07/27/09

Dirty Tables; Cold Eggs; Bad Service

by ghijk

The food is awful! The place is dirty. The service is lousy. The only reason people are lined up to eat here is because it's one of very few breakfast places in the south loop. Skip it! Cook your eggs at home!

• Pros: Nothing
• Cons: Food served cold; Tables are filthy; Loud and noisy

07/12/09

yummy!

by playereli

good food

• Pros: yummy
• Cons: loud

07/12/09

Exceptionally poor service and Heavy Metal sound ambiance

by smtws

Having heard about this restaurant from "Check Please" we looked forward to our gastronomic delightful early Saturday morning breakfast!!

LOL!! Were we in for a surprise!!!

The decibel level that greeted us at the door only increased as we were shown to our booth, much louder that 2 riding lawn mowers on a tiny urban lawn coupled with a boom box of gangsta rap music!!!!!

The server was unenthusiastic to see us and brought very old coffee. My dining partner ordered 2 scrambled eggs which looked like 8 scrambled yolks and only received a few tiny bites to confirm the 'unhealthy' taste of the entree. His potatoes were raw. His orange juice was slightly defrosted and syrupy. A hurried drive home eliminated this gastronomic disaster.

My Mediterrean 'omelet' contained 'unhealthy' eggs AND spinach and stayed in my system only long enough to reach the home bathroom, also. The 'burnt' English muffins that I requested came to me cold and uncooked. On the second request, they were only slightly toasted.

We have never experienced such poor service, extensive 'sickening' food, and very, very, very loud ambience, not too mention the overpriced meal from a menu of non-exceptional fare.

Tourists, Chitowners, and suburbanites alike, this restaurant is definitely NOT worth the wait, nor worth your money!!!!!!

• Pros: tall booths
• Cons: Heavy Metal Ambience for Breakfast

06/23/09

Terrible Customer Service---the owner should know better

by Bucktownchick

For over two years my husband and I went to Yolk in the S. Loop almost every weekend, sometimes twice a weekend. Often we waited the 45 minutes-an hour as we always enjoyed our food. I recently called to make a reservation for my husband's30th birthday/my mom's 60th Birthday and even offered to pay a deposit as they apparently changed their reservation policy and do not take them anymore. The hostess told me that my best bet was to carry out. I think that everyone would agree that eggs are not the most practical of "take out" foods.

I saw the owner when I went to his new location yesterday on Wells. I wanted to give him feedback as someone who has patronized his restaurant regularly since it opened, that this "solution" left a sour taste in my mouth. I understand there are rules, but would have hoped, I suppose, that they would have made an exception since we dine there so often. Instead of saying "thank you" he responded by saying that they serve 1200 people per weekend and that they don't need the aggravation of reservations or the $500 breakfast bill our table would have provided. I told him, ok, then we won't be dining in his restaurant anymore, and he said ok. I was dumbfounded that an owner would actually say this to a regular customer. My mom was standing next to me with her mouth on the floor as she was in utter disbelief as well.

There are SO many amazing places to dine in this city. I will never give someone with this much arrogance a dime of my money again. Clearly the owner of Yolk does not value loyal customers. If I were you I would take your money and spend it elsewhere where they care about your business. Hash Browns, Bongo Room, and Gioco all serve great brunch in the S. Loop. Feast (both locations), Cafe de Lucca (in Bucktown), Oak Tree, Nookies, Orange and Hot Chocolate are all great options as well.

• Pros: Large Menu
• Cons: AWFUL Customer Service

04/04/09

Tasteless and TERRIBLE

by alexlip

We were so excited to eat here b/c we always see so many people waiting outside. We were starving and ready to have some amazing breakfast... OMG it was AWFUL!!!!!!! I had a skillet which tasted like nothing. It was a bunch of huge chunks of veggies and potatoes and I still am flabbergasted at how you can screw that up... but seriously, there was NO taste! My husband got the California omlette, and it too was AWFUL!!!!!!!! It was like eating a handful of green onions right out of the ground. And it was green in color! The eggs had NO flavor. I ordered fruit instead of bread (which was $2 extra) and I got 3 orange slices, a slice of cantaloupe, and a watermelon wedge. It didn't even taste like fruit it tasted like water. I wish I had at least 1 good thing here... wow really really bad.

• Pros: none
• Cons: food, wait, service

02/15/09

Best Breakfast Experience I've Ever Had! I wish I could go every weekend.

by kjc596

Yolk is now my number one favorite breakfast place, nationwide. The restaurant itself is clean and sizeable -- even the waiting area! The food is unquestionably the best I've tasted for breakfast -- the omelettes are creatively delicious and the pancakes are wonderful (especially with stawberries and maple syrup). However, it's the service that really stood out for me. I've eaten here twice in the last 10 days, and both times we had Lisa as our waitress. Not only was she punctual and helpful, but she was as pleasant as could be. Her sincere concern for our dining experience made our breakfast even better. If I remember, I'll ask for Lisa the next time I go.

• Pros: quality of food, service, waiting area, price
• Cons: none i could see

10/25/08

Avoid YOLK. Chi is a b'fast town. So many good choices.

by cbgbdb

With all the great breakfast places in Chicago, why would anyone choose YOLK? After all, the food here is served-to-order, not made-to-order.

It?s readily apparent that breakfast here is made en masse, like a factory, in anticipation of general demand, not cooked in response to an order taken by a waitress. But unlike a factory, there?s no quality control between the production line and the consumer.

The factory approach is evident in the food. Scrambled eggs arrived hard, luke-warm and chopped up. They were pre-made and scooped from a warming tray ? but even the breakfast buffet at Marriott Courtyard beats these eggs.

Bacon was not cooked to be crispy. The fat was somewhat raw and I?m sure chewy, if we had the stomach to actually eat it.

Pancakes were gummy, chewy, flavorless disks. Again, I?d suspect they came from a warming tray. If not, I?d remove the latex from the recipe.

Even the toast was inedible. It showed signs of toasting around the edges, but would be more accurately described as a cold slice of bread.

In fairness, an order of hash with poached eggs was much better. Nothing special about the hash, but the kitchen did properly poach the eggs, and many breakfast restaurants fail that test. I guess it?s a sign that if the kitchen must cook something to order, they can do it competently.

Believe it or not, the worst part of the meal was not the food. My companion simply couldn?t eat what she was served. Her meal was sent back, and she declined to order something else. Soon the owner ? maybe manager but he called it ?my restaurant? ? came to our table. ?I looked at your plate and I couldn?t see what was wrong with it,? he said in a tone of inquisition. The conversation deteriorated from there. I think this is a man who simply should not be in the restaurant business.

And, this is a restaurant that you?d be better off avoiding.

• Pros: Poached eggs well
• Cons: Aweful food. Complete lack of customer service attitude.

10/06/08

unbelievable mean, rude, customer service by an owner

by miraalbert

I used to eat at this place in the suburbs when it was known as egglectic but I will never return due to a horrible experience. My order came wrong the first time then runny and disgusting the second time. I asked nicely for a different meal. Ten minutes later the waitress returned my same runny meal but cooked longer to try to dry it out and told me the owner would not allow me to switch my order (she herself was in disbelief at her boss). I asked to speak to him, he then insulted me for ordering egg whites instead of trying to see what he could do to ensure that my breakfast was satisfactory. And what is the overhead anyway on eggs? Needless to say, I left and will never return. Not to mention I went there for my 30th birthday and have never, ever left a review for a restaurant on any website!

• Pros: usually good food
• Cons: customer service, and obvious unwillingness to admit when food is bad

08/04/08

worst breakfast ever

by tralm08

this breakfast was a disaster. the potatoes were hard, the toast wasn't toasted, the french toast had no flavor( it was like eggs on toast), i asked for bone in ham and was assured it was and it was not (they don't have bone in ham) pressed and salty yuck! and most importantly the service was awful. i called back to talk to someone about it and the person that answered the phone talked to me as if she didn't understand why i was calling. as if what did i want her to do about it . go figure.

• Pros: none
• Cons: everything

07/27/08

Wow. Stellar breakfast!!!

by maryjatkinson

Who knew there could be so many different and amazing breakfast dishes under one roof?!?! The fritattas were especially delicious, the coffee was fresh, and the service impeccable. Plus, the place is stylish and modern to beat! A must-go while in Chicago!

• Pros: Food, ambience, & service
• Cons: N/A