Jaime E.'s Profile

I think this place is good, and I hope they do well. There aren't many places to get bagel & lox in this area.

This is a small place, so it's good for take out or dine-in if it there isn't a wait (there wasn't a huge wait when we went around noon on a Saturday). There are a nice variety of bagels, cream cheese options & menu items. There is also soy milk in a carafe along with the other milk/ creamers, which I thought was very thoughtful. It's not too expensive and they have lox. What more do you want in a little bagel shop?

Drawbacks:
1. the bagels are a little small
2. the menu is not too accommodating. when I asked for egg & cheese on a mish mosh (ET) bagel, instead of charging me for what i ordered, she amended a specific menu item. instead of just writing 'egg + cheese on bagel' and charging me for that she wrote "breakfast 1 no ham, mish mosh bagel, no mayo/mustard" which seemed like some work for what was a simple order.
3. it's not in logan square. i really wish there was a bagel place in logan square. i'm reaching.
4. cash only, although they have an atm right when you walk in.

Whenever I see Violet Hour on my credit card statement, I smile nostalgically and immediately plan for my next visit.

excellent burger. stellar buns. just enough fries.

i had the burger with marinated portobello, cambozola blue, griddled scallions, dijonnaise. mc had the roasted hatch green chile, fried farm egg, jack cheese, smoked bacon. we each got our own portion of fries (regular and truffle - i think it would have been more impressive if i got one of the fries with a fancy cheese but i thought they were fine plain & simple).

went back not too long ago and got one of their malts (thick!), the deep fried pickles & okra (very nice!) and tried the veggie burger, which was texturally interesting (and appealing) but didn't have your run of the mill black bean base. and it seemed deep fried for an external crunch. which was nice. and not greasy as you may be picturing.

to beat crowds, i probably would only go for an early lunch on the weekend. i hate to wait! even for really good burgers.

A rootstock is a plant, and sometimes just the stump, which already has an established, healthy root system, used for grafting a cutting or budding from another plant.

I just straight up copied that from Wikipedia.

Rootstock. Wow. Where do I begin?

I would like to continue to borrow other people's words by quoting my dining companion after he took his first bite of their burger "this place has some seriously grown up flavors!"

And he's right.

The menu is small. Bar plates (spiced nuts, frites, assorted cheeses and cured meats), crusts (pizza? flatbread? i didn't ask.) A smattering of entree's (mussels, burgers, lamb sausage-- i am guessing this changes seasonally).

Everything we ordered was fantastic, and well thought out.

To start I ordered the German speck and a buttery goat cheese (that the waiter recommended). This came with a few thick slices of baguette and some incredible peach vanilla compote, a balsamic berry jam, and spicy mustard. Fantastic, especially the peach vanilla compote.

Because we did not find this place, but went upon recommendation-- we both ordered the appropriately hyped burger. which comes with a bacon chive aioli, a fancy cheddar, and greens-- on a perfectly toasted bun.

Neither of us had a drink (although the beer/wine list was impressive. Many many pages!) so the bill was about $30 and change.

Four stars because there was no dessert on my menu. Booface.

Will definitely return. In conclusion, it was really hard to write this without making root puns.

the bristol is quite loud. in spite of this, they have won me over with the following menu items:

Raviolo, Ricotta, Egg Yolk, Brown Butter (which we drank, when we rant out of bread)
Monkey Bread Pull Apart, Dill Butter, Sea Salt  (the dill butter was also polished off, long after the bread disappeared) (with a spoon)
Bristol Burger, Cheddar, Pickles (w/ Duck Fat Fries, Garlic Aioli)

mc got the half chicken with spaetzle and mushrooms-- which he doesn't usually eat, but he cleaned the plate! He also didn't share a morsel, which is a pretty good sign.

I was really impressed by the dill butter, the lemon zest on the duck fat fries and the really nice waitstaff. Also we got there on a Thursday at around 8:30 and had our choice of table or bar, which was nice.

i was really unimpressed with the aforementioned loudness.

i'm unsure what inspired them to charge the same amount of money for both the monkey bread and the Goose Island Root Beer. but this is a gifthorse. next time i go, i'll probably just drink the dill butter with my menu items and ask for some water.

if i need it.

jam rules:

1. go on a wednesday, around 8am. be the only people in the restaurant.
2. enjoy the sounds of Rush and Zepplin, before they put on Coldplay for the weekday brunch crowd.
3. try not to be disappointed by their lack of specialty coffee drinks
4. forget about the coffee drinks when a little complimentary amuse bouche arrives at your table and it involves a tiny biscuit with fancy butter
5. order the savory buckwheat crepes with braised lamb and asian pear, or the panini cristo (very nice rendition of the monte cristo-- only with sauteed rapini, prosciutto and sweet mustard jam.
6. be relieved your dining buddy brought cash because it's cash only.
7. go next door to Sweet Cakes and pass the people who just cooked you breakfast.
8. buy your cash toting friend a cherry scone because those buckwheat crepes were satisfying but she DEFINITELY has room for dessert.
9. that's right, dessert. after an 11 dollar breakfast. on a wednesday morning.
10. skip lunch.

jam rules.

it's a block from my office. yikes.

i started simple. ordered a chocolate cafe con leche (which they won't make with almond milk-- i asked because i saw another menu item that was made with almond milk) and an all butter cocha.

i ordered the cocha because a) i was overwhelmed with options and
b) rick bayless twittered that he was most proud of the cochas and another pastry and so i figured i'd order the one that didn't have chocolate in it. since all of their coffee does.

the concha was better than any seashell pastry i've ever sampled at any local pasteleria.

the cafe con leche was perfect! not too sweet, not too temperature-hot to drink. it took some time to prepare, but luckily it was not slammed.

oh, but it will be.

those bitches can't make a latte to save their liffe.

but they don't charge you extra for avocado on your sandwich!
and their sunflower rye bread is pretty wonderful. so good i have
not had anything else. including any of their pastries. that good.

oh and they give you like FOUR slices of cheese on your sandwich.

isn't that excessive? i don't know. i guess it's good because i won't eat their turkey. it's slimy.

can't use your card without blowing 5 dollars. easy to do with a cheese sandwich and a drink. or chips. or a banana.

a few weekends ago i was walking home from the south loop (i live in logan square) because i had had a very large breakfast burrito, and nothing else to do.

i was taking my time getting home, shopping along the way. a few hours later i was suddenly very thirsty and right across the street from the matchbox.

i called two of my friends and went in, and ordered a water. and a makers mark, neat.  at some point my friends arrived and they ordered all of the items that involved the marinated fruit on the bar. each drink was a little better than the one before.

by around 4:30 i was drunk AND not thirsty anymore.

thanks, Matchbox! i love you.

My experience in 196 words:

Friendly server introductions with specials. Lovely bread basket and bacon butter hit the table and are destroyed. Carrot ginger soup with creme fraiche says "hello!"

Mrs. Murphy Corned Beef (if they name a dish after the restaurant you should probably order it) is put in front of me, along with roasted potatoes and sweet & sour cabbage. There is an incredible horseradish cream sauce on top of the beef that does not overpower a single thing on the plate.

I had the wrong drink menu, unfortunately, and they no longer have an item named "Hot Swede" -- a vodka that had several kinds of peppers marinating in it. It inspired a desire for a martini but most of the choices on the menu were sweet. so i had a regular dirty martini. and it came with blue cheese olives. Hi.

My dining companion wasn't that hungry so he got into the potato pancakes with salmon. And then helped me finish my extra large corned beef dinner.

Service was fantastic.

We were so busy feeding ourselves we forgot to feed the meter. It cost an extra $50 for the ticket.

Absolutely worth the dining experience. Exclamation points.