Fox & Obel

Fox & Obel was a great experience. I have many happy memories from my visits to Chicago at this incredible gourmet grocery, deli and breakfast place. At the time I was visiting this place there were foods that you could get nowhere else.
I’m sorry it is gone!

Hahahhaahaaaa! See this is what happens to you when you serve CRAP FOOD and treat customers like SH*T. I’m so happy you will no longer be able to rip people off!
TTFN!

They had a great selection desserts and produce.
The café was delicious and offered hot sandwiches, warm soups, and salads.
They closed :(but this is where my wife and I would stock up on authentic teas. They had so many to choose from!

As of today, Fox & Obel is permanently closed.

So I read in Cranes yesterday that this is going out of business and there was some alleged funny stuff going on with the $$$
What a surprise :)
It cost almost $ 15 for bagels lox and cream cheese. Sometimes the aisles were filthy.
Sometimes if you were in the restaurant in the back it would be just you. The view is excellent over there. Talk about a wasted opportunity. I guess I can see the same view at Quay down the street just only better. The cheese was way over priced.

I just moved into the neighborhood and inspite of seeing the news report about being shut down by the Health Department, I thought I’d stop in. If ever standards were going to be high, I figured now would be the time… especially the service.
What I found was indifference. I was there at 11:20 AM and hoped to grab some prepared food from the deli cases to heat and eat. Those cases were empty except for deli meats. I asked a woman behind the counter when the rest of the food would be out and her reply was «I don’t know» I indicated it was getting close to lunchtime and asked if there was a usual time I could count on for future visits and again she said
«I’m not sure because it’s all made fresh and it comes out when they (the cooks) are done. (I can go into Mariano’s or Whole Foods any day at 11AM and know the food bar is fresh and loaded.)
I, also, asked her what kind of responses they were seeing from the TV news reports and she said folks expressed concern but… «It’s no big deal, this is an old building and this kind of thing happens a lot.» Really??? There are plenty of stores and restaurants in old Chicago buildings that don’t have cockroaches on food-​prep-​surfaces… and not closed by the Health Department.
When checking out, the checker asked me if I’d found everything OK and I said I had wanted some charcoal but couldn’t find any. She took me to the meat counter and asked someone who said «We used to but I don’t know if we have any now.» He didn’t check. She asked another who said, «That’s not my department.» So, she then went into the back and brought someone out who looked in the same area I had and pointed to what he said were smoking chips and said «I guess not, they’d be over here.» The checker was the only one who represented the store in a positive manner.
If I’d been shut down… I’d have a greeter at the door with a handshake and a smile, I’d have every employee saying hello, as well as, have people handing out samples of sample of fresh, fragrant and tasty foods… anything to make sure guests most recent memories eclipsed that of being shut down.
There is a fine line separating high-​prices/​convenience/​value. Fox & Obel is expensive and there was nothing about my experience that warranted the up-​charge or a return visit.
Although, it is closer to my condo… I’ll continue to visit each Whole Foods and Mariano’s every week.

If you are going here be sure not to look up that City of Chicago sanitation inspections.
I won’t go in to detail here, but basically I dont think I could eat there without gagging.
This place was shutdown on repeated violations that would make you sick just to read plus FOUR independent FOOD POSIONING !!! complaints
Two weeks ago we went there and noticed all the shelves were about 80% empty. A sure indicator that the palce is faltering and that the owners are trying to save money by not spending money on inventory.
Also means that what is out there is old.
Turns out the original owners have sold this place.
It’s fallen on disrepair, bad staffing and sanitary conditions that are innexcusable for a place selling food.
RIP Fox in Obel; I loved you in your hay day

I unfortunately did not read the other Unilocal reviews before coming here for brunch last Sunday. I will never make this mistake again.
Terrible food (dry french toast, dinky breakfast burrito made of a tortilla and what looked like 1 scrambled egg for ~$ 10 wtf), terrible service (sat down at 12:15pm food came at 1:15pm — looked around and no tables had their food.
Need I say more?
Avoid at all costs.

Ekkk, closed due to health violations… AVOID.
What a difference a few years makes.

15 July 13 Update: Gourmet grocer Fox & Obel closed its location in Streeterville Monday, telling Crain’s Chicago Business that it would reopen after addressing health code violations.
–
I’m generally not one to snark at other reviewers, but I’ll take liberties this time knowing I’m right, they’re wrong, and I don’t give a damn.
Nobody speaks of the great value provided by Fox & Obel, so I’m spared the lesson in economics where two cookies for $ 6 is clearly a mis-​marked package. Paying more for less makes you a fool, not a gourmand.
First order of business was to find a cold soda. Since two of the coolers I visited were set to «warm» instead of «cool», I walked to the front of the store and picked out the least offensive bottle of Arizona tea I could find. Cold tea or warm soda: is there really a choice to be made? Glad we agree.
After standing in front of a chef at the «café» portion of the store for a good 5 minutes without being acknowledged, I walked to the cashier while disabling my invisibility cloak; I really need to be more careful with the whole invisibility thing.
I successfully placed my order with the cashier, and asked to pay for my tea as well. Unfortunately, she was unable to ring up the tea as she didn’t have a scanner. It’s 2012. I can buy fractional ownership interest in virtual farms, tend to virtual crops, and fight virtual street gangs with virtual weaponry — with real cash — but I can’t use real cash to pay for a real product. Fuck this.
I digress; the tea was aborted, and I was told to sit at the sticky, rarely-​cleaned lunch counter area. By no means, I am told, was I welcome to sit in the «full service» area — despite there being plenty of seats available. I sat by the dairy case and counted the dust bunnies on the wall art while I waited for my sandwich.
Sandwich delivery comes after a wait long enough for me to take note that duck eggs are sold in the refrigerated section. $ 8. Clotted cream, too. Neat! I ordered turkey and cranberry sauce on whole grain, with chips.
Cranberry sauce. SAUCE. It’s a word in the very name of the item. Why, then, did I receive what appears to be «essence of cranberry»? It is as though my very dry whole grain bread was only allowed to come near cranberry sauce ever so briefly, but never really get any on the bread.
Turkey is not known for being the moistest meat on the planet. However, F&O have perfected the method by which to completely dehydrate meat to a point just before it can only legally be classified as jerky. It, too, is apparently a rare commodity as the amount on the sandwich was really embarrassing.
The sandwich was only edible after applying 2 packets of mayonnaise and a packet of mustard. I know what you’re thinking: «mayo and mustard on cranberry? Gross!» which would be true if there were any cranberry on the bread in the first place. I really like cranberry sauce. Can you tell?
For $ 10, this sandwich was really pathetic.
So let’s wrap this up, because nobody’s even reading this rant by now given the length:
1: Choose-​your-​own-​adventure purchasing means you can only pay for certain items at certain registers. It’s like playing the lotto, only your odds are better playing lotto than paying for a drink at the café.
2: Filthy surfaces make eating here a true delight.
3: The prices are in line with what you’d expect at a high end grocer, only the only thing high about this place is the person who ends up feeling like they got a good value for their money.
4: If you want to choke down a dry sandwich, you won’t find better in the city than here at F&O.
5: Don’t fuck with my sandwich or you’ll get some serious passive-​aggressive e-​hate from me on Unilocal

fresh, fresh, fresh.
Amazing market. lots of great fruits, variety of cheeses, sweets… service super nice people. very informative and helpful.
Really like this place. It is super clean and neat. Amazing assortment of gourmet food

I’ve heard wonderful things about the market section of this store but after my experience in the café I will NEVER step foot in this Fox & Obel again.
I had a group of 7 that went into this café for brunch on a Saturday, we figured it would be fine for a large group since the place was pretty empty with only 2 other tables being served at the time. It took awhile for our waiter to get to us and was a total mumbler, couldn’t hear a word he said. We looked over the menu and got our orders in and then the great wait began. I expected there to be a bit of a wait but I always feel it’s an issue when 7 people are all collectively going «this has taken quite awhile» and our server only checked up once to half-​fill someone’s coffee… as in someone asked for a refill and he put like two drops in the cup and walked away and didn’t respond when said someone was calling after him asking for a full refill. What?
I wouldn’t have minded the wait if my food was on point… but it was not. I got the chicken hash that came with bacon and asked for my eggs scrambled with cheese. The eggs had definitely been sitting for awhile because they were cool and the cheese had solidified again. My bacon was barely cooked and was all chewy. The chicken part was okay but it was a really small portion for the price. My friends’ breakfast potatoes were also very undercooked.
Our server never checked up on us. The water guy took our plates away and after about 10 minutes of waiting for the server to come back to us and ask if we needed anything or give us the bill we had to flag down the water guy again to get our checks. That took another 10 minutes.
This is where it started to get really ridiculous. We gave all of our cards and then waited ANOTHER 10 minutes for the server to bring them back… which was really our entire table staring him down as he stood around laughing and talking to his fellow server. I actually got up out of my chair and was starting to walk towards him when he looked over and rushed to give us our bills. Not entirely sure why it took so long since he didn’t even run one of the credit cards, thank god it was for the world’s most honest dude because the rest of us were telling him to just chalk it up to that server’s stupidity.
One of the groups in our party paid cash and the server never brought back the change and when they demanded their change he asked «how much do you want back?» Are you freaking kidding me? You barely served us cold/​under-​cooked food and then just assume you can keep the change when you already got a gratuity that you didn’t deserve?

An alternative quick meals on the go that is not-​Subway.
The coffee availability is a better incentive than the meals.
A complete 180 from the old Fox & Obel. It is now generic.

Disclaimer: this review is based solely on their café and not grocery items :).
I wish I can count how many times I have driven past Fox and Obel and thought to myself, I really need to go there. It’s one of those things that doesn’t hit me unless I am right in front of it because I don’t live close to it. Well, that’s all going to change because now that I also know they have a 2hr complimentary valet, I just might make Fox and Obel my go to Sunday brunch place even if all the other places I love so much don’t have a huge wait.
The thing with the café is that it’s pretty much a help yourself to the croissants, Danishes and other breakfast pastries kind of place. If you want to order actual food then you place your order, pay for the food at the register and someone will hunt you down according to the number prominently displayed on your table.
We started with chocolate croissants and fresh squeezed OJ to hold us over until our food arrived. The croissants were good but nothing extraordinary. But then again, my many trips to Paris have spoiled me. We ordered the eggs Florentine (poached eggs, spinach and hollandaise sauce), fruit salad smothered in yogurt, Challah French toast that came with a fig jam of sorts and a side of breakfast potatoes. Everything was really wonderful (from presentation of the items to the taste) and the ingredients were very fresh. The food took a little long to prepare but it was also very busy. I’d rather they take their time and do things well instead of rush to put something together and have it be disappointing.
I think the prices were VERY fair for the quality and portions and comparable to what you would spend at any brunch place in the city. Definitely worth making a trip to this Streeterville destination even if you’re not in the area.

What is this mystical fantasyland of gourmet sorcery?
Laugh at the hyperbole if you must, but you would be thinking similarly if you went here. I was wondering something along these lines when I was here today, with my jaw hanging open in sheer delight/​wonder the entire time.
Necessary context: My mom ever-​so-​benevolently gave me a $ 100 gift card here. (I don’t know she got it… magic?) For this wannabe chef, a free $ 100 to probably the most high-​end grocery store in Chicago made for a very fun Thursday.
The store is laid out like any small-​batch, gourmet-​focused grocery store. Dark wood, open aisles, small-​scale everything. The selection, too, is small-​scale, even the produce! (Though the produce was lacking in quantity, the quality was definitely fine!) The prepared foods section had a wide variety, though the people working there were bordering on ignoring the customers.
The variety is not enormous — it’s not like you have long winding aisles of every brand in existence. Instead, it’s a small selection of Ina Garten-​esque «good»…everything. Of course, and this is the reason for –1 star, it is rather pricey. SO DAMN PRICEY. The bakery section was featuring each small tart for around $ 6. Many prepared foods were at least $ 20/​pound. What? (It was funny seeing a section with beer highlighting football season — let’s be real, I’m sure some people who shop here would clap their hands together, saying «Oh, yea, football! Such delightful sport!»)
Without my gift-​from-​the-​angels $ 100, I highly doubt I’d spend money here. Because the prices are absurd. It is fun to poke around once in a while and MAYBE get one «good» ingredient? Sure. But it makes Whole Foods look cost-​effective.

Always here for bfast. Soooo good
Boo… they turned the back of their breakfast area into full service. Now it costs 15% more and it takes longer. –1 star

Store Review:
Expensive treats is the best way to sum up a shopping experience at Fox and Obel. There is a wide selection of gourmet cheese, deli, chocolate, and organic foods (steak, fruit, veggies). The prices are significantly higher than whole foods in my opinion. They have a wonderful bakery section with a wide selection of desserts that include fruit tart and cheesecake. You can’t go wrong with the desserts. Otherwise if you are looking for an expensive treat just check out the endless aisles of cookies and snack items that you won’t find anywhere else.
Pros– excellent dessert bakery, hard to find treats, expensive chocolates
Cons– super expensive
Hidden deals– Check out the fox and obel café for reasonably priced hot foods. Otherwise the grocery store is plain expensive without any good deals

I went to this upscale grocery store, and boy oh boy, did this place win me over. It’s not as pricy as everyone thinks because the quality matches the price. For $ 15 I got 30 slices of 3 types of salami, 3 small blocks of gourmet imported cheeses, dried apricots and figs, and a crusty loaf of fresh french bread. It was enough for 2 large charcuterie plates.
The cheese man was pretty knowledgeable and recommended some amazing cheeses based on what I told him I liked.

This is such a cute market! I absolutely loved it!
I have passed Fox & Obel quite a number of times and finally took a look around. They are more expensive then your typical grocery store ($ 5.99 for a 12 pack of Coke) but their quality is also superior to your local Jewel or Dominick’s. My friend and I had a fun time going up and down the aisles looking through everything.
They have a lot of special dessert treats but I knew I had to get something chocolatey to try.
I ended up getting a devil’s food cupcake with cream cheese frosting and it was very good! Moist cake and very rich & sweet frosting. Not bad for $ 3 but I wish I got another one as well! I will definitely be back for more and hit up this market when I’m in the area.

LOVE IT

This review is for the café only*.
Had heard decent things about the food here, and I was in a sammie mood, so I ordered the chicken panini, which came with french fries. The fries were tasty, but it’s kind of hard to mess up frenchies. Tasty was the grilled panini bread, but the sammie overall was skimpy on chicken. AND the inside of the sammie wasn’t even warm! Uh, isn’t that the point of a panini? Disappointing! There’s $ 10 down the drain.
Manfriend’s mushroom pasta with added chicken was bland and overpriced for the offering too ($ 16). Cold mushrooms + warm pasta = what? Temperature confusion.
*On a side note, I do want to come back to check out the plethora of grocery items and cupcakes/​brownies/​goodies from the bakery! There’s a lot for your eyes to look at.