#bongo room

I recently enjoyed a quick weekend in Chicago.  The Windy City is one of my favorite places to visit, it is a great walking town, and the restaurants are amazing.  Previously I shared one of my dinner experiences at Table Fifty-Two, take a look.

This trip, however, focused on brunching in Chicago even more than usual.  Chicago is a serious brunch town and all residents take brunch very seriously.

Last weekend, my old college roommate, Allison, was in town.  She's wonderful.  We have the best time getting in trouble together.  I'll spare the details regarding the trouble, and just skip to the recovery.

The Bongo Room has become somewhat of a tradition during Allison's visits.  It's the perfect recovery brunch, breakfast, dinner, etc.  Of course, a good majority of Chicago agrees, so getting in is tough.  And when you pair a long wait with extreme hunger, it can get ugly.

So, I'd like to think I've found the best way to prepare for Bongo Room.  This method can apply to many brunch places if you plan accordingly.  I will go to a popular brunch place with 1-2 people max (unless I feel like waiting 45 mins).  I'll get there before 11AM, which is key, because Chicago restaurants start serving alcohol at 11.  If you get there before most booze-hounds, you can score a table pretty quickly.

Still, Bongo Room is so popular that there's still about a 20-min wait.  So I put in my name, then head a few doors down to The Wormhole.  It's a retro-video-game-themed coffeehouse, and you can definitely kill 20 minutes touring the intricate details of their décor.  But it's better to order a vanilla iced coffee or latte during your wait, because they're delicious.  They make the syrup there.  It's like crack.

Once I'm done with my drink, my table is magically ready!

Back to The Bongo Room: Allison and I ordered an omelet to split with bacon, aged white cheddar and spinach.  Then we each ordered a single pancake: red velvet and white chocolate pretzel.  One pancake is really all you need, but it's so worth it to indulge and try everything.  Still, I think we finished about half of our giant meal, and then it was food coma time.

Bongo Room (Chicago, Illinois)