Cafe Creme

From the time you order, it takes an unusually long time for them to bring you the food. Food is okay, nothing outstanding. I’ve had this experience a few times. I wonder how long they will survive.

So though the food is decent and has a good Wicker Park-​vibe, I’ve had a couple check issues that make me question their ethics.
1) Both times I’ve been here, the items I ordered were priced differently on the check than on the menu. (The check price was more expensive than the menu price of course…) There are no notices of price variation on the menu, by common areas, or verbal warnings when ordering. Not cool.
2) Both times I’ve been here, one of my friends has ordered a sandwich and did not specify to add bacon. Bacon was added however, which isn’t a big deal, cause they didn’t mind the bacon, but could REALLY cause a problem for someone that is vegetarian. (Plus, if you don’t realize there is bacon on a baconless sandwich until halfway through, what’s the sense of telling the server?) When the check came, they were charged for extra bacon even though they didn’t ask for it.
Service is friendly and food is good. Just be sure to inquire about any price variations with your server beforehand and review your check before you accidentally pay more than you should.

Awesome brunch spot that makes weekend brunches carefree!
Ever want a quick brunch without all the frills? This place is simple and straight forward. I’ve never been when it’s overly crowded; I’ve always been seated right away. Wait staff are friendly and easy-​going, and the things I’ve gotten on the menu are really comforting, solid brunch foods.
I love coming here on weekends because the interior is so cute. It’s a place I’d want to stay awhile– really high ceilings, display cases full of macaroons, and white/​pink décor (a little girly, but then again, what’s wrong with that?)
They’ve got a nice back patio in the summertime and free-​wifi that works well. This is a great go-​to when you just want brunch without all the frills.

Recently, my boss and I decided to try a new place for our weekly meetings and were extremely impressed. The staff was very friendly and helped seat us right away. We both ordered a Cappuccino which was delish! :) as we got very involve in chatting away during our meeting the server was so professional in her interruption to ask for our orders. She took time to quickly go over the menus and was not irritated that we had bo idea what to get. Everything is so decently priced and sounded fantastic. I got the Croissant Sandwhich, which was great! Cannot wait to go again.

This place was just OK.
When we walked in, we were unsure if it was a seat yourself kind of place or if we needed to be seated by the host. We sort of just stood there awkwardly until one of the servers eventually noticed us.
When we got seated, we noticed the French music and the French inspired menu, and also found out that the owner is French as well. Big plus as my fiancé is French.
We ordered a carafe of the French House Cider, but I was disappointed to discover that we were essentially paying more for a carafe and receiving about the same (or less?) than if we had just ordered two individual glasses.
Our food was mostly decent. I ordered the breakfast crêpe, which was tasty, but for $ 12 I felt I was over paying. My fiancé got the Parisian sandwich with a side of quinoa salad. The salad was nearly inedible the flavors were so terrible. His sandwich was ok, but again not really worth the price.
Lastly, after we finished, we decided to order a Nutella crêpe to share for dessert. Sadly, we were told that the chef had stopped making crepes already. It was 2pm and they close at 3pm, so we were a bit disappointed. I personally feel like the entire menu should be available during hours of operation.
Here are the positives: I like the environment and décor. I remember when this spot was Grass Fed, and Café Crème did a really good job differentiating the style. Also, our waitress was really nice and accommodating. We also really enjoyed the French touches like the music and true to France menu selections. The House Cider was good as well.
Bottom line: Probably won’t go back.

Came here for brunch on Saturday and expected it to be super busy at almost 10 am, but surprisingly it wasn’t… Star #1! The place is totally gorgeous and filled with light on the inside, from the super tall ceilings and skylights… Star #2! It will be a great place to impress especially your picky mother, since this place is so airy and clean and light. :)
We sat outside on the patio, which is not really that special, but still good to have when it’s a gorgeous day out and you want to spend every minute outside.
Menu seems pretty extensive and covered all the basis for breakfast and lunch. My husband and I had a hard time deciding… Star #3. We finally went with a breakfast sandwich and a brie sandwich — which were absolutely delicious, mostly made up by the fantastic bread… Star #4. Very promt and courteous service, good coffee and fantatstic desserts gave it a boost to Star #5.
Must check it out! I can’t wait to order the crepes next time, since they looked very scruptious at the table next door. And don’t forget some macarons to go…

I came here with my mom for brunch on labor day. My mom ordered the house smoked salmon hashed after seeing it brought to someone else. She was disappointed that the dish was so salty. You could hardly enjoy the flavors of anything else because the amount of salt was overpowering everything else. I ordered the Bahn Mi sandwich with a side of cucumber salad. The side was the best part. The menu said the sandwich had pulled pork, pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro. The sandwich came with about 4 round pieces of very dry fried pork, no cilantro, and yes it had the pickled carrots and daikon which were great, but overall the sandwich lacked flavor.
We also ordered lattes which we both agreed were great. I probably won’t return for dining, but I may come back to try something from their bakery.
Tldr; coffee is great, will go back to try bakery. Dining experience was a miss.

Very disappointed and will not be going back here. My wife and I gave it two tries. Both times, we had to wait a VERY long time to have our orders taken. The first time we stayed and ate. The food was good. Nothing really stood out but everything was good. The atmosphere and décor are nice too. But our breakfast took 2.5 hours. No joke. I figured I’d chalk it up to the fact that at the time, they had only been open a month or so. Well, we tried going the other day again and same thing. We sat down. Took about 5 min or so for someone to pour coffee and then sat for another 20 min waiting to have our orders taken. We got up and left. Again, I will not be going back here. Understaffed and/​or mismanaged.

I was on vacation in Chicago & passed by this café on a Friday morning. They weren’t open as yet but we peered through the window with pleading eyes and they opened a little earlier for us :)
I had the delicious polenta with poached egg & vegetable ragu. I must admit the ragu was a little oily and the polenta a little over salted when tasted separately, but when mixed all together it was absolutely delicious!
Great coffee in the latte and a yummy passion fruit macaron finished off the meal.
If I lived in Wicker Park Id definitely make this café my favourite brunch spot!

This place definitely surprised me. Hidden away in a little corner of Wicker Park, it’s my new gem to take all my friends. The staff I encountered were amazingly friendly — the head chef gave my friend and I a personalized experience that will definitely keep bringing us back.
We had the pork, fettuccine, crepes and a few other items, all were amazing and reasonably priced. This place feels very, very high-​class but the prices are quaint.
Kelsie, who was our server, was amazingly friendly and on point. She explained each dish to us as she brought it out and had knowledge of every ingredient. She was friendly, peppy, attentive and was fun to be around. Also the music station playing was stellar!
This place is for sure worth checking out — love it!

Awesome food. Went for dinner, had the pork and my wife had the veggie burger. Also got the fennel Apple salad. They have good options for veggie eaters too.
They have a really interesting cider list that I want to dive into on my next visit. I’m excited to go back.

If I could, I would give Café Crème 3 ½ stars. My husband and I kept walking by this place and checking out the menu so we finally decided to give it a try (ordered it to go). I was excited to see another brunch place in this area. I ordered the ham and cheese crêpe and added egg, but ended up paying for an egg I never received. Overall, the crêpe had good flavor but was lacking with ingredients (maybe the egg would have helped). My husband ordered the egg sandwich and enjoyed every bite; although, he did say it had a lot of butter/​oil that made it delicious. We also tried the cinnamon roll bread pudding. We both thought the bread pudding was good, but we couldn’t figure out the topping to the side (was it a lemon mascarpone??). The topping was tart and did not go well with all the flavors. I think a not too sweet cream cheese topping would complement the cinnamon a little more or maybe a different flavor (caramel).
Ever since we came back from Italy, we have to try/​test out macaroons from all the café/​restaurants we visit. We ordered the salted caramel, pistachio, and Mexican chocolate macaroons. I liked that the texture was a little different from other macaroons (like a fluffy brownie). As for the salted caramel and pistachio macaroons, the filling tasted like butter (not good at all). The Mexican chocolate macaroon was perfect! I know they just opened and maybe had an off day. I might have to try another flavor.
Overall, it’s a place I will definitely give a second chance.

Absolutely love this place! I have come in several times at all hours of the day and everyone is very friendly and attentive.
I am not sure if they have menu items to go, but if they don’t they should.
My only real complaint is that whenever I get my latte, they put a straw in it for me. Please, let me grab my own straw and put it in my drink, I have enough germs I don’t need anyone else’s.

I love the interior of this new café — it’s modern, bright, and has spacious ceilings. There’s not much of a decaf tea selection though — the only choice I had was the Rooibos Vanilla which luckily I enjoyed. The smell of the tea was excellent. I also got a mid-​afternoon passion fruit macaron and was pleased with the texture and the filling. Just work on the appearance of the macaron (smooth it out) and it would be pretty great overall. I will have to return for a taste of the other flavors but Café Crème looks like a promising new spot to get my macaron fix!

The Croissant Sandwich is great. Brings back the feeling of the old Café DeLuca, a simple and great place of brunch and chatting.

Went here with a friend for lunch and was happy to see the glowing reviews were justified. I had the brie sandwich with a side of quinoa and both were delicious. My sandwich was served on a baguette and it was perfectly fresh, with a soft inside and crispy crust — the whole thing just kind of melts in your mouth. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I had such a great baguette outside of Europe. I was excited to see they also sell the baguettes to go so I can stop by and get them on the same day I want to serve them at home. The iced latte I had was strong with a great flavor, plus I love that they have almond milk for those of us that can’t have regular milk and don’t want soy. I have to say, everything on the menu sounded pretty amazing, and it was hard to choose what to eat/​drink. I plan to come back sometime to try the crepes and the pastries.
I have a young baby so it was great to see a changing table in the restroom and plenty of space in the café for strollers. There’s also an outdoor patio, although it didn’t look like it was open yet (the place is still pretty new).
My only complaint is that they close too early (at 3pm) as I would love to come by for coffee in the afternoons. Please stay open longer! I’m definitely planning to come here regularly.

We had the griddle cakes (excellent) and the Brie sandwich (equally excellent). Also sampled a little something from the bakery that was tasty too. Great coffee, sunshine through the skylights, and all around an enjoyable experience. The service really elevated this place above some of the other brunch places in the neighborhood.

Five stars for their coffee! I’m allergic to both soy & dairy & this is one of the only places around that has almond milk! The coffee was amazing! I haven’t tried their food or baked goods yet. They had a very small selection of baked goods, I was hoping for some flourless chocolate cake for my birthday. Only pretty tarts & macaroons (which both were loaded with dairy)…just had to settle for the yummy coffee. Maybe they can add a vegan/​dairy free dessert options? I would love to see an ingredient list with the names like Goddess & Grocer does. That way I don’t have to wonder what I can & can’t have. I will go back to try a croissant and brunch!

Tuesday. Lunch at Café Crème. I write this to help these guys improve and stick around because it would be great to have a place like this in the neighborhood. However, for now I have to rate them a gentlemen’s 3.
After a very friendly greeting, seating and water fill up, I seemed to become invisible, despite being the only person in the front of the restaurant.
Multiple efforts to wave them down and then to pay at least got them to acknowledge my existence.
The food? I had the griddle cakes since I had no breakfast. Verdict? They need to work on presentation. I don’t expect Alinea but the plate looked like something you would put together on a Saturday at home.
Taste varies so much from person to person that my impressions may not match yours, but I thought the griddle cakes were heavy and the thyme syrup to be too thymie.
The lemon whipped cream was delicious but melting on the griddle cakes when I got them so the look didn’t impress initially.
BTW I thought the prices were reasonable… perhaps increase them a few cents, if necessary, to improve service, etc.
My two cents: Tighten up the service, be more attentive to people and details, recognize people eat with their eyes first and get as much feedback from your customers as you can.

Went with my mom and son for lunch 2 days after they opened. I was beyond impressed. Service was great but more than that the food was amazing. I live down the street and it may be my new favorite local lunch spot. What we ordered, gazpacho: literally the best I have ever had. Perfect combination of sweet salty and acid. I had the egg sandwich. So original, a great combination of flavors with Dijon mustard, pickled onions and rich cheddar. My mom had the Brie sandwich which she also loved. All bread made in house and desserts looked
delicious but was too full to enjoy any.
Edit. Dropped rating from 5 to
4 stars. Went back for a second visit and service and food sadly did not leave up to expectations. Service was just bad. Waitress was not responsive and took 10 minutes to get us menus. Gazpacho was thankfully as I remembered but egg sandwich was much more mild in flavor and was lacking the spark it had originally. Sad