On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: American (New), Breakfast & Brunch [Edit]
Neighborhood: Lincoln ParkMon-Sun. 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Loading...
I wrote a review for the one on Roscoe. Because that's the one I frequent. It was at this restaurant that I first ate at Orange.
We walked in a few minutes before closing time and they accommodated us and that was amazing of them. The coffee was great as was the food and from then on I was hooked.
I'll go whenever I can.
I came here with a group of friends on a weekday adventure. Since it was a Thursday morning, there wasn't a wait and we got seated immediately. One of my friends loves their Lakeview location, so he was excited to introduce the rest of us to Orange.
Unless they use different food at Lakeview, I can't say I was impressed. I tried the orange coffee, which is an experience I probably wouldn't repeat. It was coffee with an orange juice aftertaste. Maybe some people like it, but it was definitely not for me. The frushi was just...strange. The overly sweet rice overpowered the fruit. Perhaps if the fruit had been fresher, it might have worked, but our platter was super-sweet rice with fruit mush. I ended up picking off pieces of fruit and leaving the rice. And the fruit was only ok. Maybe we got an off platter because it was a weekday? Either way, I am not a fan. I'll stick with regular sushi, thanks.
As for the actual food, I ended up ordering the omelet 11.5, with the avocado mousse on the side. Leeks, brie, and bacon? Sounds delicious. I ended up with egg, egg, leek, small red flakes of what I guess was soggy bacon, and a thin strip of brie. I know because I unfolded the omelet because I had eaten half and wasn't sure if there was anything besides leeks and eggs. Where was the creaminess of the brie? The saltiness of the bacon? It was pretty much a lot of cooked leeks wrapped in an scrambled egg comforter. Definitely disappointing.
There are no end to the brunch options in Chicago. But Orange is hands down my favorite. Unique menu. Awesome service. Best damned coffee in the world! And now, Bloody Mary's! Which aren't the best in the world. But they're cheapish.
Seriously the menu is to die for. I always eat entirely too much and it's totally worth it.
That said, you will encounter a sometimes lengthy wait on weekends. But this location is conveniently surrounded by stores so you'll have something to do while you wait.
It'll be worth that wait, trust me.
This place is amazing! On the weekend you will see people lined up down the street waiting to get in. Be assured, it is worth the wait! You can get "frushi", which is citrus infused rice sushi wrapped around delicate fruits, miniature pancake flights (different theme every weekend), fresh squeezed juice (your pick of dozens of fruit and vegetable choices) and excellent coffee. The service is always awesome. This is one of my favorite restaurants nation wide!
My boyfriend recalled a great experience at Orange sometime in the past, so we decided to break up our usual weekend brunch routine and walk a few blocks south to try out Orange. As we got there, he realized that his "great experience" had taken place at their other location. We decided to stick with the new location and were seated immediately, which was surprising considering that this *was* peak Sunday brunch time.
Initially I was turned off by the bland decor and plastic water cups. Plastic? Really? Gross. But - once I saw that they offer fresh squeezed juices I changed my tune. I really think that more places should offer fresh juices, so I was delighted. My apple carrot juice was great and definitely helped this place earn the 3 stars I'm giving it.
It may have just been my growling belly, but it seemed that we waited a little too long for our food. The boyfriend ordered the Rosemary-Orange French Toast which was decidedly awesome. I was pretty happy with my asparagus/mushroom omelet, though the potatoes were kind of bland. I asked for a side of pesto and suddenly my meal was great. (Seriously, they make damn good pesto.) I also really enjoyed the balsamic reduction that my eggs were covered with.
Overall, our food was tasty and the juices were delicious. The service was a-ok, nothing to complain about but nothing to rave about either. I really like the concept of this place, but I think that we just chose the wrong location. The food was good enough that we'll probably venture to Lakeview location next weekend.
HOW does this place only have 3 stars?!?!?!
ok, NO. I need to help correct this:
THIS PLACE IS AMAAZING.
I LOVE their orange-infused coffee- have you ever heard of such a thing??! It's BEAUTIFUL. They have something called "frushi" which is fruits, rolled up to look like sushi, with coconut-infused rice and garnished with fruit syrups- A MUST-TRY. So far I've had their Caprese eggs, the #6 omelette and Chai tea french toast---each better than the other. You CAN'T go wrong at this place. If you're looking for a great-tasting brunch experience, look no further than Orange!! YUMM
My first visit was in April. The service was awful but I gave Orange the benefit of the doubt (and 3 stars) because they had just opened.
Flash forward to the end of August. My boyfriend and I were up early on a Saturday and decided to give Orange another shot. Believe it or not, this experience was worse than our first!
We each ordered the Orange coffee. We were brought one half-empty carafe to share. No. If I am paying $3 a person for "bottomless" coffee, I want my own damn carafe and I want it full. Especially since the service here is nonexistent. My boyfriend sat with an empty cup for way too long.
After we placed our order, we sat for about 25 minutes without being checked on until an employee came up to us and asked us a ridiculous question. A question that honestly made me consider leaving $6 on the table for our coffee and walking out. Ready for it? Ok..
"Did you guys eat yet?"
UM, NO WE DID NOT. DO YOU SEE THIS PISSED OFF LOOK ON MY FACE? With all of the employees walking around this pathetic excuse for a restaurant, someone should have been able to let this guy know that we hadn't eaten. You should NEVER ask the customer an idiotic question like that. It's not like there are 50+ tables in this restaurant. Seriously?
Tables that were seated after us had their food already, and our "server" was missing in action. Our food came out about 5 minutes after this little incident. Our omelettes weren't very good, and the "home fries" were basically a boiled potato shaped like a cylinder.
The bill was the only thing that was promptly brought to our table. Even after royally screwing up our meal, every last thing we ordered was on the bill. Come on. At least comp the coffees to show that you're a little bit sorry for the inconvenience.
I will never eat at Orange again. Not even if someone else is paying. We would have been better off down the street at the Golden Nugget or even McDonald's. Totally inexcusable.
There are tons of other breakfast places in this city that are more deserving of your money than Orange. Skip it. Don't say I didn't warn you...
Finally, an Orange close enough for my sleepy butt to get out of bed and actually have a shot at… Read more »
Seriously people. I'm sorry you had to wait a long time. That is what happens at *amazing* restaurants that do not have the capacity to seat everyone who wants to have brunch at 11am or 1pm. You know what I do when someone puts a cucumber in my glass, I take it out of my glass. There is a McDonalds up the street and I think they serve breakfast to tasteless people who are in too much of a hurry to appreciate brilliance. Please don't ever go to Orange again, so my wait will be shorter. Thanks!
The only think bad about this place is the pun on their signage. "with a peel"? Really!?!
Recommended dishes:
1. beverage: pear + ginger
2. omelet 11.5
3. caprese benedict (completely brilliant!)
4. steak and eggs benedict (also delicious)
5. seared oatmeal (and i don't even like oatmeal!).
I tend to avoid the french toast and pancakes because they are too sweet for my tastes, but you may like them.
We were in the area (typical) and heard the place was good (typical).
The Popeye Omelet was pretty good. The potatoes were not. Last but not least, If I want a cucumber in my water....I'll ask. I was really offended by this and surprised that others haven't mentioned it? I understand restaurants want to set themselves apart from the rest and be unique but that doesn't mean you have to put something in my water. Maybe I'll open a breakfast joint of my own and throw a piece of sausage in a glass of water and call it water from the Glaciers of Iceland INFUSED with sausage. I think this place thinks they can charge more than what they should because of all the "infusions" going on.
They definitely improved on their service from my last review. However, when we went in this morning, they were out of a number of items which made me sad. (Get your deliveries before a long weekend next time!).
Also, they are no longer BYOB.
I think Orange has a lot of potential but has a few growing pains they need to address first.
The…
Read more »
My girlfriend and I finally tried this place earlier today. I kept hearing about how busy this place is, but we were fortunate to come here at 1pm on a Wednesday. There were only a few tables in the place, and the service was fast and friendly.
I had the chai tea french toast. I don't usually eat sweet meals like that, but it was actually quite good. It's served in a bowl, soaking in a chai tea latte. I also had the orange coffee. It was very mild, and was very orange-y. I enjoyed it.
My girlfriend had the caprese benedict. She said she would eat it again, but also said that it was a little too rich. She also had a frushi (a freshly squeezed, customizable fruit juice). She mixed watermelon and pineapple and it was goooood.
I really wanted to love this Orange- I've been to the Lakeview branch with much acclaim and was excited to have one open up so close to me! The food was good, but the newly-opened-restaurant growing pains were a bit too much to give it more than three stars right now.
So the FOOD- date and I both took advantage of the "custom blend your own juice" feature and loved our own creations and hated each other's. The table next to us brought two bottles of champagne and combined it with their orange-pineapple juice for cheap customized mimosas- yes folks, it's BYOB in here! We got the "frushi" and both enjoyed it- the sweet coconut rice is to die for! Date ordered the pancake flight, which changes weekly and this past weekend featured a Cinco de Mayo special. The flight was good but not great. I don't think there was enough variety of flavors among the four mini stacks, although I LOVE the concept. I had the Huevos Rancheros and really enjoyed the mix of potatoes, cheese, salsa, beans and eggs. Overall, our consensus is that Orange could push the envelope a little more with the food and flavor to separate itself from other similar brunch places.
We got to Orange at about 11 on a Saturday morning. We expected a wait, were told it would be about 30-40 minutes, and took a walk around the neighborhood to kill time. After 30 minutes, we checked back in with the hostess and was told it would be about another half hour- restaurant pet peeve alert! Another walk, another check in, more waiting outside on the sidewalk with an increasingly annoyed group of people. After we were finally seated, it took awhile for our server to take our juice order and then circle back and get our food ordered, but he was unfailingly friendly and the food came out quickly.
I think that once the staff gets settled in and more accustomed to turning over tables, navigating all the tables they are waiting, and estimating accurate wait times, this rating may get bumped up.
I would have to agree with others to say it has great potential, but there are a few things that seem to stick out in almost ALL of the reviews.
Place was moderately easy to get into on Sunday, at about 9:30 AM. Started to pick up at about 10:30, yes, we were there for more than an hour to get eggs. Service was pprreettyyyyy slow.
Bathrooms were revolting. Smelled like sour water and like they hadn't been cleaned in ages. I tried my best to think happy thoughts that the kitchen was cleaner.
Orange coffee was delicious! Eggs benedict was average. Pancake flight looked/sounded excellent...however, I can't take that much sugar for breakfast!
The food is far from good...I had eggs that tasted disgusting....how can you mess up eggs? The Fruit Sushi was disgusting-the potato hash brown mash potato things were weird. The service was really bad our waitress was too cool to be a waitress and take our orders and seemed put out...as she took her time and as she explained some things on the menu she looked up and around in a rolling her eyes kind of way.
I was just not happy everything was either too sweet or too dry.
Take your hard earned lunch money to Bongo Room or Yolk....much tastier and the service as well as the atmosphere is so much better.
The wait was short, but the food was so-so. I got Green eggs & ham, and the potatoes were delicious but the eggs themselves just did not taste as great as I hoped. Also, the ham was super salty. I'd probably go back and get a non-egg dish. I thought the food was ok priced. Our waiter was kind of slow, though.
Just an average place.
Already quite a wait here on a Saturday at around 11. My pancakes were perfectly satisfactory (i got "boring cakes"), but nothing to rave about. And possibly, nothing to wait 40 minutes for. Nookies Too has a better buttermilk pancake anyway.
Two members of my group had the cinnamon roll pancakes (they were tasty, but I'm not sure i could eat them due to the nut chunks in the cinnamony paste) and another the green eggs & ham (which she did not enjoy). The house potatoes are sort of like..chunky mashed potatoes, which we all agreed were tasty.
Maybe if there was an amazing pancake flight, i'd go back. Or if there was no wait. Otherwise...i'd be happier elsewhere.
I really like this place. I used to go to the other location (less than a mile north of this one), but I got tired of waiting longer in line than the actual time I was sitting and eating. Not that there's no wait here, but I didn't feel as uncomfortable while I was eating and people were waiting. It's a little bigger, so I feel a little better about enjoying my breakfast/brunch.
The food is good and "different." Generally it's "healthier" and there are less of the hearty breakfast dishes you find in typical diners or brunch places. I feel like the menu should have a few more dishes for me to want to make this a place I return to frequently. There isn't as much variety as I would like to see on a brunch menu. The frushi (fruit sushi) is really creative, but it's just not my thing, though most people love this place because of frushi.
My two favorite things here are their potatoes and the freshly made juice. You can customize your juice, and make sure you fill out the juice menu when you get there if you want it with your food. Also, the orange-flavored coffee is delicious, at least worth the try.
In a small town or suburb, Orange may be a novelty - presenting a menu around interesting blends on standard breakfast food. However, Orange is not in a small town, it is in Chicago, where there are a wide array of breakfast establishments creating much more innovative and tasteful menus (i.e. Lula's, Bongo Room, Flo, Feast, Milk and Honey, Emilio's Tapas, etc...)
Orange is not horrible, but it isn't anything special. It certainly doesn't deserve the crowds it draws on the weekends, especially with Emilio's Tapas across the street serving a brunch head and shoulders above Orange.
Orange has a very disjointed feel: the menu tries to be artful, but feels contrived, forced, and cheap. The interior decor tries to be creative, but screams generic and unpleasant.
My girlfriend ordered an omelette, which was fine, but her potatoes were dry and bland. I ordered the french toast kabob, which was very disappointing. The french toast was dry, unflavored, and too hard; it was also WAY to sweet, with the various sauces.
Everything at Orange feels very ameteurish and unpolished. As I said, it's not terrible, but in a city that has so many innovative choices, why settle for 'not terrible.'
Sigh. It started off so well.
I thought the cucumbers in the water were a great touch - very refreshing on a hot day when I was really craving something to drink. After turning in my man card and ordering a mimosa, I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor of the freshly squeezed orange juice.
However, when my eggs benedict arrived, things took a turn for the worse. It was utterly macabre.
The eggs were severely overcooked. The whites were rubbery, and the yolks were nearly hard. The hollandaise was thin and underseasoned. The canadian bacon was dry and too thick. For a restaurant that specializes in brunch to fail so completely at one of the most basic brunch dishes is disappointing.
Over. Rated. Everything on the menu is slightly off in a weird way, so NOTHING was appealing to me. To be fair, I don't enjoy sweet breakfasts for the most part, and I don't like Hollandaise sauce, so that REALLY limited my choices here. I ended up with green eggs and ham, which I thought was pretty darn gross (and incredibly, lamely skimpy with the mozzarella). The toast was wrong (I ordered white, got multi-grain), unbuttered, and a pretty skimpy portion for a rather big portion of eggs. Totally disappointing. I didn't mind the potatoes, though I think they'd make a better side order to a nice fat steak, or something with gravy, like pot roast. Kind of weird as a breakfast item.
I won't be going back. (Although, I'd maybe go back if I could get the turkey sandwich, which sounded good--but it's only served at another location. It shouldn't freaking be ON THE MENU if the location isn't serving it. Bothersome. Another issue.) Boo hiss.
Loved it! Being an avid brunch goer, I wanted to try out something new. After reading reviews from Yelp, my boyfriend and I decided to give Orange a go and let me tell you, we were not disappointed my friend!
Such a fun place for brunch! The menu is far from your average breakfast joint menu - there were so many interesting choices to choose from.
My boyfriend ended up getting the Chai Tea French Toast - he loved it! if you like French toast you will LOVE this French toast. It was so moist and succulent. It was like the bread was soaked in a Chai Tea latte. I'm not a huge French toast person. In fact, I never order it! But now, I am a changed woman. Next time I go back, I think I will order the Chai Tea French Toast.
I ordered omelet number 4 which was eggs, swiss cheese, caramelized pineapple, and ham with coconut shavings on top. So delicious! My boyfriend wanted to eat my meal and his.
We also ordered the frushi which was a fun little treat. It would have been nice if there was more pieces of the actually frushi. It was one piece of frushi (frushi by the way is essentially sweetened rice with fruit) and lots of fruit. I would order two servings for two people. One didn't seem to cut it!
We went at 1:30 on a Sunday and there was a 15 minute wait which was fine because it was fun ogling the dishes as they came out of the kitchen and pursing the menu as well.
Def. a fun place to go for brunch! I can't wait to bring friends here from out of town. :) Give it a shot!
By the way, the place is very crowed and we could hear everyones conversations around us but, oddly enough, I didn't mind... my boyfriend was pretty hung over and wasn't really in the mood for conversing so the tabled next to us supplied the conversation :)
The restaurant really plays up this "contemporary" cuisine bit, but doesn't necessarily follow through with the food. It is an average brunch place, not particularly creative, other than flavoring everything orange. Pass on the orange-flavored coffee; it's essentially flavored with orange extract and smells strongly orange. The breakfast potatoes were okay, shaped into a mound and essentially mashed. The pancake flights were okay; they change the pancake flights regularly. The coconut pancakes on the Easter flight were really good though. I tried a little bit of everything that my group ordered. The green eggs and ham and the caprese benedict were tasty. The omelet #6 was eh, not enough cheese, the asparagus was barely cooked, the eggs were average, not very flavorful. They do make fresh juice and "frushis" (combos of fruit juices), which were okay.
The atmosphere at the new Orange location isn't particularly charming either, just very bright and, of course, orange. The host was also not terribly friendly (though it was very busy). When our group of 5 was called, 2 were still parking their car, and instead of just saying, "we'll seat you when your whole party arrives," we got a snide "well we'll have to pass you over for another group." Completely unnecessary. Anyway, overall, there are some tasty menu items, but nothing here really distinguishes this place from anywhere else in my opinion.
I went here with high expectations from word of mouth and left disappointed. It isn't that the food was bad, but it definitely was not worth the 1.5 hour wait to get a table. The seating was done in a very poor manner. I drove, so I had to pay for parking again before we were done eating because of the wait. The food at Nookie's in Old Town is better, more reasonably priced, and their wait is usually much more reasonable and well managed. I will most likely not eat here again.
Dear owners of Orange:
It's great to see another location of your restaurant, and always welcoming to have "contemporary" breakfast around my 'hood. However, if you'd like to see folks come in (especially those that like to roll out of bed on the weekends past noon) you need to make room for all of us waiting for a table. I came here on a nasty, rainy day that no one would bother waiting outside in. It was so busy, a group of probably 7-8 people were hovering around these poor people that probably wanted to eat their food in peace. I kept bumping into them and I was waiting for the moment when someone wouldn't allow the servers through and envisioning eggs going projectile.
So with that being said, love the food--frushi is an awesome idea, but please, please make room for those waiting for a table.
Much love,
HB
I asked for a glass of water and got a glass of water with a cucumber slice in it. The breakfast menu was very small. I expected a better selection. The food was okay and the service was okay. I felt that they were trying to be trendy, but the food wasn't that impressive.
I would give Orange a solid 3.5 stars. I have been to both this one and the one further North on Clark. It is definitely a popular brunch place so be prepared to wait if you are going on a weekend. I came here a little later in the afternoon for lunch and there wasn't a wait. I opted for a California chicken wrap which was tasty and seemed quite healthy. It came with their house potatoes, which were a mound of mashed potatoes that I thought were dry and flavorless. I also had the Cobb Salad, which was just ok. I have had better Cobb salads, which is weird to say since how can you really screw that up? But overall, it was a low-key, casual dining experience. I remember they have really good fresh squeezed fruit juices. I am indifferent about going back there. Maybe if someone else suggests it.
This place had a lot of hype but it failed to impress me. The omelet was mediocre at best and the hash browns were literally a boiled potato that was smashed on my plate. Any place that is so "entitled" to not allow substitutions should rethink their business model. I won't go back, even if someone else pays. If it weren't for my server (who was really friendly/nice), I would have given this place 1 star.
A solid breakfast place. There's nothing really spectacular about it, but it is definitely good. I do love the orange flavored coffee, which was citrusy without being sweet. They have some interesting french toast combos and their eggs were good. This is a good place to go with friends for an ordinary brunch, not a special occasion kind of place.
I was very excited to have this restaurant open so near to where I live but I was very disappointed. Service was slow. The food which sounds so delicious on the menu was medicre at best. I had the eggs benedict made with basil, mozarella, and roasted tomato. Later on I was sick because the sauce was too rich. Everything on the menu is very rich or sweet so I will not be back
I waited a long time to go to Orange...always intrigued and had only heard good things. The experience itself was a mix. First the service was excellent. Wonderful attitude by the host and our waiter was attentive, informative, friendly, and prompt...and never hurried us....we never felt rushed and really felt taken care of. The food left some things to be desired. The thyme french toast was very seasoned rather than a hint. My pancake flight had some interesting flavors, but was served at room temp...not warm at all. I think that the mini pancakes are prepared ahead of time rather than fresh and then are just assembled. Plain pancakes, orange sausage, veggie sandwich, omelette, orange coffee...all very good. Want to give this place 3.5 stars, but that is not available just because I was disappointed that the food wasn't as great that I thought it should be. I would love to come back again just to try some other things that might be more to my liking. Overall great experience and great staff.
I have been going to the original Orange in Lakeview for a long time. The food and service have always been good.
The new Orange is located only two blocks from my house and I couldn't wait to go. Well, Friday I took a friend who had never been there before and the experience was disappointing. I had the Huevos Rancheros and my food was good. Now my friend ordered the pancakes...yes, they refer to them as the "boring" pancakes. Boring or not they should be served hot. They should not be dry and heavy like lead. The butter should be soft...not hard as rock and of course, it would not melt on the cold pancakes. Needless to say my friend will not return. I will not be returning soon unless I see the reviews improve.
Orange...you have a great location. Make the best of it and get your act together.
food is unimpressive , bad service. Nothing special. the bussboy, kept taking my unfinished food away from behind me. so weird! I'm done w this place.
Just about every time i have ever strayed away from my typical "two eggs over easy, hash browns bacon and wheat toast" breakfast, I have been sorely disappointed. Cut to me being nervous about ordering the chai-infused french toast. Nervous? WTF was i thinking? It was amazing, in a nutshell. Naturally, we started the meal with the fruishi. A little strange, i'll admit -- eating fruit and rice together just mentally freaks me out. But it was good, though I dont know that i would need to order it again. I got my custom orange-pineapple juice which was delish. And then it came. Sitting in a bath of chai liquid goodness, with apples and sweetness all over the place. I rarely bring leftovers home, let alone breakfast leftovers ...and i made sure to get a container that could handle the liquid heaven that the french toast swam in. When i got home, i completely regretted letting my BF have a bite because that was one less bite that i got to have at home. I am so happy i live less than a block from here ...because I'm certain that i now need chai french toast at least once a week.
Weekend Brunch
Neighborhood: The Loop
Three courses for $20 on…
Neighborhood: Edgewater
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
Here are some of my favorite places to grab brunch…
