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Categories: American (New), Vegan
Neighborhood: LakeviewAddison (Red)
Belmont (Purple Express, Brown, Red)
Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.
"Oh man, I'm so glad I found this place. A few friends and I came here for a small get-together to help support a comedy group. I had never…" read more »
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Where else can you find a chai milkshake?? I totally love that!
When you imagine a late night diner, there are some pretty scary options out there. Pick Me Up Cafe is laid back and cozy, and I've been there several times when I'm craving some pancakes after a night out. I've had a good time there with friends, but recently I had some pancakes on the burnt side. It's ok because this place doesn't really give you high expectations, so I'm happy when the food is above average. Mmmm milkshake and pie.
Thanks Pick Me Up for your happy waving coffee cup guy!
Ok, so this place has a lame name especially when you want to meet with your friends there for food, but other than that the place is great.
They open till late and 24 hours on weekends. Everyone is nice and there's vegan options.
Their omelets are amazing. That's what I ordered everytime Im here. Def one of my fav breakfast spot late at night!
I went here last night after a year absence, excited for their delicious apple cider and buffalo tofu bites that I used to get... The cider was lukewarm* and didn't have the usual whipped cream and caramel on it; the tofu bites were soggy. What is going on here?
The waitress added whipped cream and caramel to our ciders but by then they were pretty cold. I still ate most of the tofu bites. I probably won't be back for a while.
*If you come here and order a cider, I suggest asking them to make it 'extra hot'
Every time I come to this cafe, I'm usually with 5 or more people. Because of that reason I always feel like I'm in an episode of "Friends". 6 dorks hanging out at the cool cafe and all. Except other people besides us actually talk while there.....anyways. I like this place. I like its personality, its food, its workers, its prices, its operating hours. My sister actually discovered this place on Yelp and took me here late night to hang out with my cousins from out of country. Place turned out to Rock and we all enjoyed our conversation and food here.
Just about everything I've had to eat here so far has been awesome. Coffee was okay, which says a lot since I think most coffee is absolute garbage (I'm a bit of a purist). Things such as Cappucinos or Lattes were pretty good. Desserts were really good and tasted different than they traditionally would. Breakfast items such as French Toast rocked while Lunch items such as Chili Cheese Fries and Grilled cheese were tasty. Everything went well by me. Even something as insignificant as my Maple Syrup was good. It was good because it wasn't super thick and sweet like it would normally be.
The decor is cool. That's what I like about the place. It doesn't try to be fancy in any way. It's not grimey either. It's just its own person. You either like it or you don't. Tables can have symbols from games from the 80's and all the colors on the symbols will be worn out because of the sun. Sparkly blue and pink seats. Funky looking booths. It's all over the place, in a good way. My only complaint is that their chairs can be stupidly odd and uncomfortable depending on where you sit. The bathrooms are very clean, thank heaven.
Prices are real decent, but I don't like their "charge you a minimum by the hour" policy. On the menu is a tiny print that explains that you must buy at least $4 worth of drink or food every hour or that's what you'll be charged. I think that's bullshit. $4 doesn't even reflect the prices of most of their items. And every hour?! Should I be ordering a coffee and pie every hour? That's complete bullshit. Parking was never a problem for us but we're always went after 10 P.M. so I'm sure that helped. Workers here are SUPER nice and are real cool to chit chat with. If you need a place to have a late night snack and drink, give Pick Me Up a try.
Pick Me Up needs to Pick IT Up!
I returned last night after an absence of several years. The only thing I remember about my prior visit was the slow, inattentive service. Well, in 2+ years it seems nothing has changed.
Michael G & I hit PMU armed with our buy one, get one Entertainment Book coupon prior to the Cubs game. When we arrived the place was fairly empty, I noticed only 2-3 other tables seated and one was a girl intently studying.
I ordered the veggie burger with a side of fries and Michael got the gnocchi and soup on the side. They actually had two veggie soup options, a chili and tomato-based soup, which was nice. My veggie burger was decent, falling somewhere in the middle of dismal and mind-blowing. From its shape I'm guessing it came out of a box. The fries were really the high point of my meal, I love whatever type of seasoning they put on them. The gnocchi looked good, but in all honesty they strongly resembled packaged gnocchi I used buy from Eatzie's (sigh, I miss Eatzie's).
As I said before, service was slow and inattentive. Polite, but slow and inattentive. The place was virtually empty so I'm not exactly sure what our server was doing to occupy himself. I guess if you want to study without being hassled about taking up a table this is your place, they'll easily forget you're there.
The place is cute, a maze-like set up and very colorful accents. It's a nice 24 hour option with a menu that caters to meat eaters, veggies and vegans alike. Unless I've got another coupon though, I don't see myself racing back here for average food and below average service.
I wanted to like this place cause it's open real late and they serve vegan food.. but.. yeah, I should stick with the drinks.
Got the vegan grilled cheese. Scarred me :( ... the "cheeze" was soo jello-y. Like cold and jello-y. It tasted like chapstick. No joke. NEVER GET THE GRILLED CHEEZE! Fries were okay.. lol.
Also got the mac & cheese. Drowned it in tabasco sauce to mask the blandness. Had 1/3 of it and felt sick.
Also got the vegan chocolate milkshake. NOT bad.
My friend got the burrito. HUGE! He said it was O-K..
The food is bad, but it's a place that's open super late.. so I guess I shouldn't have expected good food.
Was recommended this place because it's like right down the street from my apartment, but totally forgot about it until wandering by and seeing a billion vegetarian things on the menu. So, naturally we had to try it out. ;D It's very cute inside and everything we had tasted good. I had a "pizzadilla", which had a RIDICULOUS amount of cheese on it...wish I'd known that beforehand. Guess I should have suspected, given the name. Mister had cheese fries, which we both enjoyed. Will definitely be back, especially to try out the brunch, because the menu looked awesome...!
Vegan jalapeno poppers.
I f*&king dare you.
I don't care what you think.
There's no better vegan French toast in town. Everything else there…
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I want to lead off by saying I have eaten here twice in one day, more than once. That's how good it is.
This place is great. You can take your vegan/vegetarian 'friends' there and there is plenty for them to choose from. I go for the grilled cheese (three kinds!) with tomato sandwich, but I say NO TOMATOES! and YES BACON. You can get it with good pasta salad. Also they have Mt. Dew which everyone knows is the greatest soda around but is sadly only available at establishments which favor Pepsi over Coke. The breakfast food is pretty great too.
The service is pretty ok. One guy we really like a lot, I think his name is Travis. He is a great guy, talks to us about the Fire and I believe he has a tattoo of the older Arsenal crest. Class guy all the way!
THE ONLY THING IS:
I went there once at 11:20am and the door was locked, even though it said they opened at 11 as it was a weekday. PROTIP: If this happens to you, DO NOT go to Lucky's Sandwiches which is up the street; it's not even nearly as delicious.
Eight thumbs up!
So we just discovered this cafe in our area on YELP..shame we never noticed it before on our own. IN the heart of wrigleyville and opened late!!
The great thing about this is they are NOT only serving Delicious cafe beverages, made to order but they also serve FOOD...like kicked up diner food. I mean vegan dishes mixed with modern diner versions of eggs and "sammiches". Really funky.
The Cappuccino is OFF THE HOOK! come on people, this doesn't come in a stale white cup with generic foam that you have to trade in your first born to pay for!! Its fresh, the espresso is REAL :) and the foam is creamy and keeps its shape until your last drop. I mean this is the real deal.... $3 bux for a large????? hullo! REAL Caffeine favorites :) AT LAST!
The decor is eeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh...nothing special, they lost a star for that i think they could pay alittle attention to that area, but i guess they are going for the "if it ain't broken, stfu" theory. I can hang with that. The prices are outstanding. They have a liquor bar as well if you need something harder then a Mocha Royale (mmmmmmm btw). They also are open 24 HOURS on weekends... hell YES!
Its our new favorite place, the chick making the drinks is BOMB, we had a waiter named "bird man" that was awesome too. Definitely a place to chill-ax with some overall great choices. A MUST try :)
An indie-crowd favorite, the eclectic Pick Me Up is a go to breakfast destination for myself, when alternating from other lakeview options Sather's and after giving up on the hour wait that has prevented me from ever trying Orange.
Instead, promptly seated in quiet cozy booths, Pick Me Up has a solid menu and good service, a departure from other venues and you do not feel rushed. I can hear my companion's voice! And they have a real European coffee machine and solid espresso fueled options.
Make my own omlette is how I roll and a request for Chorizo, rocks it a whole other level.
Haven't tried their alcohol options yet but the bloody mary has been tempting me as of late...
A-ok for a late night joint.
I honestly thought it was just a coffee shop. I had no idea it was also not only a diner, but apparently a vegan diner.
A friend of mine and I got off work at about 2:30am on Sat. night and we were wanting some coffee and maybe a snack. She suggested this place, and I had heard good things about it, so we decided to try it.
We both got a big cup of mocha. I ordered the eggs benedict (which I thought had real ham on there....and also thought vegans don't eat eggs and definitely not ham...pretty sure they were real eggs). Are you supposed to ask for vegan options? If this was a vegan meal, wow, sign me up because I definitely wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. My friend got the vegan rice crispy treat. I was not a fan. It was too chewy and not sweet enough for me.
Service was ok. Our waitress seemed to have forgot about us, but she was friendly. My friend and I were gossiping and finishing our coffee, so I didn't really care our waitress wasn't that attentive. She took our order and got our food out really fast, so meh, good enough.
I really dig the whole artsy, hipster vibe of the place, cheap eats, and the late hours. I don't dig drunk girls falling on our table.
What a fantastic restaurant. I am not a vegan, nor did I know this was a vegan restaurant. My bf didn't either, thank God because he would not have been happy to go here.
The food is here is unbelievable and everything on the menu sounded great! I didn't know what to pick and wanted to order about 5 different things. I went with the hummus sandwich and it was fantastic. Filling and flavorful, two very important elements to a dish.
The Bloody Mary's were good too, huge and not too spicy. I can't wait to go back, there is so much on the menu that everyone will be satisfied. I guarantee it.
Yes, I like good diner food, and Pick Me Up creates just that.
I would eat here A LOT because of its relative location to my work. But when I order a cup of soup to go and you charge me $55 on my credit card and I try to get it resolved - YOU CALL AND SCREAM AT ME? As if this is MY FAULT?
I don't know what your idea of customer service is...but beyond your waitstaff being rude, the owner is beyond rude and I cannot support anyone who doesn't support me.
All of us (and all of our customers that we USED TO send your way) will spend our money elsewhere.
Thanks for nothing.
Service here ranges from kinda lame to very good. It all depends on who ya get. The food is mostly delicious with the exception of the vegan mac n cheeze (it tastes like nothing). My favorite dish is the gnocchi. The buffalo tofu is sooo good. For some reason the beer is never cold enough. Music is always good and I've always been seated immediately. Bottom line- This is probably the best place to come to for late night food, especially if you're veg.
Pick Me Up is an American diner with edgy clientele (especially compared to the residents of Wrigleyville). I like that they're open late and offer a variety of vegan options, though nothing here really stands out, and the options are pretty basic.
They have lots of tofu scrambles and pancakes and the like, but don't offer mockmeat sandwiches or stir-frys/pastas. I had the moo-free pizza ($9) which consisted of a flaky crust loaded with bell peppers, onions, eggplant and mushrooms, topped with a whipped tofu "cheese." The crust was the best part, as it was crispy and well-done, though it quickly got soft and soggy once the oil from the over-cooked vegetables got to it. The tofu "cheese" was decent, but needed more herbs and less salt.
I also had a chocolate rice krispie bar ($4) which was too dense and heavy for my likes. Also, it wasn't crispy at all and ws more chewy than anything else.
The service was friendly but slow. I'd come to Pick Me Up if I were in a bind late at night and if the nearby Chicago Diner had already closed. Otherwise, take a pass on Pick Me Up.
I love this place more and more and have been coming here pretty much weekly since i moved to the area.
it does kind of have a punk-y, eclectic atmosphere, but everyone is really nice and you wont feel awkward if you arent wearing a misfits tee or have a blue mohawk. the food is great, especially the vegan chili, french toast, pancakes, and quesadillas. the portions are huge and usually i split a dish with the boyfriend and we still leave full. this is the only place i have found in the city where as a vegan, i actually have lots of choices and i feel comfortable and can eat regular food instead of the weird health food places or having to get a salad/microwaved boca burger. i love pick me some pick me up!
5 stars for the tofu scrambler and the vegan french toast. I used to be stressed out when I went in there because the service was just so-so. the past several times I have gone in ... it's been mid-day on a weekday, when everyone else is at work and they usually have just opened. we always get this sweet boy server who is polite and on his game in regards to refills on coffee and making sure we're happy with our meal. if the french toast comes out a little undercooked he's quick to have it remade. LOVE this place and the vegan selections.
Pass Me Up Cafe. There's just no reason to go here. You're better off making your own sandwich at home.
You know how it feels when you're hanging out with a hipster friend, and you start talking about music, and somehow it comes out that you love Counting Crows, and then your hipster friend starts telling you why you're wrong for thinking that "Round Here" is a great song?
That's kind of how it feels to eat at the Pick Me Up Cafe.
The first thing you'll notice when you walk into Pick Me Up is that the place looks kind of like a dormitory at an art college. This is...interesting aesthetically, but kind of annoying when it comes to moving around, or being comfortable whilst sitting at a table.
The next thing you'll notice is the menu which is completely overwhelming. I know, I know, there are a ton of vegetarian options, which is great if you're a vegetarian. I, for one, like eating animals. If you are an omnivore like me, you'll probably find yourself wishing that Pick Me Up had at least a hamburger on their menu. Or chicken fingers. They do have calamari, and eggs, and some, but man Pick Me Up, add some more flesh to your menu!
The third thing you'll notice at Pick Me Up is the service is kind of lousy. The waiters are kind of indifferent, and your food will take forever to get from Pick Me Up's kitchen to your mouth.
The fourth thing you'll notice is that the food is pretty good, but probably just isn't worth the wait, the lack of comfort, and the lack of variety that Pick Me Up offers.
I wish I would have been picked up and thrown out of this place before I actually had to taste the food here. Granted we did come at 3am on Saturday night/Sunday morning, but the food should not have tasted like it had been made when they opened and served almost 20 hours later. We had a group of 5 and were given menus and pointed to which booth we should sit at. Our order was taken about 20 minutes later, finally deciding on the beef sandwich, cheese fries, veggie appetizer, salad, and a Thai like chicken dish. Well the appetizer and salad came out after everyone else's meals, and that was after a friendly reminder. The chicken dish was overcooked and dry, way too hot, and tasteless. I swear they must have just thrown it in the microwave from a frozen package. The cheese fries were cold, and soggy. The sandwich looked good, but was also lacking in taste.
The service was OK, but did NOT make up for the terrible food. I will not be back.
I have to say, as much as pretty much EVERY college student in Chicago goes to this place, and as much as some of the people in it are just hipsters and will turn up their nose at you when you walk in, it's a pretty sweet cafe. The hours are perfect for anyone's late night and the food is pretty decently priced.
I got the regular pancakes for 7 bucks. There were 5 huge ones and they came with cinnamon on them and a little bit of powdered sugar. I was starving and I couldn't even finish it all so I took 3 home!
Either way. I enjoyed it and so did my friends. I'll be back. Especially for milkshakes.
My only complaint is that they don't offer hot cider all year. I know, I know--who wants hot cider in the summer? Me, that's who.
Some of my favorites here: the vegan benedict, the rice crispy treats, the vegan french toast*, the wide variety of stuff in the jukebox, the friendly staff, that cider I mentioned, and the outdoor seating in the summer. There are almost always loads of cute dogs being walked past during the day and funny drunks to people-watch at night.
For a low-key meal or coffee with a friend, there isn't a better place around here. I love Chicago Diner, but the wait there is usually ridiculous, and now that they have beer (try the Delirium if you never have), there's no reason to go to Clarke's instead unless I have a serious craving for North Shore Potatoes.
*The best french toast I've ever had. No, I don't mean the best vegan french toast. I mean, the best, period.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this place!
My friends brought me here one late night/early early morning and man, I can't get enough of this eatery :]
I can sit down and doodle a picture and post it on a wall displaying all its patron's artwork while enjoying some delicious food in a great homey type atmosphere.
I love that it's vegetarian/vegan/and even meat friendly so there's something for everyone.
DE-LISH!
My single favorite place to catch dinner in the entire city, hand's down. The pizzadillas are kick-ass, they have the best veggie burgers in the world, the vegan mac and cheese makes me euphoric, and I am not even a vegan, and holy shit, how good are their french fries? Nothing can compare. The service is just okay, but it's totally worth it. You have to try the snickers cheesecake, it's probably not made there, but regardless its super tasty.
Go here.
I went here for breakfast, and let me just say, the french toast alone made me like this place. They definitely give you your money's worth. I also was very pleased to see how well the bacon was cooked. It was perfect. The only thing I didn't like was the size of the tables. Our group had 6 people and we barely fit everyone's plate on it. But I guess it's not meant for large groups. Overall, I like!
My friends always took me here due to Pick Me Up's vegan-friendly food, but their menu is varied enough that carnivorous customers not used to vegetable and dairy substitution won't go home hungry. I mostly came here for the atmosphere. I love the way the tables and booths are on multi-levels and in multi-rooms making you feel you're still at home and not out at a restaurant.
The Pick me Up is a shining light in the middle of franchise restaurants and douche bag bars. Its an island of goodness and calm amongst the chaos of Wrigleyville. I have been coming here for years and in fact my first meal here was to meet an Internet friend I had meet on a raver IRC chat long ago. I have never had a bad experience here food wise and always had good service. This last time I went I had the huevos rancheros and they were great. My companion had an order of very large and very yummy French toast. Their menu is not that extensive and they offer vegetarian options for most of their menu items. But whatever you get you wont be disappointed.
I heart Pick Me Up Cafe, and since becoming Vegan, I have been there at least 4 times now, always with different people.
I really have fallen in love with one thing on their menu: Vegan Chili Cheez Fries.
I can not go there without ordering them....They are so good.
I have tried one of the sandwiches, which I wasn't too fond of, but it wasn't bad. The Vegan Tofu Scram was okay (although, I much prefer Heartland Cafe's Tofu Scramble) and the Jalepeno Poppers were fine but I don't see myself getting them again, oh and the Vegan Chili Mac was really really good.
Something about Pick Me Up's Chili is outstanding... A little spicy and a really good flavor, makes me crave it no matter what the weather outside.
I also liked that they had vegan cookies, rice krispie treats, shakes and other snacks. I haven't tried any of them yet, and if I could stop eating the Chili Cheez Fries, I may have more room to try everything else :)
Okay, other points that I love about this place:
They serve meat also. This is especially handy as many of my friends/family are not vegan/vegetarian, and so it is super convenient that we can all be served sufficiently at one place.
They are open 24 hours on the weekends. This was extremely useful for me after a night of dancing with a girlfriend a couple weeks ago.
They are easy to get to from the Addison Red Line stop. Close enough for me to go, but far enough away that I'm quite sure my hips are appreciative that it is a treat to go there for the Vegan Chili Cheez Fries.
I can't wait to try everything vegan on their menu!!
While they're mainly known for having a great vegan menu, Pick Me Up cafe has a rather well kept secret; their grilled cheese sandwich.
Made with 3 cheeses and available on whole grain wheat or white bread, this sandwich is, hands down, the best grilled cheese not only in the city, but maybe in the whole midwest. At $8.00 it seems a little pricey, but once you taste it's perfect cheese blend it's all worth it.
Served with fresh fruit, seasoned fries and your choice of with or without tomato this melty delight will have you hooked from the first bite.
Whether you come from down the street or the distant burbs you will not regret your choice to make the trip to this quaint local cafe with it's urban-hip decor.
While you're there be sure to try their great coffee and dessert choices as well.
Pick Me Up has its high and low points. I mean, on the one hand, the place is open late with tons of vegetarian and vegan options. The prices are moderate and the staff is friendly. On the whole, a cool joint. But my food experience was less than satisfying, so I don't know.
Our cheese fries were excellent (the vegan cheese? not as creepy as at some places), but my chili mac was overly fancy. I ordered chili mac. I don't want rotini pasta. I want elbow macaroni. That's why it's "mac" and not "rot", which sounds awful anyway. And the chili was also less than successful on the pasta. I wanted to scrap the leftover "cheese" from the fried into my chili mac to make it more palatable, but that seemed more rude and creepy than I was willing to go for at 3 am. I also had the poppers, but they were weird tasting and a little too huge (these were giant jalapenos, I like the littler ones better) and I had to eat them with a fork rather than my hand. I took them home, but ended up just dumping them in the trash. Alas.
My dining companions ordered breakfast fare and seemed happier. Perhaps I just chose the wrong menu items. We'll see.
Great food, and I love the cheeky name.. (I used to make a point to have first dates here.. what can I say). It is very much against the grain in comparison to the rest of the mindless sports bars in the area.. and the fod is fantastic.
This is not the place to go if you want 5 star, but the food is decidely quality, and is not pretentious in pricing. It is very warm and friendly, and you are always treated well!
After a very long day, my brother took me to Pick Me Up for a late dinner. He kept calling it a "dinner" but it is much more than that. I had a great felafel rap with some french fires.
The place was hopping even at 11pm on a monday night. I will defiantly be back when I can enjoy the food without a migraine
Some guys have this thing where they can't remember the birthday of significant ladies in their lives. Me, I have completely the opposite problem. Once I am in possession of a date of birth of a date, I never forget it. Today's the birthday of a girl from about six years ago who I often wonder what the heck did I get out of that dysfunction that was any good? The only answer I can come up with is: a love for Pick Me Up Cafe. Inbetween some truly epic fights, there was some incredible shared gnocchi.
No, not nookie, that was far from incredible. No, some of the best potato stuffed shells in Chicago.
Anyhow, back then, the Pick Me Up wasn't renown for being a vegetarian-friendly establishment like it is now (it's sort of cool that they don't specify on the menu what meat they can add to some things, they just call it "meat") and the food was a little less dinery in quality (less grease to be sure). Though one thing that hasn't changed is the servers. They are still 23-year old out-of-work actors who really don't want to be there.
There are many good veggie choices on the menu (including incredible mashed potatoes) even though they still have a lot of meat. The last time I was there (the first time since PMUC girl), I actually got nostalgic and couldn't decide from the choices. Since Pick Me Up isn't that cheap (many menu items push $10 an item), this wasn't the best idea. But I couldn't help sampling a bit of everything again. And the gnocchi was every bit as incredible as I remember it and worth the cash sieve and the rolling me out (the portions are quite large)..
I don't know how much else I have to say since I'm trying to write this review based on the time I visited in February for Vegetarian Supper Club (so I don't remember as much as I would have had I written this in a timely manner). Ironically that visit was just after the fifth Valentine's Day I've spent alone since PMUC girl. Maybe I need to take more girls here for the gnocchi. If it kept that relationship going for almost a year I could only imagine what it could do for a functional tryst in my life (or the applications it might have for world peace)!
From reading the reviews it seems as though people either love or hate this place. Surprising to me because I've been an avid fan for 5 years now.
The coffee delivers, the staff has NEVER been rude or discourteous to me.( In fact, I've come to know many of them on a first name basis.) Sure the food isn't OMGAMAZINGWANTTODIE.........
.......but a restaurant that keeps as odd as hours as me, i can be in and out in under an hour, and least but not least, i can bring picky out-of-town eaters and know that they will find something they find palatable that accommodates for veg/vegans? This is invaluable to me.
You can bring your mom on a sunday for brunch, or show up at 2am on tuesday for munchies? That is a pretty great combo...for my lifestyle anyway.
Recommend: Italian sodas, vegan rice crispies, pecan pancakes.
Advice: Don't go after a cubs game, unless you like the company of drunk, arrogant, yup... er, umm.. unpleasant people.
A wide variety of food + late hours = good spot for some drunken dining.
My friends and I walked in around 11 and were immediately able to get a large booth that fit all six of us. Everyone got something different (from breakfast foods to soup to pasta) and late-night, beer-induced hunger was sated.
That said, the food wasn't something that would draw me back were I not in the neighborhood and a couple beers into the evening. My gnocchi was OK, but it came with a side of fries (what?) and garlic bread (more logical, perhaps, but holy carb-overload!). My friend's chili was cold (eww!).
Overall, cute place, underwhelming food.
What is it with vegan/vegetarian restaurants and bad service?
What is pick me up's excuse for the bad service?
"That's how we roll."
Well. How I roll is I give a bad tip and don't come back... and then tell my friends about it, never take them there and find some internet review website to complain on.
And my poached eggs were overcooked. I know poached eggs are hard to do, but don't put them on the menu if you can't handle it. I looked at the tables around me and of the 5 people I saw (including me) that had poached eggs, only one of them had correctly cooked eggs.
sigh. I know I will give them a second chance. I give everyone a second chance... but they hurt me and it will take time to heal that wound.
I do appreciate that I was able to get a table for 7 people on a Saturday at noon without a problem. But the food is probably the reason why it's not busier at prime weekend lunch/brunch time.
We were a group of hungry volleyball players ready to take down some calories after playing for the last 3 hours and since two from the group live in this neighborhood, they suggested this cafe.
Service was: meh - but we weren't in a rush but I did feel it was very slow.
Food - let's just say my quest for the city's Egg Benedicts DID NOT end here. Poached eggs looked unpresentable with wavy curls of egg whites sprawled atop the plate. Hollandais sauce was lumpy and flavorless. No indication of any zesty lemon at all - or salt. Eggs were cooked through. The only saving grace may have been the delicious thick slicked of Canadian bacon. The potatoes were also rather tasteless even though it appeared to have been cooked with a variety of flavorful ingredients. I'm glad I shared this plate and had the opportunity to try something else.
That something else was the Lox and Bagel plate which was GREAT. The bagel was small and dense (not the crappy fluffy stuff you get at a supermarket - maybe the most authentic bagel I have had in a long while) with a beautifully egg washed golden top. (sesame bagel). Lox was lovely, bright and plentyful.
Finally, I saw a giant plate of hummus that my friend Joyce ordered and wanted to give it a try. Sadly the hummus lacked any flavor. I think they forgot the garlic which is a key ingredient to hummus next to the tahini and the chick peas.
So, I think have to settle at 2-stars for the food and 3 stars because we were easily seated. I will come here again if someone suggests it, but I won't recommend it myself.
Best coffee and shake I ever had. Nice friendly place with real people inside. I often take guests from out of town who say they wish they had a Pick Me Up in the city they live in.
Oh Pick Me Up.....how I love you.
I've eaten a few dishes here, of course I can't remember what because they're not what matters. The food was good. Not amazing, not horrible, but good. However, the brownie sundae and cheese fries are what I come here for. Unless I'm drunk, then I want french toast that I won't eat but instead stare at. Yeah, I don't understand my drunken ordering either.
Cheese fries and brownie sundae. My friend turned me onto it, I've turned several friends onto it. It's the one time I don't care how not hungry I am or how fattening it is.........they are delicious. The salsa they serve with the fries is bland, but that doesn't stop me from eating it.
They're open late, which is sweet. Parking sucks, so consider walking/cta. There's a North Community ATM outside (random bank, I know, but it's my bank, so it's a huge plus for me!) and they serve alcohol, which actually never appealed to me, but y'know, some people like that.
Cheese fries and brownie sundae, best things on the menu!
Weekend Brunch
Neighborhood: The Loop
Wednesday Dinner Deal!
Neighborhood: Uptown
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Vegetarian
Neighborhood: Wrigleyville
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Lakeview
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Irving Park
Category: Vegetarian
Neighborhood: Near North Side
Category: Coffee & Tea
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