The Growling Rabbit

I love Growling Rabbit! The Black Bean Bomb Burger is the shiiiznets! Also, people complaining about service stop whining it is obviously not Fine dining restaurant! it’s a modern diner! Go to Chinatown where you truly will experience bad service.

I like the vibe of this place. Not at all pretentious and good food. Met some girlfriends there, we all enjoyed our food, had some left over, and were able to spend a long time chatting and catching up without feeling rushed. I am looking forward to trying it with my family, which has one vegan, one vegetarian, one meat eater, and one toddler. It seems like this menu has something we would all be very happy with. Very sad to hear they are moving down the street and out of the neighborhood, but we will definitely be visiting their Edgewater home.

Cute place. Food wasn’t memorable but both times I’ve eaten here, the waitress was the most kind, attentive server I’ve ever experienced. I think I tipped her more than I paid for the meal.

Me: –reads an article about this place relocating soon and finally decides to try it–
Apparently this place is making the move from Rogers Park to somewhere in Edgewater and that bums me out now that I’ve had the breakfast!
I came here ages ago for a drink while meet a friend before I moved to the neighborhood and the hot chocolate remains fantastic as ever.
The breakfast was great. Honestly just a well cooked, simple comfort food breakfast. And the scrambled eggs are all I ever desire to be able to make at home.
Service was semi-​quick and very friendly. Apparently this place also has loads of options for any veggie friends you may have!

I just can’t understand how this place has a four star average.
Consistently terrible service. It’s slow and unfriendly. This is the everyday experience there.
The food is decent but overpriced.
The color of the walls assault my eyes.
Cafes should be cozy, comfortable, and friendly. This place is exactly the opposite.
Lastly, they shrank the size of the patio by a third.

We are new to the area so we are trying out local restaurants when we can. The Growling Rabbit has a cute name, and the menu looked good. I wasn’t even deterred by what both the menus and our server said would be a long wait.
However, I had the biscuits and gravy, one of my favorite dishes, and it was probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever eaten. The gravy was green, and the «biscuit» was a ciabatta roll. I DO NOT like ciabatta bread, so that was awful. The green gravy was strange — it did not taste like biscuits and gravy gravy, but it wasn’t bad. The flavor would be good if it was what I was expecting, but it was so strange that I really did not enjoy my meal.

The French toast flight is AMAZING. Be prepared for your taste buds to go wild. Very sweet too.

This is a super cute place! The seats are not so comfortable, but the service is really nice and it has a nice atmosphere. The food is not amazing, but it is a great place to come for breakfast or coffee, and working here is pretty good (if you find a comfortable place to sit).

Great service and food! Today was my second time and this place is delicious, i tried the carnitas bombwiche and the hangover skillet the best breakfast by far.

Umm … ordered a breakfast «skillet» — it came in a ceramic salad bowl.
With lots of those restaurant-​style potato chunks I don’t like (over salted, some burned edges), instead of hash browns.
With cherry tomatoes and feta cheese curds that were almost raw — they were warmed, but not cooked (hence appropriate for the bowl, I guess).
With tiny squares of lunch meat ham (not chunks or bites).
And with a couple of fried eggs, and some baby spinach.
And some toast — with what looked and tasted like blueberry pancake syrup, instead of jam.
It wasn’t bad, exactly — just very strange.
Service was attentive, friendly, and generous — but I was served coffee WITH NO SPOON.
(I’ve experienced this elsewhere, and I don’t understand it.)
Oh, and they were playing some music I could not identify — perhaps obscure 90’s punk rock? Pretty loud, too.
Prices are quite reasonable. This is actually one of the better choices in the neighborhood, but I’m not sure if I want to return.

The breakfasts, lunches & pastries here are wonderful, to be sure … At the same time I was a bit disappointed to learn of its recent conversion to a full service brunch place closing at 3:30 … Frankly I had always felt that this space was somehow at its natural best as a coffee & hang-​out type space in the later hours … But I realize that profit is less focused that way …
It’s just too bad that they couldn’t have gone the reverse direction somehow — like making full breakfast options available at the counter, as with places like Filter in Wicker Park … Moreover I’ve never understood why there is such a dearth of late-​hour coffee options in Chicago … Now when Common Cup closes at 6 on Morse, one basically has to go down to the Loyola Starbucks to have a normal place to drink coffee and read until 10 … For my sensibility I wish a cool place to kick back with a pillow could have gone in the other direction & stayed open say ’til midnite or 1 am with food service for most of those hours at the counter
A hot, happening breakfast spot is loved by many people & is fine in its own way … No doubt the next time I get there Sun at noon I won’t even feel comfortable relaxing as a solo customer because I’ll be paranoid that I’m «taking up a table» … So once again, I’m gladly giving the four stars for the food — but just taking one off to express my regret at losing a cool no-​pressure hang-​out space in an area where it seems such is so desperately needed

I really like the food here, so my boyfriend and I were very disappointed to go during their regular hours yesterday, only to find that it was closed! Apparently, they NOW CLOSE AT 3PM, and not at 6pm, like it says on Unilocal,their website, and their menus. There’s just a small sign on one of the doors that states their new hours. SO CALL FIRST!
Also, when I repeatedly knocked on the door, the two employees kept talking to each other, rudely ignoring me. Eventually, one relented, and I was able to point out that even the menus in their windows listed them as being open until 6pm.

Probably the best breakfast I’ve had in Chicago in 2015. Ordered an egg white vegetarian omelette. Egg whites were fluffy, veggies were perfectly sautéed, pan fried fresh potatoes garnished with chopped scallions.
My sourdough toast was crisp and fresh out of the toaster. It was served with a homemade fruit purée /​jam. Ask them for a side of their homemade ketchup. Really outstanding. (You can taste warm spices like cloves and allspice). Bottomless coffee. This place is awesome.

Little bit of wait but because they make everything from scratch. Worth the wait! Food was delicious and our waiter was very generous. Coming back tomorrow.

I thought this was a wonderful place for breakfast! I had the breakfast burrito which was huge and very tasteful and flavorful! The wait for the food was a bit long, about 40 minutes but it was delicious! I will for sure be back!

Vegan burrito — really good
Vegan peanut-​butter choc cake — rich and good.
Quick service. good people.
Will see u guys again for sure.

After an initial not-​so-​great experience, I was enticed back to Growling Rabbit by a friend who’s a regular there. This time, I had a much better experience, mainly because the young lady working behind the counter was incredibly friendly and warm. How much difference does customer service make, folks? A lot. A LOT! She was so outgoing and chatty, I don’t even know exactly how much I paid for my coffee and treat, and whether or not I should have gotten a refill.
I’m still not crazy about the space, especially how you have to go down a couple steps when you enter, but hey — I don’t think that’s the fault of this place’s owners.
The displays looked much more appetizing than I had remembered, too, although I did not partake of anything but a cookie.
My second experience was much, much better than my first. If my friend wants to go to Growling Rabbit again, I will go with a good attitude and perhaps even an appetite.

My wife and I were first introduced to The Growling Rabbit when we were in the area looking for apartments. A property manager recommended them partly for their amazing bacon. Strange to me that a place so vegan friendly would have such killer bacon, but such is life, full of surprises. We tried it and, of course, everything was great. The sandwich I got was tasty and the bacon was crispy and delicious.
Fortunately, we moved into a place pretty close (not the place that gave us the recommendation, sadly), and now we have been coming pretty much weekly. My wife loves the vegan all day sandwich, and I have gotten a couple breakfast sandwiches (always with bacon), the adult grilled cheese (also with bacon) and the Friday Mac n cheese special (you guessed it… bacon). I’m seriously obsessed with the bacon here. Best I’ve ever had at a restaurant. They actually make it crispy when you ask for it that way, which is more than I can say for other, more well known places.
The only bad thing I can think of about their food is actually a good thing. Their desserts are too good. Not only are they going to make me fat, but they have so many that look good, even to me, the pickiest person ever to go to a restaurant. I always want to try like 7 every time I come in and neither my wallet nor my stomach could stand that.
The service can be a bit show at times, but this is quality food made to order and the staff is somewhat small. But everyone is friendly and the good more than makes up for the wait. I love this place and we’ll be coming as long as I live here. Five stars!

June 20, 2015 UPDATE: Sadly dropping the Rabbit from 5 to 3 stars because of significant table-​service struggles.
Fourth time today at the Growling Rabbit since they’ve shifted to table service, which started as an experiment for the weekends and then got expanded to every day. My suggestion to the owner: this isn’t working. Customer experience is getting worse.
The staff are personally nice as always, but look increasingly flustered and often are glancing around the dining room looking confused. Every time I’ve visted recently there have been basic table service frustrations: no coffee for long periods of time, food time almost walk-​out long (as I write, I sit at a table having arrived *54 minutes* ago but no food), food delivery without silverware (just saw it happen 3x in a row to ppl around me), not being able to get someone to grab a bill and run the check. Today when I was a the counter, a women was there ordering a scone for her table because she couldn’t get someone to take the order at the table. Said she had waited 30 mins.
3-​stars stay because the staff are still nice and look like they are putting a lot of effort in and I still love the food and general vibe of the Rabbit, but simple table service that looks «easy» takes some training and *efficient systems* to care for customers well, and Rabbit hasn’t caught up on this. I’m sure their plans for a new space will seem like the solution, but I am concerned this will not fix staff training or old systems. Hope they figure out a way to improve!
Another table behind me just told the server they will leave without their food. Bummer.
CR
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Been in Rogers Park now for 8 months, and I’ve decided The Growling Rabbit is my favorite, and not it’s not just cause their name is awesome (picture it in your head for fun. right?) The handmade-​chorizo omelette with fresh avocado, green onions, tomato, cheddar: huge and savory and perfect. Baked goods are: well, they’re baking them in the back, so awesome. Staff are universally friendly and easy-​going. The space isn’t big (13 tables? + a counter that runs the width) but feels bigger because of big bright windows on all sides of the corner lot.
This place typically hits that nice sweet spot between coffee-​shop and café: on weekdays, you can easily camp with a laptop (wifi is pretty dependable) and enjoy coffee and a snack, or you can have a lunch-​quality meal.
They’re busy and popular on the weekends which has had them recently switch to table service on Saturdays and Sundays – instead of ordering at the counter you wait to be seated. This has been a little rougher: service can be a little spotty as you feel like the servers who normally work behind the counter don’t quite have an efficient system down for a rush. But the great food and warm environment remains, and the Rabbit has earned its place as a regular haunt.

It’s probably safe to say that I loathe the Growling Rabbit. This is honestly crazy disappointing to me too because the staff were mostly attentive to my needs and I really love their name! It’s just that everything else really fell short.
I went out to the Morse area on a cold weekday morning to get some work done, and was constantly plagued by extremely loud music playing in the background (really, at a coffee shop?!), unsatisfying overpriced food, and extremely creepy or far-​too-​energetic cackling and crazy customers. My toast had remnants of some disgusting spread on it that didn’t taste of butter (believe me — it was gross; I couldn’t even finish a single slice), the scrambled eggs were somewhat bland, and ironically the potatoes were overly seasoned. To top it all off, the seats were hard and uncomfortable, and the entrance door doesn’t fully close properly so I was constantly greeted by a cold wind of below freezing temperature.
Maybe it was just a series of unfortunate accidental failures and inopportune timing, but after such a dreadful experience it’s safe to say I will not be traveling here again. Even if the commute was 5 minutes away instead of 15 minutes away, I don’t think I would go for fear of another disastrous morning.