Read It & Eat

I was looking forward to taking some cooking classes here but unfortunately it’s Madelaine Bullwinkle yet again. I took a few classes at the Alliance and found the food extremely bland and not well prepared at all. I’ve taken classes many times in many different cities and this was the first time that I was disappointed in the experience. I don’t know where people eat to think that this is good food but it just isn’t. Chicago has an incredible food scene so this is baffling.
Be nice if we had a choice of different chefs/​cooks but this doesn’t seem to be the case since Bullwinkle seems to have a monopoly on the cooking class scene.

This place has a lot of charm. I stopped by yesterday after a recommendation from Ida Pickney. I met the owner Ester who showed me around the store and provided me with several cookbook recommendations. I actually collect cookbooks and love to try new recipes. I am excited to join the monthly cookbook club and look forward to attending many of the in store author events. I recommend this place to anyone who loves to cook or interested in learning. Great cookbooks!

In love with this place!!! My boyfriend had to carry me out of the store because I was Burried in the u real variety of cookbooks offered. Haven’t taken a class here yet but I can’t wait!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this place! The staff are incredibly friendly, the selection is thoughtfully curated and the business answers a need people don’t know they have until they enter the store.
The titles on their shelves escape the algorithm based recommendations other web based purveyors offer. Other places may offer steep discounts to lure your money, but knowing I am supporting a small business that makes a difference in my community goes way beyond any short term perception of savings.
You can’t put a numeric value on a physical space where friends can share enthusiasm and build relationships for something as singularly universal as food books.
As long as they are open for business, I will go out of my way to support this beautiful store.

I felt like I died and went to heaven walking in here.
You see, I love to cook, and therefore I collect cookbooks. My current count is over 100, and still growing. I read cookbooks before I go to sleep as if they’re novels. I read «Mastering the Art of French Cooking» like some people read «Gone Girl.» I hung on every word.
So to say I’m a fan of cookbooks is an understatement.
When I first heard rumblings about the opening of this new bookstore a few months ago, I was positively giddy with excitement. I can’t believe it’s been open a month already and I only just got to check it out this past weekend.
Suffice it to say that Read It & Eat will have any and every cookbook you’ve ever heard of. It’s the most comprehensive selection I’ve ever come across. In addition to all the cookbooks, there are chef biographies and memoirs (and curiously an autobiography of Keith Richards), books on diet and nutrition (and specific dietary concerns like gluten-​free or paleo), food history, books on wines, beer, and spirits, specialty cookbooks, regional cookbooks, cookbooks by a specific cooking method or single ingredient, cookbooks for kids, cookbooks for beginners (and for those more advanced) – you get the picture. They have it all. It’s pretty mindblowing.
The store itself is cheerful and comfortable. The walls are painted a serene sage green and the ceiling is a bright white. They also have a test kitchen that offers cooking/​demonstration classes or occasional tastings.
Read It & Eat is a true culinary experience whether you are a novice cook (or just like to eat), or if you’re the second coming of Julia Child. I’m somewhere in between.
In a world where brick and mortar bookstores are sadly getting to be a thing of the past, I’m so happy this place opened. I feel like it exists just to make me happy.

Great addition to Lincoln Park. 4000 cookbooks and a full test kitchen.

Their large selection of culinary novels, chef autobiographies and cook books is like the dream library I’d have if I was rich. They have great staff and gathering from how the grand opening just went they will have several chef book signings and food demos. I can’t wait to see what wonderful things they do with the venue.