrated. I also had a great omelette.

market_chicago

Market is not new, but I’d never been there. We went on Thursday before and after dinner at City Winery. The guys discovered that they have ping pong tables there, so we were back after brunch on Saturday to play. On both days, I had hot toddys.

studio25

On Saturday night I met Alden at the new Peruvian sports bar in Logan Square. It’s called Suite 25 and we were there to watch the Packer game. It’s only been open for about a month, so I was excited to check it out. We thought it was fine for the game. Plenty of TVs, one a projector. Lots of seating at the bar, a row of booths, and plenty of high tops. One sort of weird area with cheesy leather couches that look like they were purchased from one of those furniture stores on Milwaukee Ave, but whatever. Some dudes plopped down on it and seemed happy enough. I’d recommend leaving as soon as the game is over, especially if the game is ending at 10pm, because this strange DJ came on and played horrible music and people started coming in dressed like they were at a club. Even though the place was filled with sports fans and 20 TVs were playing Sports Center.

We had to get out of Suite 25, so we headed over to Boiler Room. Ok. This is definitely not new. And not new to me. But it’s where the night and the weekend ended. On Sunday, after visiting all these places all weekend, my butt barely left the couch!