Café Penelope - Restaurant & Catering
Chicago, IL 60607
Phone: (312) 243-3600
- Price:
- $
- Cross Street:
- Adams Street
- Directions:
- Bus: 9 to Adams
- Best of Citysearch:
- Brunch 2007, Soup 2007, Soup 2007
- Hours:
- Mon-Fri 7am-9pm, Sat-Sun 8am-9pm
Editorial Review for Café Penelope - Restaurant & Catering – by Citysearch Editors
In Short
In a gritty neighborhood on the near West Side, this sunny, homey storefront cafe has peach walls, pastel table coverings and green plants in the windows. For breakfast, there are omelettes, skillets, whole-wheat pancakes and Belgian waffles. The lunch menu includes brown-bag lunches (sandwiches served with fruit and a cookie), plus hearty rotating specials like meat loaf. Dinner highlights include thin-crust pizza and a grilled rib eye steak sandwich.
Editorial content is independent of paid advertisers. Any expenses are paid for by Citysearch.
Insider Tips
What to DrinkThough it feels like a diner, full cocktail service is available, along with a nice beer and wine selection. Try the Blue Paradise (rum, blue Curacao and pineapple juice), served in a martini glass.
The ExtrasCatering is available to order online. Check out the web site to see a variety of box lunches.
User Reviews for Café Penelope - Restaurant & Catering
07/13/2008 Posted by jkerouac
I have no idea how this dumpy place could be voted "Best Brunch in Chicago." Possibly the worst in the city. On Sunday morning, there was nobody there (kinda odd). I was given a dinner menu, and had to ask for the breakfast one. The "special item" was chai french toast, so I decided to try it. Unfortunately, it was smothered in gobs of butter that were inedible. I asked for some milk with my coffee, but they said they had no milk delivered that week?! My brunch buddy ordered a "breakfast sandwich", which I could've made at home by taking 2 pieces of wheat bread and spreading avocado all over. For $20, I was ripped off. Please don't waste your time at Penelope, and don't embarrass yourself by taking a date there!
Pros: fresh squeezed orange juice w/ garnish
Cons: ambiance, food, price
05/18/2008 Posted by jingmama
I never EVER write reviews; but felt compelled after an unbelievably horrendous brunch experience at Penelope's. So unlike the other 2 reviewers who hated this place, I did not have high expectations (I later found out this place was voted "best audience brunch 2007 of chicago). What a JOKE! We arrived at 11am on a gorgeous Sunday morning. There was no line at all, which I thought was odd, because every other decent-to-average brunch place has about a 20-40 minute wait. We got sat down immediately which was nice. Problem number 2 - the service was horrible. Our waiter (who may have been the busboy), poured us water and said, "let me give you a couple of minutes to decide on what you want." He promptly left before I could ask him to get me any coffee. Oh well, no big deal, i'll just order it when we order our meals. The menu was really small (single page, really large font), which I actually don't mind. I prefer places that just have a few items they do REALLY well...rather than a restaraunt that has alot of items in which several of them are bad. So I ordered pancakes with cranberriesand my gf ordered caprese egg benedict. I also ordered a 2 eggs over-easy. So the server comes back after 10 minutes just to make sure he got my order correctly. So there were literally only 2 other tables at the whole restaurant and it took a good half an hour for our food to be ready. The coffee came in the meantime and it was just average. Our food finally arrived and my pancakes came with strawberries, not cranberries. No big deal, I'll just eat it...and my eggs came later...sunny side up...I had ordered over-easy. Whatever, no big deal. Then I realized that 2 of my 3 pancakes were burnt...and by this moment I was getting upset. My Gf's meal was also luke-warm. The table across from us got mad too 'cuz one of their orders was messed up and their "hot tea" came cold. STAY AWAY! DON'T EVER EAT HERE! Instead, Go to Sweet Maple on Taylor St.
Pros: Parking
Cons: Horrible food (either burnt or cold), incompetent service, lacks heating.
Users Like You Also Viewed
United Center
1901 W Madison St
Chicago, IL 60612
Sweet Maple Cafe
1339 W Taylor St
Chicago, IL 60607-4706
