The Bongo Room

Have had better
Breakfast burrito - $10 and doesn't come with any meat. It's good, a spinach tortilla filled with eggs and guacamole wrapped in cheese, but wasn't mind blowing good. Came with breakfast potatoes which were decent, asked them to make them extra crispy and they said they'd try but sometimes can't make it happen.

Side of bacon - was a side of 3-4 pieces of bacon.

Red velvet pancakes - The drizzle and nuts made the top pancake good because the pancakes are kinda dry. Wasn't as great as I thought it'd be.

Quick, friendly service.

I don't really understand all the hype about The Bongo Room.. I've been here twice now, both on weekdays so I can't comment on the wait. However, I've been consistently underwhelmed. The pretzel caramel pancakes were awesome, but the cannoli ones.. not so good. I literally whinced as I was eating them. The savory tomatillo scramble just tasted like salsa with some egg flavoring, and their omelettes are those annoying fold-over ones where the toppings aren't even mixed in. With an endless amount of brunch places in wicker park, bucktown and logan square, it's hard to justify Bongo Room.

This place is famous for its pancakes, but honestly (maybe I'm getting old) the pancakes are a bit much for me. I'm glad I tried the red velvet pancakes, don't get me wrong, but the cream cheese syrup made it feel like I was eating a cupcake at 10 am and I didn't want a cupcake for breakfast.

The best kept secret is the BLT eggs benedict. Holy moly. The dill hollandaise sauce is the sauce of my dreams. It is worth the 1-2 hour wait, just plan on waiting an hour or two. Down the street is a lovely, quirky coffee shop called The Wormhole which I usually pass my wait time in, it doesn't feel nearly as long when I go there.