Brunch Crawl: The Best Weekend Brunch in Wicker Park, West Loop and Lakeview

TL;DR Three Chicago neighborhoods do weekend brunch especially well. In Wicker Park, The Bongo Room and Dove's Luncheonette lead. In the West Loop and Fulton Market, Beatrix, Au Cheval, and Bandit deliver. In Lakeview's Southport Corridor, Southport Grocery and Little Goat are the picks. Here is the crawl.

Brunch is the Chicago weekend ritual, and a few neighborhoods have turned it into an art. The best part of renting in one of them is that the whole crawl is walkable. Here are three of the city's strongest brunch neighborhoods and exactly where to go.

Wicker Park and Bucktown

This is brunch country, anchored by a true institution.

The Bongo Room on Milwaukee is the headliner, famous for its over-the-top dessert-style pancakes and creative scrambles. It is casual and does not take reservations, so expect a wait and bring patience.

Dove's Luncheonette on Damen is the other must, a Michelin-listed counter doing Southern-meets-Tex-Mex with brisket hash and a tequila and mezcal bar, all to a soundtrack of vintage soul. For something with a Creole spin, Ina Mae Tavern does a lively weekend brunch with cocktails, and Cafe Robey inside The Robey hotel serves all-day brunch with a view over the six-corners.

West Loop and Fulton Market

The city's marquee dining district brings the same energy to the morning.

Beatrix in Fulton Market is the crowd-pleaser, with an in-house bakery, a coffee bar, and brunch staples like lemon pancakes and honey-butter cinnamon rolls. Reservations help.

Au Cheval on Randolph is the cult pick, serving what plenty of people call the best cheeseburger in America alongside all-day diner-style eggs. Bandit, also on Randolph, is the social option with bottomless mimosas and shareable plates, and Cira inside the Hoxton hotel does a polished weekend brunch in a soaring, fireplace-lit room.

Lakeview and the Southport Corridor

Lakeview's brunch heart is the Southport Corridor, a walkable strip of tree-lined storefronts.

Southport Grocery & Cafe is the neighborhood institution, famous for its bread pudding pancakes and cupcake pancakes, and it doubles as a specialty grocer. Little Goat Diner, Stephanie Izard's playful all-day diner, relocated here and brings inventive American breakfast and weekend brunch.

Coda di Volpe does a Southern Italian weekend brunch with Neapolitan pizzas in the mix, and Uncommon Ground over on Clark pairs organic brunch with a live-music listening room and its own brewery.

The brunch crawl, neighborhood by neighborhood

Neighborhood	Start here	Then try
Wicker Park	The Bongo Room	Dove's Luncheonette, Ina Mae
West Loop / Fulton Market	Beatrix	Au Cheval, Bandit, Cira
Lakeview / Southport	Southport Grocery	Little Goat, Uncommon Ground

How to do brunch right

A few tips make the morning smoother. The no-reservation spots like The Bongo Room and Au Cheval fill up fast, so go early or put your name in and walk the block while you wait. The Southport Corridor and Randolph Street are both compact, so you can grab coffee at one place and a table at another without moving the car.

And honestly, the walkability is the whole point. Living in one of these neighborhoods means brunch is a stroll, not a drive, every single weekend.

For more on these areas, see our guides to Wicker Park and Bucktown, the West Loop and Fulton Market, and Lakeview and Wrigleyville. Then browse current openings in your favorite brunch neighborhood and book a tour.

Hero image: Photo by Diva Plavalaguna on Pexels