The Bongo Room: User Reviews
The Bongo Room
1152 S. Wabash - Chicago312-291-0100
Closing time is 2:00 p.m. Bongo Room is a fantastic place to go for breakfast. However, try to keep the groups under 6, as it is a small place. Strollers will not fit into the dining room, so bring a carrier or car seat. Be ready to eat and leave if you're going in on the weekends, because other people will be waiting, too. And the reason you might have to wait so long is because people stay for a long visit after they're done eating. The wait is usually around 30 minutes, and the amazing weekend hostess does her best to get everyone seated quickly - and even with a smile ;) See you soon.
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We hadn’t been to the Bongo Room before, and we were impressed -- really good food and delightful staff! I had special pretzel pancakes dressed in white chocolate and caramel syrup (a supremely indulgent lunch, yes?), and my companion had a breakfast burrito. Everything was heavenly; the superb green tea and fresh Intelligentsia coffee made it all the better. We cannot wait to return!
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Went there for the first time today with my girlfriend. Have heard nothing but good things about this place and it always seems busy when I pass by on my way to the train. It is located on the corner and there are tons of people passing at all times since it's next to the Roosevelt train station. We arrived at brunch time (11am) and I had heard rave reviews about their breakfast but I was in a lunch mood and ordered the maple mustard pork lion sandwich. It was excellent and it was topped off with an apple watercress slaw which gave it that touch of fancy and you get to choose a side - i got the potato salad. My girlfriend had the smoked chicken salad which arrived in a large bowl and was surrounded by slices of soft french bread. It was a small and simple space and the server was sweet and attentive. The avg plate is about $9-10 but I've paid that for a lot worse and a lot less in the loop. The only thing I could say that was bad was someone had left some graffiti on one of the windows - other than that I think I may have to go back to test out the rest of the menu.
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I heard how great this place was and just had to try it. My husband and I were both EXTREMELY disappointed. The facility was pleasant but very noisy. The food was grossly overpriced and absolutely lousy. The service was the only area that wasn't below average. I ordered an omelet and for $10.25 I expected a great meal. It doesn't come with pancakes which I hoped for and they only give you one slice of toast. The omelet was a folded over piece of egg with the ingredients thrown inside, not cooked in. Everything fell out when I ate it and it wasn't even hot. My husband ordered the lemon pancakes and they were so dense and heavy that he couldn't even eat one. The side order of chicken sausage was $4.50 for three half slices which I thought was a bit pricey. We both threw away most of our food and when the waitress came to take our plates, she never asked how we liked the food although based on the fact that most of the food was still on the plate, should have been obvious. I chalked it up to a very expensive lessoned learned and would not recommend this place to anyone.
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I love this place. I go maybe twice a month and they actually remember my name!
I think the service there is awesome. They are very attentive!
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Now these guys know how to run a restaurant. Great food, very nice owner/host and great staff. It is no wonder the wait is so long. Worth the wait though when the alternative a few doors north does not appreciate your business. I would love to see this location expand -- the Near South Side needs this type of restaurant desperately.
The omelets are always cooked to perfection and the pancakes are decadent. The staff is respectful and attentive.
I try to find an alternative to mix it up, but sometimes you just have to accept there is no alternative.
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I can't gush enough about the Bongo Room for breakfast. It is one of the best breakfasts I have ever had. My group had the burrito and some of the eggs benedict choices and really liked them. We also had the chocolate french toast -- absolutely incredible. If you like chocolate you cannot miss this. Someone also had the berry cheesecake pancakes. They were great too, the pancakes were v fluffy and the sauce was delicious. This is a don't miss!
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My fourth time last week. Brunch, breakfast are hands down best in the city. Great value and food is delicious. Love the pancakes & french toast!
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blah food, blah service, blah atmosphere and seriously THE worst bloody mary I've every had
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Having had good experiences at the Wicke Park location, I tried this South Loop offshoot yesterday. The service was so bad that I am not sure I will return. Although there were only a dozen or so patrons when I entered, it took very long for me to be seated, for my order to arrive and for the check to arrive. Several diners were clearly annoyed at the lack of service, yet waitstaff seemed oblivious to this. Two patrons were having an extremely lound converstation, which boomed through the whole area. Wait staff were invisible for long periods of time (with no wait staff at all being present at times). The food was okay (I ordered the beef sandwich, but it was surprising that it took so long to arrive given that it would have been straightforward to make).
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Review Summary
The following scores represent the average rating submitted by 57 users:
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