Brunch at Branch 27

The scene: There’s nothing worse than waking up to something that looks, well, not quite like you remember it looking the night before. So we’re always tempted to avert our eyes when a restaurant like Branch 27, a place that looks pretty slick at night, introduces brunch. And we were relieved to discover that the light of day is kind—even flattering—to the newish West Town restaurant.

Rugged touches like reclaimed wood wall panels and iron railings, things we liked most about renovations to this old City of Chicago library building, are more pronounced in the daylight. Even better: The atrium, just another back room when the sky is dark, becomes home to the best seats in the house when morning light streams in through the glass ceiling.

Service is warm and efficient, with coffee refills coming just fast enough to put us and the rest of the casual weekend crowd at ease.   

The cuisine: The kitchen sticks mostly to basics such as eggs Benedict ($10), omelets ($9-$10), pancakes ($8-$10) and French toast ($8). Slightly more adventurous is the stuffed French toast ($10), actually more layered than stuffed, with sweet mascarpone spread between slices of bread. The result (four sides to a piece, but only two of them browned) makes for a soggy package, albeit one crowned with a bounty of juicy strawberries.

Various hashes—veggie ($10), crab ($14) and pork belly ($12, left)—arrive in individual cast iron skillets topped with poached eggs and hollandaise, and our server assured us they were among the most popular dishes. The off-putting amount of oil pooled at the bottom of the pork belly skillet challenged its popularity at our table, but fortunately, the dish arrives with a side of toast. We piled mounds of hash onto slices of bread and easily avoided the oil slick.

Branch 27 is more a bar and grill than a restaurant, and any bar brunch worth its salt (or its celery salt, as the case may be) can find redemption in a good bloody mary. Branch 27’s is better than good. It’s bold, evenly blended and garnished with a hearty skewer that includes a fun salami-and-cheese rollup that took us back to grade school lunch breaks. And for just $5? We’ll take two.

M. Kathleen Pratt is the Metromix dining producer. kpratt@tribune.com

***

Loved it:  Fresh-squeezed OJ ($3)

Hated it: Packaged creamers

Brunch time: 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday

Cost: $20-$25 per person, with tax and tip

Wait: None

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