Batter & Berries

A great place for breakfast or a brunch. Busy even at 10:30am on a Thursday. I recommend their spinach omelette and buckwheat pancakes.

Hate to say that I was disappointed in my experience here because I seem to be in the minority but I’ll give you a quick run-​through of my time at Batter & Berries so you can judge for yourself. I went on a Wednesday morning around 10am. I have visited the restaurant other times but never felt like waiting the 45 – 90 minutes to get a table and decided to go elsewhere. As expected, there was no wait. The restaurant was loud and busy but not crowded. Unfortunately, when I walked in, there was no one at the hostess stand. Several servers and busboys walked by but no one greeted us or offered to help. Everyone just looked at us and turned away. Finally, one hostess pointed to an empty table and told us to sit there. Surely not the best service to begin our dining experience but also not unforgivable.
When our server finally came to the table, she explained what the specials of the week were. It was nice that she had an iPad to show us pictures of the entrees not listed on the menu. This was really enticing and effective method as both my mother and I ordered items based on the photos presented to us. Unfortunately, that’s not what arrived to the table. My jerk crab omelet was incredibly flavorful but swimming in oil. The carrot cake french toast arrived to our table barely lukewarm and with few fixings. The hash browns that came with our meals were cheesy but overcooked. None of the items were as pictured. My mother also ordered a pulled pork sandwich to eat later in the day and was also underwhelmed with that selection.
We spent $ 70 and aren’t likely to return. This place came highly recommended but if the quality of the service and food is subpar on a Wednesday morning then I certainly can’t imagine waiting for an hour or more for a similar or worse experience.

Omg, omg, omg! I think if heaven had a breakfast place, this would be it. When I say that this was the best breakfast I have every had, that is not an over exaggeration. This food was so good I almost cried.
That chicken sausage was amazing and the French toast flight was killer. I can not stress enough how good this food was.
On top of this amazing food they had the nerve to have a super awesome server. This man knew his stuff! hit every question out of the park like babe Ruth hitting a softball and he even gave us suggestions on places to visit in the city.
Because I am a Unilocaler I have to give a critique. YOU WILL WAIT TO GET IN. Do not go to this place thinking you are going to walk in and sit down. It isn’t going to happen. you can hang it up BUT the wait is worth it for amazing food and great service.
My only suggestion to them is that they should allow people to call ahead. The place is small I don’t want to pay for that extra 45 mins of parking, this is Chicago people! That’s expensive.
Overall this place was wonderful! I will definitely be back.

Who: me plus one
What: (Deets) Sweet potato waffles with chicken cutlet cubes in the batter & chicken breast & Super French toast flight (the carrot cake French toast was perfect). An extra sphere of house made whipped maple butter is worth the $.50 surcharge!
When: Sunday breakfast 9am-​ish
June 12, 2016
Where: dine-​in center aisle table next to the waiting area benches
Why: Black Owned
How: car. We found parking directly in front of the restaurant!
Bathroom: Didn’t use it
Service: Fantastic. My meal companion had his ice water glass refilled 7 times, and I had a bottomless cup of coffee refilled twice, unsolicted. The waitress checked on us at least 3 times. The manager even helped me to locate the correct song «Hey Hey» that was playing during the meal, to add to my playlist on iTunes. (No small feat when the music is quite than the moderate noise level during the bustle of Sunday breakfast).
Bottom line: Go! Go! Go to this restaurant.

Absolutely delicious. I haven’t had breakfast this good in a very long time. There’s a catch. Patience. If it is the weekend, arrive before they open because there will be a line waiting on the doors to crack open. I’m not joking. It is worth the wake-​up alarm and the wait. We ordered the French Toast flight and the lamb omelet. Both were so great. Will be back.

awesome brunch place! the food and service are both good, but the wait is just too long on the weekend, we were told to wait f or 1 hour and 45 mins upon arrival just prior to 12 on a sunday
we ordered the chicken on the sweet potato waffle, it is very good, the waffle had a strong cinnamon taste and the chicken is quite flavourful, we split it amongst 4 people, if i had to eat it all by myself, it would have been too rich
the french toast flight is great, we get to taste 4 different flavours, they do not use syrup, but the toasts are sweet enough that you don’t need extra syrup, i also liked the fresh fruit that comes with it
we also got the special of the day, crab scramble, i like how it is just egg white so it is healthier, they gave very generous portions of crab meat and the whole dish is very tasty

First of all, Tusiime was the server of a lifetime. He was friendly, knowledgable and extremely entertaining. Words in a Unilocal review cannot do justice to convey the awesome service. He knew every special, had the most random jokes, and was on top of his game in every way. Great job, man. I’d give him 5 stars of his own!
On to the food, which deserves 5 stars in itself. We got the French toast flight — great as a nice appetizer and it gives you a taste of their amazing, incomparable maple butter. I wouldn’t recommend it as a meal though.
Entrée — I got the blueberry waffle which was truly amazing. It’s crazy… there was no syrup and no need for syrup at all. Have you ever had a waffle where you didn’t need syrup because everything about it was so damn good? No? Me neither — not until I tried this place. We also ordered one of the specials — it was some type of lamb, goat cheese, spinach, mushroom omelette — also amazing. It was a great savory balance to the sweetness of the waffle and earlier French toast.
I travel often and make it a point to do my daily foodie runs. I came out here expecting to fall in love with the pizza or something more «typical»…but this place takes the cake (or waffle? Lol) for the best of the 15 places I ate at over these past few days. I’d dare to say this beats any breakfast place I’ve eaten at in New York, LA, SF, Vegas, etc. I’m not exaggerating. I’m not kidding. I’m coming back just for this.
Lastly, they’ve got the right balance of «home feel» but «modern». The setting is like a cool home-​like café, but they are on top of technology. They text you when your table is ready, they use iPad mini’s to take your order and payments. They’re extremely efficient — the wait is worth it.
Cheers to you guys. See you soon.

My sister told me this place had rave reviews. We checked it out and it was amazing ! The lemon French toward with lemon batter was so delicious. Never had anything like it before. Then I had sweet potato waffle with chicken inside and a hot chicken wing on top which was delicious. In all honesty I probably wouldn’t have liked the Sweet potato waffle just by itself but with the pieces of chicken inside and the chicken on top with the hot sauce it made he flavoring and experience ten times better. Service was good as well!

Found this place from Unilocal.Figure really can’t go wrong when you saw bunch of good ratings (normally). When I walked in, the place was cozy, wasn’t anything fancy but it feels welcoming.
I am a big tea lover, normally brunch places only have a few options, but this place have over 9 flavors. From the basic green tea, mint, earl grey to something unique and fruity: flower teas, peach, roasted almond (which is highly recommend).
For my main course, I had the lobster and shrimp Benny (highly recommend if you did stop by). Their pouch eggs are so buttery and fluffy, which goes perfectly with the lobster and shrimp pancakes base. Not to mention, their hashbrown on the side were super cheesy.
Eventhough I was there by my self, I got carry away by their French toast options. After all, quote to quote, this place is «home of the famous French toast fight». So I ordered myself a lemon French toast in the kid size (super low key). It was just on point; very mild sweet with lightly tastes of lemon peels.
I really wish I could go for 5 stars if the waitresses didnt’t give me the wrong order of my drink and almost accidentally charge me extra for something I didn’t order. But besides that, food and drink were right on the spot. Highly recommended for brunch.

They had me at «French toast flights». My friend and I spilt one to sample 5 of their French toast delicacies and split an order of eggs, cheesy hash browns, and bacon. More than enough food with just a taste or everything.
The cheesy hash browns are no joke, better than when you find them in an Easter buffet!
The place is small and quaint but the service was great and the toast, terrific!

I was tricked into coming here. Well, trick me anytime, Danny W. Trick me anytime.
When I was told I was going to the «best breakfast in Chicago,» I was skeptical to say the least. On top of my skepticism, I was tired, grumpy, but above all else, hungry!
I was told that there is typically a long line for B&B so we were lucky to slide in with zero wait. We were quickly approached by our server, given the rundown and directed to check out the chalkboard for some specials, which may or may not be around too long. Chicken enchelada omelette? Sold!
Omelette is a relative term for what was presented to me. It didn’t look like an omelette but had all the necessary components. Who cares? It was so damn delicious! Danny had the catfish omelette… wouldn’t be my first choice but that dude basically licked his plate clean.
The best part about Batter & Berries? The service. It’s prompt and the food comes out quickly. Props to both the front and back of the house for teaming up to get us in and out at a rapid pace and really well fed.

Many people have mentioned this restaurant so I added it to my list «Things to visit in Chicago.»
Ordered the «Super Flight french toast», which was one of the specials. It includes the French toast of the week.
ATMOSPHERE:
— It was Friday afternoon and it seemed busy but no line (only if you come on the weekends). I would say people kept coming in every 5 minutes.
— Besides the outside sign, there is a yellow & purple theme inside.
— Small in size
THE FOOD:
— None of the Juices are fresh
— As I mentioned above, I ordered the super flight french toast. I liked the blueberry toast the most, followed by strawberry. The white chocolate raspberry rum wasn’t too bad. A little on the sweet side (I’m not a big sweet tooth) but I enjoyed the raspberries. The caramel toast was too sweet for me. The caramelized nuts add an interesting flavor though. Not sure I like it with french toast. The maple-​flavored syrup tasted fake to me (I use real maple syrup and no high corn fructose syrup at home so there is a distinct difference). Barely used it. The butter has a nice flavor.
SERVICE:
— I was greeted by the hostesses right once I entered in and placed on the center table (came solo). The center table seems to be used to place a party of 1 to 3.
— My waiter was nice. I noticed how he served others at the table. Followed up on everyone.
— My meal was served by one of the part owners, Chef Rylon.
— One of the owners was present helping to serve.
— The wait for my meal was normal (estimated time: 15 mins)
Would I return back? Nope, not for food.
Props to great customer service and the culinary creativity on french toast.

This place is amazing! I went here on a Wednesday at 12:30 with my mom and my sister for a little lunch break. We were greeted by the hostess who told us our wait would be 30 minutes, but it only ended up being 15 (yay!). We were seated by the window, which we really enjoyed. The waitress we had was awesome. She gave us great suggestions and told us her favorite dishes, along with the specials for the day. I ended up getting the french toast flight and I was not disappointed. For anyone with a sweet tooth, this is definitely the dish to get. I’m not a huge fan of lemon, but the lemon french toast ended up being my favorite of the 4 that came with the flight!
I will definitely be coming back here! The service was great and the food was to die for. They are doing things right at Batter & Berries.

Batter and Berries is a small, owner run, Breakfast and Brunch spot in Lincoln park near the intersection of Lincoln and Diversey.
My boyfriend and I tried coming in on a weekend, but the wait was too long and we were too hungry, but we just came in this past Tuesday and did not have a wait at all. We were greeted warmly at the door and shortly after sitting down our drink order was taken and our server explained all of the specials and her personal favorites. The service was fantastic, very informative, attentive, but not overbearing. She had great suggestions for what to order and even on how to eat what we ordered to get the most out of it.
I ordered the enchiladas omelet, OMG amazing. The eggs were cooked perfectly, and everything with it was to die for, the chicken was seasoned perfectly, the enchilada sauce was divine, and all of the veggies were nice and crisp.
My BF ordered the Chicken and sweet potato waffle, wow, so perfect, it wasn’t too sweet and all of the flavors of the waffle, chicken and the hot sauce perfectly complimented each other.
It is very clear that the chef, owner, and staff are well connected and it shows in the food, service and atmosphere. I will definitely be back!

Batter & Berries is across the street from my fave pilates studio, so on the weekends, this section of Lincoln Avenue between Diversey and Schubert is HOPPIN’ with people looking for parking or double parking to put their name down. After months and months of watching the crowds line up and hearing car horns honking because of coveted parking, I finally had the opportunity to try this place out this morning.
I got there a little past 9:30am. I thought I was early enough to miss a big crowd and long wait time. NOPE. I told the hostess it was just me, so I needed a table for one (womp womp). She estimated a 50 minute wait time. DANG! Every table was filled. There were at least 4 parties in front of me waiting for tables. Fine… I’ll wait… better be worth it, I thought to myself.
I sat down in their «waiting area» which is a little section of a couple of benches and chairs near the back. Guess what? I ended up waiting a little under 20 minutes. Score! See? It helps being a party of one :)
Now breakfast is my favorite meal of the day at any time of the day. So even though this place is called Batter & Berries, their omelets and other non battered and berried items sounded delicious. But no, I had to stay focused, I had to try at least one of the two.
I decided to do their «French Toast Flight». I asked about their «Super Flight», and it’s like the regular French Toast Flight, but with an added «special of the month» french toast, which this month is Tiramisu. Truthfully, I’m not a fan of Tiramisu, so I passed on the Super Flight. I also ordered a side of scrambled eggs because my body literally NEEDS some sort of protein in the morning. I’m pretty sure I get «Lack-​of-​protein-​headache» like others get «lack-​of-​coffee-​headache.»
My food came out FAST. Within 5 minutes fast! Whoa!
This shiz is delicious. I must say, I enjoyed every kind of French Toast, but blueberry was probably my favorite. My server asked if I wanted maple syrup, but I declined. That would have been sweetness overload! The eggs were soft and well made. They tasted a wee bit too buttery for my taste, but I enjoyed them.
My server was super nice. She checked up on me often. The other workers were definitely on top of filling my water and coffee cups. Speaking of, the coffee was really good. Tasty and strong! They have a very efficient system of workers running this crazy busy restaurant.
All in all, I enjoyed my experience here. Obviously the more people you have in your party, the longer you have to wait. This place is small so be prepared to eat closely to your neighbors.
I would definitely come back.

Oh my gosh!!! I loooooved breakfast here!
To start off I had seen online that this place was named one of the best places for breakfast, so here I go wanting to see what the hype is since it looked amazing. Friends and I came here around 9am and we happened to come at a good time because right after that it got super busy.
Ok so I am not a fan of sweet potato… BUT I ordered their chicken and waffle made of sweet potato and it was the BESSSST I’ve ever had! Seriously nothing short of amazing! I got to try a piece of the crab cake benedict and scallops omelette and both were pretty good as well. We ended our breakfast with an order of the French toast super flight… WOW! aghhh I love french toast and this flight gives you a taste of the different flavors they have.
Completely happy with the breakfast here, you must check it out. Please try the chicken and waffle and the french toast. Service was awesome, i don’t remember our waitress name but she was soooo helpful and gave us great advice.

I am honestly not even sure where to begin with this place. Was visiting Chicago over the weekend and stayed nearby and when we searched on Unilocal for a breakfast/​brunch spot this gem popped up and soooo glad that it did. I mean just to give it 5 stars is maybe not enough to express this amazing location.
First, the food here is simply amazing. It was a group of four or us and we ordered the following: Chicken and Waffle (sweet potato), crab cakes Benedict, scallops omelette, and the super flight of french toast! If the names simply doesn’t call you, trust me you must try this place. Everything was just amazing, freshly made, the service was quick.
The location here is great, located in a nice quiet neighborhood with real nice clean streets, i felt like I was definitely in a nicer side of Chicago. We didn’t drive here so not sure how parking can be around this area.
The staff here was amazing, we were sat down quickly, although i think we got lucky and there was an available table for us right away. Either way our waitress (think her name was Paula) was soooo informative about every single dish. Made us understand that there just simply isnt a dish that people dont like on the menu and now i know why.
Again this place was amazing, prices are fair as well so I would definitely want to revisit this place whenever I am back in Chicago again. Simply great people and atmosphere as well.
Compliments to the Chef (s) at this location!!!

Came here right before our flight back to NY!
What a great decision. Although the wait was about half an hour, the food and service were good. They even let us bring our suitcases in when it was super cramped without making us feel bad!
They have a special menu which is not on the paper menu but on a chalk board in the front and back of the restaurant so remember to ask for it. They have really delicious meals listed but seriously everything looked and sounded so good I would’ve ordered everything. But then again I feel that way whenever I enter a restaurant. I am a true fatass.
One bad thing though. My steak was fully cooked when I asked for medium rare. It made me really sad so if you decide to order that, remember to stress you want it cooked MEEE-​DEE-​UMMM RARRRREEEE.

A very cute but tiny place. It gets extremely packed so give yourself a solid 30 minutes of wait time. Don’t worry, it will be well worth it!
I had the chicken and waffles. Ugh, absolutely amazing. The fried chicken was cooked to perfection. The waffle was a sweet potato batter stuffed with chicken, so it was sweet. It paired very well with the butter and hot sauce.
My friends ordered the crabcake benedict and «The Executive», which came with steak, hash browns, and two eggs of your choice. Yep, they’re both as good as it sounds! Minus the way over cooked steak (asked for medium rare) and the hash browns. The hash was just a giant blob of soft potatoes and hard cheese.
For a to go order, my friend had the nut butter French toast. Probably my favorite of all the dishes. It was soooooooo goooooooood.
P. S. They have specials written at the front and back of the restaurant. It is not provided in the menu so ask for it!

I had bookmarked this place a few weeks ago. I knew ahead of time that the wait on a Saturday was going to be long, I put our names in, though people were shoved inside a three foot stretch of space between the entrance and the hostess stand)… they were to shoot you a text when your spot would be ready. 80 min. I could see and smell the amazingness that was happening beyond these starved guests and I said, well, lets go in search of coffee and champagne (that ought to kill some time in the 10 degree weather outside). It is BYOB, and thank goodness, because who the hell waits 80 min without some sort of incentive… Unfortunately, there isn’t anything walking distance as far as a coffee shop or liquor store, but we had plenty of time to figure that out.
Our text was received around the 80 minute mark, and I felt the rush of excitement come over me like when you’ve been waiting in the line at the DMV and your number is called, but then you suddenly have to pee. Yes, that kind of rush and excitement. I basically maul over the people in the coffee shop to head back to Batter & Berries. The hostess (bless her heart) is still slammed between taking numbers down and getting people in who’ve been in the 80 min. line. We were sat in the back (on a cold winters day, the front of the restaurant gets very drafty with the thousand people opening and closing the door — which the server sporting long sleeves knew what she was getting into when she got her section that morning).
Our server was bubbly and sweet, Leslie. Very animated, I felt like I was at Disney! Even though there is madness ensuing around me, she stays peppy and informs us of the specials and how many orders they have left of the more popular items that day. With an iPad system, its like clockwork, a tight run ship. I am very impressed. She brings us a bain marie (in kitchen lamens terms its a cylindrical shaped insert for soups or sauces to be put into a hot or cold table in the kitchen)… not sexy, but serves the purpose. She offers us OJ for our mimosas. Ahhh, now the bubbly is here!
If you’ve read any of my reviews, you know that I’m in search of this cities’ best chicken and waffles… Of course I order the Cluck-​N-​Gaufre. It is a crispy waffle made of sweet potato, and topped with a perfectly fried breast of chicken. The spices are on point. Served on the side is a ramekin of nutmeg hot sauce (which I tried, but the maple butter was good enough for me). Oh my (if I could swear here I would), that waffle, every morsel was just holy. I imagine church goers singing hallelujah coming here after service to indulge in this divinity. The combination of the sweet potato and the saltiness of the chicken cured any Friday night ailments I may have had. A real stand up dish.
The cheesy hash browns were cold, and before I could complain, a server came and scooped the plate up, and replaced it within 60 seconds with a brand new plate of HOT cheesy potatoes. Maybe a little salt needed, otherwise pretty good.
Also had the bruleèd banana waffle. Very tasty, nice thick pieces of biased sliced bananas, with a light layer of burnt sugar and crème anglaise. It definitely could’ve had more anglaise.
The GM came over and was the jolliest of fellows (I’d like to invite him over for dinner kind of guy), asking us how everything was and our input. I am stuffed and tipsy at this point, and happy. Belly happy.
My only negative comment is the glazed mosaic tables. The edges of the table and in the middle are very uneven, so you have to be very careful where you situate your glasses.