Eatt

NO! NO! Noooooo! You cannot be CLOSED my beautiful Muse of Carbohydrate Comfort. How could you leave me alone in the snow without leaving one final taste to moi of your succulent French Dip? Mon Cher… was it not I who loved you first when you were but a foundling upon the crowded bistro markets of North State? Ah. those many nights we held court there in our booth watching our beloved River North; awaiting… your destiny that was surely to come. By Red Line. By cab line. They would come. Yes, they would come! And when I moved high into the sky over Lakeshore East, is it not I who traveled 47 floors, 1 bridge and 8 blocks every weekend running back to you?
A pox on all who failed to save you my darling!
Non, Je né regrette rien mon petite poulle.
Je né regrette rien.

Breakfast was excellent! Great service, wonderful coffee, and loved the spinach, red pepper, feta skillet. Highly recommend. Menu was full of dishes I want to come back and try. Like stuffed french toast with marscapone. Yum!

As soon as I saw a Crab Benedict on the menu, I had to order it. As a lover of both hollandaise (mostly as a beverage) and crab, it was calling my name. However, living in the Midwest, I was a little skeptical as to whether or not to try the Benny from a glorified diner (sorry for the jab, I had to) in the middle of Chicago.
I was not disappointed. The hollandaise is the perfect blend of creamy and hearty and compliments the rest of the Benedict to a tee. The side of «crispy on the outside, soft on the inside» (they really need one word that describes everything I just put in quotes) bacon did not hurt my thoughts about the food either.
One of my friends got the French toast as well but I must not have been ready for something so sweet because in my opinion, it wasn’t that good. However, all 3 of my other friends were delighted with the French toast and even I must admit the fruit on the toast was delicious.
The interior has the feel of a nice, clean, upscale diner and the staff is very friendly.
Recommendation: Crab Benedict with a side of bacon

In the mood for some comfort food in the neighborhood but minus the wait down the street at weber grill? Come here. After being out all day and coming from a movie– we decided to walk over here for a late dinner and because I was in the mood for some American comfort food. The menu looks like it has changed *sad face* but there’s some good finds on the menu. The seafood soup piqued my interest as did the caesar salad with grilled romaine or there’s the meatloaf. I was too tired to order an app– which the fried calamari and artichoke sounded enticing but alas, I was running on 3 hours of sleep so I didn’t want to make it a longer dinner than it had to be. You know me, I love deep fried anything and the fried pickles are no longer on the menu. *sobs*
I went with the short ribs atop mashed potatoes with roasted veggies (brussel sprouts and carrots). It was good but I preferred Hub51’s rendition. This one had too much gravy all over it. The dish was borderline too salty for me and the short ribs could have been cooked longer for more tenderness. But overall, not too bad and pretty satisfying. I wanted more of the brussel sprouts. My friend had the burger with fried egg and it looked really good.
Comforting food in a comforting cozy atmosphere, it was pretty empty when we were there but service was awesome. Not bad for spontaneous meals. I’ll take this over the cheesecake factory most of the time.

Swung by for breakfast because it was near our hotel and we needed something simple and fast. Although presentations were great, it felt like the food was missing something. I can’t quite put my finger to it, but we left kind of like «Eh, can live without it.»
I had the hearty corn beef hash & eggs ($ 9.50). Plenty of food but it wasn’t amazing or anything. Think I could’ve accomplished this dish on my own at home. But I was on vacay which means no domestic chores so you gotta pay someone else to do your dirty deeds.
She had one of their benedicts which she stated that the Hollandaise sauce was off. She typically orders only benedicts at these breakfast joints so I’ll take her word for it.
No major issues really. The portions are heavy and the price is reasonable. There’s plenty on the menu besides the breakfast portion. It seemed like the French Toast were a hit because I saw it quite often. A little girl had it next to me and I was like no way can this kid kill the entire plate. Let’s just say I also witnessed many people walking out with togo boxes. Service was good.
Nothing significant to report but you may want to check out some other morning food options first.

Come to Eatt if you’re looking for some unhealthy down-​home cooking. I’m talking bacon-​wrapped meatloaf talked with a heap of onion strings unhealthy. 10oz burgers topped with cheese, bacon, and a fried egg.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here, but it was close to the hotel and offered something for everybody so if that’s what you need, it’s hard to go wrong here.

I walked into this place and immediately knew that I liked it.
Red comfy booths & diner feel, devoid of the pretentious foolery that usually permeates the Hubbard corridor. At noon the Saturday before the marathon, it was busy, but no wait for a party of four. While everyone around us was brunching, [thanks to my parents] we had been up since 7am and were already on our lunch. [Oh, to be one of the hungover masses stuffing my face with grease. Note: next weekend]
In usual parental fashion, they both ordered the chicken salad. Confused as to whether this was a salad or a sandwich, it kinda of came out as both. No, seriously. While I foresaw epic parental disaster, they happily dug in despite the odd presentation, and both proclaimed it was the best chicken salad they’ve ever had (then again, they also rave about the food at the Olive Garden. *hangs head in shame*)
My sister and I went with the croque monsieur (that’s the one without the egg, right?). While not the classiest (I imagine the Melman bros would have snubbed their nose at it), it definitely hit the spot – shaved ham was piled high and tasty, melty cheese, etc. Especially delightful were the shoestring fries – perfectly crispy and salty.
Our waitress was very attentive and pleasant, and our water, coffee, and soda always kept full. The food came out very quickly as well. While the price point may be a bit high for the fare, the portions are very generous. I’m fairly sure there was about a pound of ham on that sandwich.
Eatt will definitely be on the brunch rotation, and I’ll likely have to check it out in the later hours as well.

Great place for brunch. Super crowded yet the wait time was less than 5 minutes. service was friendly. Took a while for the food to arrive. we ordered veggie omelet and Belgian waffles with strawberry fruit topping. The waffle tasted yummy. Fluffy and had some sort of sugary drizzle. Portions are very big and inexpensive. They serve alcohol for breakfast which I had not noticed in other breakfast/​brunch joints. Minus one star coz tables are set close to one another (except for the booth) and its very noisy if you are seated inside and barely we were able to converse LOL.
A must-​go place if you are in downtown :)

Honestly, it was not where we planned to go. But on a Sunday at 8:30pm I was SHOCKED how many places on Hubbard had closed their kitchens already. So we ended up at Eatt, it had a high-​end diner feel to it. I loved it yet hated it at the same time.
Hated
–The service was SLOW, despite the fact that there were only a few tables seated and it appeared to be a slow night.
–The staff were a little flaky. I asked for lemon multiple times for my water before I finally got it. I then had to flag down our server for more water because she never checked in with us.
–It’s not a cheap diner.
Loved to Hate
–Pecan crusted chicken salad. It is a delicious looking salad. Yet I wasn’t a fan of the paper thin chicken. The dressing was drizzled over the chicken and not the spinach so it was a dry salad with super crunchy chicken. I wish the dressing would have came on the side.
Loved
–The hubby’s Eatt R-​Burger; a towering 10oz burger stacked with fresh pickles, tomato and lettuce on a pretzel bun served with TOTS and coleslaw. The slaw wasn’t a love… but everything else was great. Gotta love a good pretzel bun.
–Dessert was the Fresh Waffle Sundae. OH.MY.FREAKIN.GOD it was the best darn Belgium waffle I have ever had, topped with a scoop of chocolate/​vanilla AND strawberry ice cream, drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauce and topped with whipped cream and a cherry. We could have skipped dinner and gone straight to dessert if I were to give a five star review. I seriously dream about that warm fluffy waffle.
**the hubby would give this more stars, but it’s my review.

Good
Service,
Lovely looks,
Tasty diner–
French fusion food and a tad high price point.

After hearing about this place from a friend, I decided to check it out. I ordered some burger with bacon and a fried egg. I may have misspoke when I placed the order, but it came out rare. I had it sent back and it came back medium well. I hope they didn’t throw away the old burger as that would be a waste, but I think they did.
The service is extremely friendly and patient, since our group had a toddler who was in the bathroom with her mother when the waiter was taking our orders. But it wasn’t very busy at the time we went (weekday around 6), so maybe that factors into it. Sometimes I thought the service was a bit too… servey. The waiter was being awkwardly friendly at some points (frawkly?)
The menu is fairly American, nothing too foreign. That being said, they do some interesting things with the paradigm of hamburgers and the like.
Everyone enjoyed their meals. I sampled everyone’s, and it was all good. I would avoid the hashbrowns though, as they are really nothing special and are extremely overpriced.
The shoestring fries were great. Other notables — some sort of asian chicken wing.
It’s an affordable dinner spot to take a few people. Its ambiance was a bit awkward with all the outside light at the time we went, but I’m sure that changes at night, with all the street lights. Definitely check it out!

Eatt, a corner restaurant full of diner-​esque charm, boasts an eclectic menu, full of intricately designed sandwiches, wraps, and grill options.
The mussels, for one, are buttery, incredible, and light — not greasy at all. As for their sandwiches, the Ahi Tuna BLT (sorry, but no bacon on mine) is especially noteworthy. There’s plenty of tuna (the perfect balance between hearty and tender), layered between lettuce, tomato, red onion, and a creamy pesto-​mayo concoction that only offers a hint of flavor — not an overwhelming dressing. The tuna does the talking.
The fries are more like potato sticks than fries (not hot, and very, very thin, but not particularly crispy), but that being said, they’re pretty cool in their own right.
The waitress I had was very bubbly, friendly, and struck me as very authentic. The décor? Kind of precious.
Next time I’m in Chicago, I’m going back to Eatt for seconds.

We worked all weekend. So obviously, we were forced to treat ourselves to brunch on Monday. Tired and ravenous, we sat down at Eatt. At that point in time, if I had three wishes, they would have been for:
1. A Bloody Mary.
2. Parmesan truffle tater tots.
3. A burger topped with applewood bacon, chipotle BBQ sauce, Tillamook Cheddar and a fried egg, on a pretzel bun.
Shockingly, Eatt had THAT EXACT BURGER on their menu. AND it was served with parmesan truffle tater tots. And they served BLOODY MARYS! Once again, I’m not superstitious (only a little bit stitious), but this was eerie.
Thankfully, my Bloody Mary was solid, and it’s pretty hard to screw up tater tots (although I didn’t taste truffle). And despite it being more medium well than medium rare, it was a pretty good burger. It was enormous, and the egg was runnier than Carl Lewis (both good things). And if MY actual food was the only yardstick by which I measured Eatt, they would do well.
However, it is impossible to overlook the fact that none of my companions particularly enjoyed their meals, and the service was just laughably bad. Orders were forgotten, and incorrect, and if we were angrier people and/​or vegetarians, we might have made a scene. When a waitress has to apologize and make the excuse that she has «tables all over the place,» it’s not usually a good sign.
Perhaps you’re better off coming into Eatt when they don’t have as many tables all over the place. But if you must, get the burger.

Really?
I should be more careful with my precious time in Chicago. Eatt was subpar at best. I just kept thinking «Get your ish together, people.»
After foolishly thinking XOCO was open on Mondays (its not!) we were walking past Eatt and decided to give it a try. I thought to myself, well… ok 3-​stars, and Johnny T isn’t quite a fan, but who can’t muster up a good breakfast?!
Well, I stand corrected. The service was embarrassingly bad, wrong food on several fronts, SLOW, and mediocre from start to finish.
*20 minutes for coffee (this typically makes me murderous)
*Had to ask 3x for silverware/​napkins.
*When we sat down there were used creamers in the little cup. Kind of gross, please bus the tables completely? This is supposed to be a nice place, even diners can spot used stuff on a table.
*Wrong omelette. I ordered the «omelette du jour» sans potatoes, which was asparagus, red peppers and provolone… I received ham/​broccolli and some other cheese I couldn’t define. I mean totally fine, I actually like both of those things, but alas it is not what I ordered at all. My dining companion had the same difficulty… he somehow received a chicken salad instead of a country club melt. It took about 10 minutes for it to be rectified. On top of the 35 it took for us to get our original (wrong) food.
*Seated on patio (nice), but every single waiter bumped into me, in addition to every party that needed to squeeze by into the rest of the patio. Poor setup.
*$ 80 + tip for this lovely experience? No thanks. Had an out of towner with us, and I was frankly embarrassed about the entire experience. Just, not good.
We gave it a try… unfortunately, I’d say skip it. They are unorganized, inefficient and the food is lackluster at best.

Though I work down the street, I hadn’t made it over here yet. I knew that the wait time might not be so bad and thought it would be a good choice to meet former colleagues for lunch.
Our server went into detail about the specials of the day and even offered us the breakfast menu in addition to the regular one. With limited breakfast options past 11 AM, we could still order off of it. I went with a cup of chicken soup and a side salad (lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, and carrots). Thinking it would be a small bowl/​plate, the salad portion was huge. If you’re like me and don’t like salad dressing, then consider this a heads up. It’s already mixed in so you might want to either ask on the side or without. It was a decent salad though! My chicken soup was… well, it was chicken soup. I was in the mood for something light and it hit the spot. My other companions seemed to enjoy what they had: a burger (can’t remember which one), sweet potato fries, and omlettes.
Next time I’ll have to try one of the breakfast options. They sounded good, and my friend’s omlette looked rather tasty.

The food was decent — I had the The Classic burger, which is a 10 oz beef patty that comes with a fried egg, bacon, chipotle bbq sauce, and cheddar. Overall, the burger was pretty good, as the beef was shaped into a very thick patty (which allowed it to be cooked to medium rare) and the toppings were great. The best part was probably the pretzel bun. I think the beef patty could have been a bit smaller — would have been fine with 8 oz, as it would have been easier and less messy to eat. Cost was $ 12.50, which comes with a side (fries, tater tots, etc).
Friends ordered a burger, and escargot, which were both fine.
Service was really slow and borderline non-​responsive. I think this restaurant is either understaffed (but it wasn’t that busy on a Saturday night), or just doesn’t train their staff well. Way too many hosts/​hostesses also.
Cost and service are the main drawbacks to this place. Priced as an upscale diner, but leaves much to be desired.

Five dollars for a sandwich, slaw, side of fries and a pickle. In downtown Chicago. I’ll take it!
So the deal was fabulous, but the food was suprisingly tasty, too. We ordered the prime dip special, which was great with the jus and horseradish. Very tender. I got sweet potato fries, but should have ordered the white truffle tater tots. Doh! I did a quick Unilocal search before our order and selected the French onion soup to start with.
Woah.
I loved the ooey, gooey cheese browned beautifully, covering the salty-​sweet broth with onions and croutons. The best I’ve ever had.
The portions were generous; I couldn’t finish my plate. The chop salad to our right was enormous! I think I’ll sample that next time.
We sat at the bar, so we didn’t experience the dining room, but the service was excellent and the bartender friendly and hospitable. I am hopeful that this newer establishment finds its footing.

I consider myself particular about certain things. Some people (bluntly) call it being a snob. Oh well!
I refuse to patronize any establishment that bills itself as a dive, dive bar, diner, thrift shop, or hot dog stand. Of course there are cases where I relent for the sake of friends and family, but my general principle is that I will not patronize aforementioned establishments. I vehemently despise the word «dive», but that is another story.
The man and I decided to do a movie marathon on Sunday. Even though we live within walking distance to Eatt, I have never set foot in it due to my principles. Eatt advertises itself as diner-​y comfort food. I don’t do that. However, the man wanted something fast and easy. Normally I would make a bad joke and say what’s more fast and easy than my own self, but I was hungry and eager to eat asap. He saw the menu at Eatt while we were on our way to the movie theater and wanted to eat there. Alright then!
I was pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is much nicer than a run-​of-​the-​mill diner. Full bar and an acceptable wine list elevate this place over any diner. The menu contains plenty of comfort food. From regular breakfast items like omelets and such, to sandwiches and entrees, it all sounded good.
We started with beer battered pickles. Tender deep friend pickles served with ranch dressing. Can’t go wrong there. A very good value for $ 5. The man got a salad: pecan crusted fried chicken strips served over spinach with Montrachet goat cheese, strawberries, shaved red onions, and a chipotle lime vinaigrette. Simple yet delectable. I got the N’awlin’s Blackened Grouper — Florida black grouper, blackened spices, shredded lettuce drizzled with creole remoulade. My hungry gluttonous self couldn’t finish the sandwich, it is sufficiently large for two people. The salad was humongous as well, the man barely finished half of it.
Service was impressive, we might have been waited by 3 people during the course of our lunch. The have a great deal on weekdays: two eggs, toast, and hashbrowns for $ 3.99 on weekdays from 6−11am. Their hours are perfect for that «walk of shame breakfast» or late night food to prevent hangover the next morning.
A fast and easy option for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the River North area. Besides me ;-)

Unlike some other reviews, I didn’t think Eatt was really all that bad. Maybe the fact it’s in River North means its food has to be foo-​foo and über-​trendy like it’s neighbors to some people, but I’m pretty pleased with it being a good, upper-​end American restaurant.
The burgers are fantastic… when you ask for it «medium-​well,» it’s medium-​well. Not charcoal, not bleeding (I love it when restaurants try to tell me my «medium-​well», half-​alive burger is supposed to be Barbie pink all over… tell your cooks to stop being laaaazzzzy).
The portions of food are very substantial, but my only gripe of this place is the wine. $ 7 for a tiny little tumbler. The wine is great, and I know this is how it’s served at many other places for far more money, but I’ll stick to beer over hard grape juice from now on at Eatt.

Eatt. This new addition to the Hubbard Street mélange of restaurants had been open only 4 days when I visited with some girlfriends for breakfast. And «eatt» is just what we did!
This place is cute. Sort of a french bistro kind of feel that has risen out of what used to be Vong’s Thai Kitchen (just in case you can’t place where this is!) The red and beige interior is nice– so nice that we all commented on how cute and bright it was. There are big red booths along the windows and wood tables and chairs in the interior. And if you like to sit outside– there is also outdoor seating along Hubbard street.
While open all day, according to our server, the menu goes from breakfast offerings, to lunch and dinner offerings and then back to breakfast at 11pm for the late night crowd. She did also say, though, if you have a craving for something on the dinner menu late at night– that the chef can accommodate some of those requests depending on how busy it is. So ask!
We tried a variety of the menu, Eggs Benedict, hotcakes, fruit and granola parfait and an omelet. The food was quite good but I expected that given this place is owned by the Rosebud Group who runs other places around town.
The hiccup is that they still have the «new restaurant blues» in terms of service. There are tons of people standing around but no one knowing exactly what their role is yet. Case in point– our food came up and was brought to the table and set on a tray by the table but not served. Our server was no where to be found. And just when we were ready to serve ourselves off of the tray– another person saw our issue and put the plates on the table. Also– beverages seem to take a long time to come up. Usually at breakfast places when you order coffee– the server already has a pot in her hand. Here? We waited and waited for coffee and then finally someone else wandered by with a pot that we flagged down. So they have a few bugs to still work out.
Parking can be an issue on this stretch of Hubbard if you drive. They do have valet, but know that it doesn’t start until 11am so you will either need to find street parking (not hard in the morning) or there is a parking garage about a block down at State and Kinzie.
There is certainly not a shortage of places to «eatt» along this stretch of Hubbard. But if you are looking for a good breakfast place, Eatt will fit that bill nicely.