Yolk

Yolk seems to be getting really good business and getting busier earlier and earlier so be forwarned. You can read my previous reviews here.

While there’s no cost for ordering all egg whites for the omelettes, I recommend getting at least 1 yolk (or trying the egg beaters) for taste…

holy cow, i came here for sunday brunch at noon and it was packed! be prepared for a wait.

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

We’ve been here twice and each time was fantastic!
The menu provides a considerable amount of choices… from the decadent cinnamon roll french toast to the healthy fare fruit and yogurt anyone can find something to enjoy.

The menu is so large its like you are at an upscale IHOP with all the breakfast choices.

I was pleasantly suprised that there was no upcharge for getting egg beaters or egg whites in omelettes/scrambled eggs (which is usually the case).

The omelettes are great Hey Ricky and the Venice are both so frech and flavorful. They also come with so many things… its almost enough for two people or a nice little doggy bag.

The area is a bright sunshine yellow with lots of booths. The two times we’ve been there the servers were very attentive and pleasant.

Even though we had a wait each time, it seemed to be pretty fast! All they need are a few flat screen televisions before the 2007 Bear Season!

So I am a biiiiggg breakfast fan. I love breakfast foods. I like pancakes, french toast, anything made with eggs… and I can eat breakfast foods any time of day. So my friends took me to Yolk today to get my breakfast for lunch. And I’m very glad they did! Yolk has a lot of good things to point out: large menu with everything you can think of, very reasonable prices, huge portions, friendly and attentive staff, nice ambiance and decor. But really what stands out for me was the quality of the food! I love breakfast foods, but I don’t usually get omelets because they aren’t done right. Well, I’m glad I listened to my friend’s recommendation and ordered the California Omelet. Wow! There was no overcooked egg, no undercooked veggies, and every bite had a good ratio of fillings vs. egg. It was definitely how an omelet should be. Oh, and I also got the pancake as a side (you can choose between pancake, egg muffin, or toast), and that was delicious as well.

As a breakfast fanatic, this is definitely a place worth visiting again!

This restaurant definitely knows how to do a good breakfast. They offer a wide variety of breakfast foods, such as oatmeal, and all the usual stuff, but done well and with lots of specialized dishes. They have some non-breakfast stuff, but I doubt anyone cares about it. The prices are reasonable, considering the quality food you get.

The omelettes here are pretty wondrous compared to many other omelettes I have had. They are super fluffy, and the mixture of goodies in the egg is perfect. It’s not one of those lame omelettes where they just throw a fluffy egg on top of the goods. I loved how you could upgrade the toast for pancakes. For only $1.50, I think its a good deal. I’d definitely go back and try all the omelettes and other egg-y delights.

This afternoon I went to Yolk with my college sign language class. We were to order as deaf people would order, which mostly means pointing at the menu. Our waiter didn’t have a problem with this until he gave me the wrong order and forgot my drink. Not only did he give me a major attitude while handing me my correct order, but he charged me for all of it. When I went up to the front to pay, I explained the situation and received the most rude behavior I have ever experienced from anyone. He basically told me it wasn’t their problem and said “the next time you want to be heard, you should just speak”. I was astounded to be spoken that way. This clearly was an issue not only of incompetence, but of discrimination. After roughly handling the situation, he shooed me off. I would never eat at this establishment again, nor would I ever recommend this place to anyone. These people clearly have no respect for their customers, and they don’t feel it necessary to treat disabled people in an appropriate way. I can only imagine how I would have been treated if I were really a deaf person. Some people are disgusting, and sadly I can say that I felt the same sentiment from everyone working there. They tried ignoring us when we were calling them over, obviously because we were making their jobs THAT much harder. This was the worst dining experience I have ever had.

With all the great breakfast places in Chicago, why would anyone choose YOLK? After all, the food here is served-to-order, not made-to-order. Perhaps patrons hail from the newly developed South Loop where restaurant and shopping development still lags the many new condos. So convenient choices are slim. If I lived in the neighborhood, I’d make the trek to someplace good.

What do I mean by “served-to-order”? It’s readily apparent that breakfast here is made en masse, like a factory, in anticipation of general demand, not cooked in response to an order taken by a waitress. But unlike a factory, there’s no quality control between the production line and the consumer.

The first clue that this is a food factory is the enormous number of seats in the restaurant. Only a cafeteria/buffet approach could feed the hoard if the restaurant were full.

But the real proof is evident in the food. Scrambled eggs arrived hard, luke-warm and chopped up. They were pre-made and scooped from a warming tray – but even the breakfast buffet at Marriott Courtyard beats these eggs.

Bacon was not cooked to be crispy. The fat was somewhat raw and I’m sure chewy, if we had the stomach to actually eat it.

Pancakes were gummy, chewy, flavorless disks. Again, I’d suspect they came from a warming tray. If not, I’d remove the latex from the recipe.

Even the toast was inedible. It showed signs of toasting around the edges, but would be more accurately described as a cold slice of bread.

In fairness, an order of hash with poached eggs was much better. Nothing special about the hash, but the kitchen did properly poach the eggs, and many breakfast restaurants fail that test. I guess it’s a sign that if the kitchen must cook something to order, they can do it competently.

Believe it or not, the worst part of the meal was not the food. My companion simply couldn’t eat what she was served. Her meal was sent back, and she declined to order something else. Soon the owner – maybe manager but he called it “my restaurant” – came to our table. “I looked at your plate and I couldn’t see what was wrong with it,” he said in a tone of inquisition. The conversation deteriorated from there. I think this is a man who simply should not be in the restaurant business.

And, this is a restaurant that you’d be better off avoiding.

I loved this place! The restaurant was fairly crowded at 11am on at Saturday but the line moved pretty quickly. Yolk seems small on the outside but once you walk in, you notice that the restaurant expands quite a bit toward the back. With IKEA like decor of red and blue, yolk is a pretty trendy place inside. As for the service..well at least you get to put your order in and finally get your dishes, but don’t expect to have more than that, they are way too busy for small talk. Our server asked us in passing how our food was, but he was already heading toward the kitchen before he finished his sentence. The food is wonderful here! With five of us girls, we all pretty much passed around our dishes. I Another one of my favorites was the Santa Fe fajita omelette. It was amazing, it was filled with chicken, egg, other fajita deliciousness and topped with a ton of salsa, sour cream and guac. I keep taking bites of this from my friend Annie across the table. My friend Yvonne got the peach cobbler crepes – they were good, I don’t know if they were my thing though. My roommate Erica got a skillet which was pretty good. The food around us at the other tables looked amazing too and I am eager to go back to try out more dishes! And get that Santa Fe omelette thing again!"

DO NOT EAT BREAKFAST OR LUNCH AT YOLK. I live in the bldg. next to this place, and I have tried it on a few occasions for brunch and very disappointed and 1 time before today for lunch. This place is very consistent…..at being terrible. I consider my taste buds very in tune w/ good food and good value. I order the buffalo chicken wrap w/ blue cheese, fries and a Pepsi. The wrap seemed old and stale, they use soggy iceberg lettuce, the chicken did not taste very fresh and hot, the diced tomatoes were like the ones you’d get at Taco Bell, the blue cheese tasted old and didn’t even really taste like blue cheese, and the fries were not hot and a bit stale. The wrap pretty much fell apart when I picked it up. Terrible presentation. Yolk should be paying me $13.04 to eat this crap. Yolk is totally overpriced and totally not worth the wait or the rushed, unfriendly servers and staff. Please, Chicagoians and tourists, do yourself a favor – eat somewhere else in the SouthLoop, or go over to Wishbone in the West Loop on Washington and Morgan.

I went on a cross country road trip from NH to CA last week and ate waaayyy too much diner food, most of it average or vanilla. Yolk was a shining star during the week. The portions were very generous and the prices were surprisingly suburban. I got a skillet breakfast that was delicious. My companions got an omelette and pancakes, respectively. All were delicious. I would recommend Yolk to anyone looking for an upbeat, clean, affordable, and delicious breakfast place. No complaints here!

I was absolutely shocked with my Yolk experience! The service was exceptionally slow and the wait staff was rude! Furthermore, the french toast was bland and my friend’s omlette didn’t have the correct ingredients.

Don’t go here!

The manager is arrogant, unaccomodating and defensive. This is also reflected
in poor service and mediocre food.
How hard is it to make toast? Here, it’s either undertoasted or burned to a crisp – no inbetween.
The orange bread french toast was awful – mushy and oversweet.
Eggs and sausage were cold; omlettes bland.
Plenty of other breakfast places in the area. You’ll be happier elsewhere.