Bongo Room

Bongo Room is still one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago. I wish it was open all day and a nationwide chain.

always a solid choice for breakfast or brunch. one of my favorite places in the south loop. watch out for the lines, though – it can get so crowded!

My follow-up review for this restaurant. Read my previous review for this restaurant here

This place is great! I usually stick to the pancakes as they are so unique, creative and, most importantly, decadent. This is a place for the sweet tooths who will regard the Bongo Room as their fantasy breakfast spot. Come hungry cause you won’t want to stop eating!

i ordered the duck confit salad, thinking that maybe the duck element was nonexistant — kind of like duck sauce. after all, the description reads, “baby spinach tossed with golden beets, dried cherries, pears, candied walnuts and goat cheese with dried cherry and balsamic vinaigrette.” besides, who actually eats duck?

so needless to say i was a little horrified when there was duck meat on my salad.

i picked out as much as i could, forced down a bite, and the vinagrette tasted straight-up bizarre. i didn’t eat any more.
the waitress seemed to pause by the table, saw i wasn’t eating, and moved on without saying anything. later, she came by and asked if i wanted it wrapped up. i declined.
“didn’t like it?” she asked.
i hesitated, then said, “no, actually, not really.”
she wrinkled her nose, said, “i’m sorry,” and then walked away.
really? seriously? wouldn’t it make sense to ask if something was wrong with it, or a take certain percentage off on the bill? even if the customer is an airhead, the customer is still always right.
i tried not to take it personally, but i wonder if i would’ve gotten the same reaction if i had been some guy in a suit & tie. i look young, so i wonder if this wasn’t a case of, “well, then, you shouldn’t have ordered grown-up food, right?”

My first impression of Bongo Room was that it was very trendy. The interior is colorful, bright, and a good atmosphere to start the day; something about the colors brightens your mood. The food equally starts your day well, as they know what people like. The Smore pancake is Huge and smothered in a delectable (but not too sweet) sauce and bananas. The breakfast burrito is a good size: you won’t still be hungry, but you also won’t be too stuffed (because you will finish it). Be sure to add meat in the burrito, since the burrito is primarily egg and some trace amounts of other stuff.

What a tasty selection of brunch items. Of course, there is a queue to eat here but the staff keep things moving and it is worth the wait. The coffee is good and the juice fresh squeezed. Everything we ordered was very tasty and well prepared. We were also with our infant son and they were great with him too. Next time I am in Chicago I will surely return!!

Bongo Room is fantastic. I go there often and amid the large number of brunch spots in the area, it’s one of the best. If you go during “rush hour” be prepared for a wait, and if you go with a group, make sure you arrive together…they won’t seat you without your whole party.

Bongo Room is definitely one of the better breakfast experiences I’ve had. The decor is very modern, using a good mix of colors that are nice to the eyes. The menu has some cool sounding dishes, with novel pancakes which all sounds delicious. They also have sandwiches for lunch and dinner, which sound refreshing too, but the breakfast sounded more appealing to me.

I got the smore pancakes, which were one of the best pancakes I’ve had. It came with three humongous pancakes, which were fluffy, yet still had a chewy substance which allowed you to get the full flavor. A white sauce was drenched over them, presumably a marshmallow related sauce, though I think some vanilla may have been used too. Some bananas are thrown on top, which goes great with the sauce and pancakes, and the pancakes themselves are embedded with tons of chocolate chips. The other dishes looked fantastic too, such as the breakfast burrito, which comes with tasty potatoes.

Bongo Room is a good choice for a meal if you like breakfast even a little bit, and maybe even if you don’t even like pancakes or omelettes much.

Went for lunch, but would love to go again for dinner. The chicken and apple sandwich was amazing. A very creative menu and great prices make this a must-visit.

Having the day off, I figured it would be a great way to beat the weekend crowds by heading to the Bongo Room on a weekday. I was right—we were the first ones in the restaurant and the only ones at 8am, but unfortunately, they didn’t have the complete brunch menu which is only offered on weekends (doh!). But even with no Eggs Benedict, we were still satisfied with the usual breakfast fare!

If you want to take a visitor to an amazing brunch place where should you go? BONGO ROOM! Sounds like a club/lounge but it’s just that happening at 11-2pm on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Delicious banana and white chocolate creme pancakes…yummm and many other very unique plates that you can only find at Bongo room. The south side one is much more spacious and easy to find parking.

I LOVE Bongo Room. Anytime I have an out of town guest I take them here for the unique breakfast items, and everytime they come back to visit we return.
Granted the wait on a saturday morning is long, but it is worth it.
The menu is seasonal, but for the most part the same, with some tweeks on pancake toppings and whatnot.
I love the breakfast burritto and the seasoned potatoes that come on the side with most dishes are GREAT.
Now onto the pancakes which are more like dessert. ThHey are incredible and to die for. I wouldn’t recommend just getting pancakes for breakfast because of how sweet they are. A little known secret is you can order just 1 pancake off the menu instead of the whole pancake meal. This is great to share or split and meal with a friend and then each try a new pancake. Yes it’s pricey. You’ll pay $5 for one pancake but they are amazing. The chocoate french toast tower is amazing. Loads of chocolate, bananas and syrup-y goodness.
Service is typical but you are going for the food.

This was my first time at the Wabash branch of the Bongo Room and although the location is different, I was expecting to find the same menu as the branch on Milwaukee. But I could not find the CHOCOLATE TOWER! I was devastated. This could have been just a fluke and maybe I should have inquired further, but I went ahead and tried something else on the menu.

Pineapple and rhubarb French Toast with vanilla ice cream – sounds mouthwatering, right? Very disappointing. The French toast was too dry and coarse, even after letting the ice cream soak through (very different from the delicious chocolate imbedded French toast of the chocolate tower) and the pineapple and rhubarb sauce did not complement the toast well.

The winner of my visit was definitely the omelette. You can pick up to 3 fillings and add extras for $1 each. We chose broccoli, cheddar cheese, bacon and mushrooms – the combination was scrumptious! Robiniferous (fellow menuism reviewer and friend) kept commenting on the freshness of the broccoli – fresh ingredients indeed.

Next time, I hope they bring back the chocolate tower!!!

Awesome menu – I could not decide on all the unique breakfast offerings, but look forward to coming back & trying more. Service was excellent & food was good. That 5th star is missing only because of the bad “diner” coffee.