Brunch at Cafe con Leche

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The spot: The stand-alone corner building where Cafe con Leche Bucktown opened Monday was long a mystery to us. For years, it was Johnny’s Snack Shop, a divey grill that kept odd hours and attracted an unusual number of sedans with tinted windows and chrome rims during very specific hours on weekends. Then there was the short-lived Lobos Al Fresco Tacos, a decent little taqueria but a bit of a head-scratcher—this part of town isn’t exactly begging for another taco stand.

With Cafe con Leche Bucktown, owner Ulysses Salamanca, who also owns Flash Taco and Underdogg down the street, got it right. It’s a spinoff of the Logan Square staple of the same name, though Salamanca is no longer affiliated with that spot. Salamanca’s goal is for Cafe con Leche Bucktown to become a gathering place for the neighborhood. Young moms pushing status strollers, bleary-eyed bachelors, harried caffeine fiends, pampered pooches—all are welcome here.

Salamanca went out of his way to make the place inviting. He dropped in a concrete dining counter in front of the grill, replaced an entire wall with glass doors that swing wide open onto the patio, and gave everything a fresh coat of paint, much of it a cheery pastel green.

The food: Cafe con Leche knows its audience. And that is, well, just about everyone who passes this way. From Mexican to American fare to an amalgam of both—witness the chilaquiles ($7), the Meat Lover omelet ($8) and the biscuits with your choice of strawberry jam, Nutella or cajeta ($4)—there’s something for everyone.

Grab-and-go fare includes a full complement of breakfast sandwiches ($4-$5), the greasy goodness delivered on either French bread or a croissant. For a more interesting hand-held option, try the torta de chilaquiles ($5), a mini-version of chilaquiles (tortilla chips, house-made salsa, black beans, cheese and sour cream with a sunny side-up egg) on crusty Mexican white bread, or borillo.

Almost everything on the menu clocks in at $8 or less. For $6, the huevos divorciados (literally, "divorced eggs") are a filling breakfast of two fried eggs—one doused in tangy green salsa, the other in spicy red salsa—divided by a row of cheese-topped black beans and tortilla chips. Your best-value option, though, is a breakfast burrito. While our black bean-, egg- and chorizo-stuffed version lacked textural nuance—a bit of crisp lettuce would have helped cut through the mush—the spicy $7 behemoth must have weighed about a pound, easily enough to feed two.

Loved it: Champurrado, a sweet, chocolate-tinged $3 meal in a cup

Hated it: Pausing the conversation every 3 to 9 minutes when the Blue Line roars past.

Cost: $6-$12, with tax and tip

Wait: None

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

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