Kanela Breakfast Club — Restaurant in Chicago

Kanela's is a thin nook of a restaurant that goes back pretty far. They're a standard brunch spot in Old Town, with drinks and food offerings from breakfast to lunch. They often have a wait, and they mean it. If they say it's 35 minutes, you won't be seated before that in my experience, even if the free table you're eventually seated at was ready 15 minutes prior.

The food is fine. The coffee is fine. I have never had a meal there that I would seek out, one that I would describe as excellent. That's not to say that anything is bad; perhaps average is a better descriptor.

The service is okay; I tend to feel like they're not where I want them to be. I find myself waiting a bit longer than I wanted to for a refill of coffee or water. They're very nice, offering coffee to go and pleasant when taking your order, but maybe a bit less attentive than I personally like.

Back to the food: it's okay. I've gotten omelettes and Benedict, and my girlfriend has gotten chicken and waffles and french toast. Everything I've had is about what I can make for myself, if perhaps a bit less suited to my own tastes. The potatoes are a bit too mushy, the toast only comes with butter, etc.

You probably won't have a bad experience, but they're a bit too pricey for what's on offer here. My omelette was $12ish. A dozen eggs costs them less than a dollar. Potatoes aren't more expensive. I'm not asking for market prices. If they were cooked to perfection, or the wait was shorter, or the wait staff was really on the ball, I'd feel better about that price.

If you're in the area, you'll have a nice time. I wouldn't go out of my way for...

Let’s start with the good: Our waiter (Ryan) was the only reason this review is above one star. He was quick, efficient, and his personality is perfect!

On to the rest of our experience… The bloody Mary’s were good. The food was sub par to say the least. Potato pancakes were burnt and dry but we were optimistic for the rest of our food… The crunchy French toast smelled incredible but it was (again) burnt and dry. I was under the impression cornflakes would make the French toast crunchy but I guess it’s as easy as leaving it on the flattop too long and using stale bread. Chilaquiles were good but we got the chorizo on the side (I’m vegetarian but my boyfriend is not) and he described it as “dusty” and “like cat food” because it was so dry which has never happened to us before when ordering the same dish at other restaurants. Would not have been dry in the dish so that’s a plus. Chilaquiles were quite good but not good enough to make up for the inedible French toast or the parched potato pancakes. Paid $70 for two people (before tip) and left far from satisfied with our food.

Side note: Ryan was also the only server wearing his mask and wearing it properly the whole time we were there. Chicago is currently under a mask mandate and all the patrons were following the mandate, but only one staff member was following the mandate… Very concerning.

We will not be coming back and we will advise everyone we...

We had the worst brunch experience here. Me and my bf got on the waiting list, then got a text saying our table was ready, we went back and the host stared at us as if she didnt just saw us 10 mins before and we had to explain that we were on the waitlist . That was weird and all but we got to our table, despite multiple empty ones, we were shoved in the corner next to the kitchen. Having the cooking noise in the kitchen over our consversation was nice, waiters walking in and out constantly behind us was another nice touch to the view, highly reccommend sitting next to a kitchen when dining in, quite an experience. We asked for another table and the waitress helped us out. Very quickly, we were sat at another table with other customers, it just goes to show that there were all these better options available and we got the worst table for no reason. On to the food, the worst egg benedict I had in my life, it wasnt even hot but a little bit warmer than room temperature. All I could taste was unseasoned spinach tasted like it was cooked in oil and water. The english muffins were soggy and favorless. What seems to be the hollandaise sauce has the consistence of water and it doesnt even matter because again, favorless. To sum up, their version of egg benedict is chilled poached egg, mushy spinach and soggy english muffin. So if you want to pay too much for a bad meal and service, Kanela is the...