Chapel Street Café and Restaurant — Restaurant in Chicago

I had "The Box Hill" sandwich. Described as:

braised pork belly, carrot, ginger, cucumber + champagne vinaigrette on a pane rustico bun

The pork belly was not braised but, quite literally, raw. It's a cured meat but it was still raw. So...huge lumps of fat. Worse...the rind was not cut off. Quite literally inedible. Like chewing leather. Let me repeat that...eating this was like eating shoe strings! I was spitting food out.

Remember...this was RAW. Not cooked at all. NOT AT ALL!!! Bacon is fatty so, when raw, it is huge lumps of raw fat. Was that intended?

There was almost no ginger (I tasted it once). Champagne vinaigrette? Heck if I know. Cucumber...barely. I was someone slicing a piece of pork belly onto some bread. A sprinkle of shredded carrot, four super slim slices of cucumber and stale baguette.

Did I mention the pork was RAW!!! It's a cured meat but still...RAW!!! HUGE gobs of raw fat. Not yummy. And again...add in the rind which is insanely unpleasant.

The Artichoke soup was tasty but was so gloppy it was like eating gravy (or worse)

The Caesar salad was fancy nothing. Iceberg lettuce spread on a plate with jar dressing poured on it.

The "chips" (french fries) were actually good but almost cold on delivery. I asked for ketchup (it was not provided) and got a thimble of ketchup...enough for...maybe...two fries (really not kidding...I wanted to laugh but just sat there stunned a bit too long to correct it).

Staff was nice but absolutely inattentive. Took the order. Visited once more and waited 20 minutes for the check. Our waiter came by and we asked for the check and he walked off without clearing any dishes.

Oh...and my Bloody Mary was 90% ice. It tasted ok but was in a thin glass absolutely filled with ice. Remove the ice and I think I got 1/3 of a Bloody Mary.

I want to like this place but what a disaster. I doubt I will ever...

We visited on a Saturday during soft opening, and after 90 mins of mishaps left after never receiving the food we ordered. Disappointing and a real lack of customer service - not something I'm used to in the US. They will need to significantly improve their organisation front of house for this to be successful.

Our order was taken after probably a 20 min wait - way too long and we had to ask for the order to be taken. After waiting another 20mins and having to follow up with other staff members it transpired our order was not put into the kitchen.

Coffees eventually arrived after maybe 40 mins and multiple follow ups. Despite following up numerous times on our food order it never arrived - we were eventually offered 'some food' - someone else's order that had been wandering around the cafe for 10 mins.

We eventually left after probably 90 mins and no sign of our food coming out soon. Really disappointing - if there is an issue, and we were expecting there to be in a soft opening, then I'd expect things to be resolved much quicker and more professionally. ie if our order wasn't put in, then get it put in quickly and get it out quickly - also make sure you've followed up so that it has happened. Doesn't seem like anyone was in control, and inexperienced wait staff weren't at the level you'd expect for a basic cafe. We weren't the only people in our section that left before food arrived as the wait was so long.

Maybe one to go back to in a few months once they've sorted out the many issues. The food that did eventually come out for others...

As an Aussie, there’s nothing Australian about this place. Everything online suggests breakfast/brunch food, however, we went on a Sunday at 1pm (which is prime brunch time in Chicago) and we were told there was only lunch menu available and it was the first day they rolled out the menu…. and it showed. The food was terrible. Bland. Limited selection. The service was poor. Even with the limited menu, the waitress didn’t know the menu and had us point at our orders, she kept interrupting us while in the middle of conversation. It was clear the waitress was either brand new or completely inexperienced as a server. We didn’t get asked if we wanted anything else to drink when our coffees were finished, we had to get her attention and order more coffee. My empty coffee cup sat at the table the entire time we were there. I asked for a decaf flat white from our first waiter, and was told they ran out of decaf but if I wanted a flat white I should order caffeinated even after I explained to him that I was pregnant he completely dismissed me. My husband ordered the burger, and the bun arrived with a big chunk of the top missing. I had the chicken Parma and it tasted like cardboard, completely bland served with basic fries (Aussie fries should be like steak fries) and dry salad leaves. I had high hopes for this place but walked away very disappointed and will not go back. If the lunch menu continues in its current state, this place will be out of business in 6 months - there are too many good options in Chicago for brunch or lunch. This place is not...