Broken Shaker at Freehand Chicago — Restaurant in Chicago

Cafe Integral was our choice for breakfast on one of two mornings we spent in Chicago. We were overall disappointed. It starts with the menu. If you’re a person with a special diet of any kind (vegetarian, gluten free), or maybe just someone who checks out restaurant menus to help make a choice about where to go, then you rely on online menus being up to date. (Putting aside for the moment restaurants whose menus change frequently or who at least bother to state the menu online is just a sample of what they offer.) Cafe Integral’s menu in person was different than what appeared online…the main difference being fewer choices. When asked about this, the staff informed us they recently had “scaled back” their menu. Okay, so please also scale it back online so we can make an informed choice about whether to give you a shot.

I had the Pour Over coffee (as any good brunch loving citizen of the morning should.) It wasn’t bad but would have liked it bolder rather than smoother.

I also ordered the Breakfast sandwich without meat. (You have a choice of sourdough or bagel…I picked sourdough. For vegetarians avocado is an option instead of meat which is nice. (Except I don’t really like avocado that much so I opted to not have it. The 2-year cheddar it comes with is cooked in with the eggs which unfortunately had the effect of it not being noticeable visually or by taste. I had to ask the server if they had forgotten the cheese because it was really a non-presence. Also, the omelet eggs were over fried

My wife liked the sunny side eggs and greens she ordered. (Assembled from the “Sides & Extras” Menu.) She thought it was perfectly fine but nothing amazing.

We would have loved to try the Yucca Hash that was listed on the online menu and looked pretty amazing by description, but was, unfortunately a victim of the “scaling back” of their menu.

Our impression of the staff also wasn’t so great…not a particularly friendly bunch. The first person we encountered when we walked in told us in a kind of not-so-happy-to-see-us manner that we should order then sit. Later the person who brought our food seemed visibly inconvenienced by the lack of space on the table where she had to put our order. She also seemed like I was interrupting her when I later asked where the bathroom was. It just seems basic that staff at service oriented businesses should go out of their way to be friendly and welcoming…especially in the morning when your interactions with other human beings can set the tone for your whole day.

Overall all of our experience here was...

Soooo I went to this place w my friend around 6:30-7:00pm on Saturday the night of st patty’s day weekend March 16th 2019. It looked packed (like most establishments would be this weekend) it was very loud....With everyone drinking and talking over each other it was very hard to communicate w anyone unless you were speaking loud... My friend and I were trying to kill some time while we waited on our pizza at another place which was also very busy and we both just wanted to have a couple of beers. I looked at the small cramped bar and was wondering if they sold any beer. So I walked up to the bar while my friend went downstairs to take a seat on their little fancy couches. I asked politely to the two bartenders working “excuse me do you have any beers” no response from both of them. I mean one was working the register and the other the glasses or something but they didn’t even turn around or acknowledge me...I thought it was because it was busy and loud but to be honest they didn’t seem that busy so I asked with a firmer voice “Yo bro!” to the register guy and he ignored me for a second time...I thought ok sure whatever I’ll ask the glass man and when I tried he actually DENIED me ordering anything and his reason was because he said we don’t act like that here........ we don’t yell....we’re gonna refuse you service!!!!!! These guys actually thought I was yelling at them?!? How the hell are you supposed to order a beer at a packed establishment without speaking up? What kind of sensitive bartenders does this place hire where if you speak up to order a few drinks they Refuse you on the grounds of you yelling at them...smfh I was confused and even tried to apologize (can you believe that) by saying I wasn’t trying to yell at them it was just loud but they weren’t having it once again refusing me any service. This is Hands Down one of the WORST Service experiences I ever had living in this city. These bartenders need to learn that they aren’t getting yelled at when people are just trying to be heard to buy their...

Had a very weird experience this weekend. Ordered drinks with friends and started a tab. I gave my card over to the bartender. Who a few minutes later then asked my friend for his card. I said oh do you still have my card? She insisted she did not even though I JUST handed it to her. Either she dropped it, pocketed it or accidentally gave it to someone else. I know mistakes happen and I usually don’t complain. But the staff continued to gaslight me and tell me they didn’t have it and I must have lost it. I asked someone at the Freehand front desk to talk to a manager and see if they could look for me. I was told “we are two separate things.” Okay fine but then this morning I asked again and the guy at the front said he COULD get back there to look but he was alone up front so he wasn’t going to leave. He literally said “yeah there’s like 20+ credit cards back there.” Not ONCE did anybody say “let me see if so and so can help you.” As a paying customer of both places someone could have at least made an effort to help me? All and all being gaslit by the bartender who lost my card and blamed me was very...