The Mandatory Chicago Brunch

If you live in Chicago, I’m SURE you’ve heard about the Chicago Athletic Association. It’s definitely earned it’s place as a Chicago hotspot in the past 9 months since it opened, but once the initial hype died down, my desire to go also declined a little bit. Expensive dinner prices and long waits to get into Cindy’s Rooftop didn’t sound all that appealing… but I’m here to tell you, none of those excuses apply for brunch. I actually don’t think you have ANY excuse not to go for brunch! The food is amazing and reasonably priced because most of it is served family style – plus it all takes place in their gorgeous dining room, which is even MORE gorgeous in the daylight.

And then there’s the view!! I don’t think anyone is overhyping the fact that this is one of the most magical views in all of Chicago. I mean… how pretty?!?!

Now before we dive in to brunch, I want to point out the fact that even though I brought my camera to brunch, most of these pictures were taken by my super talented friends Kelly and Maya – their photos were better than mine. Woops 🙂

We kicked off our girls brunch with drinks and the Salt & Pepper Biscuits. These were seriously some of the best biscuits I’ve ever had, especially with the spicy honey and/or homemade jam. Holy YUM.

I’ll admit, it took us a while to figure out what we were going to order, especially once we all had biscuits and drinks in hand. You get me, Jenn, Kit, Blair, Shaheen, Jess, Maya, Erin, Emily and Kelly together and we could chat for hours. Which is exactly what we did! A normal “brunch with girlfriends” turned into a 4 hour afternoon, complete with outfit photos after. And I’m not complaining ONE. BIT.

Moving on to the food! Turns out, they are not messing around with their french toast. First of all, this is how big an order is, so YES it is meant to share! Second of all, it’s made with cinnamon raisin brioche! If that wasn’t enough, they top it with vanilla creme fraiche, caramelized pineapple and maple syrup on top. Ummm, okay I guess I’ll have a bite.

My favorite thing we ordered was (hands down) the chilaquiles. I’m a sucker for chilaquiles anytime they’re on a menu, but some are definitely better than others. Just based on the presentation alone, I knew these were going to be good – and I was right! The sauce was delicious, the eggs were cooked perfectly, and the dish had just the perfect amount of spice.

Uh oh, now I’m hungry…

Okay okay, so I’ve convinced you to go to Cindy’s, right?! Now you need a reservation! We got ours through the DINE app, which was super easy. I downloaded the app for this brunch, and I’ve actually used it a ton since. You can search for restaurants by neighborhood, cuisine or special feature; but they also have lists curated by their editors’ which come in handy when you need a recommendation that you can trust (instead of sifting through millions of reviews – the worst).

Have you been to Cindy’s Rooftop?! A few of my other favorite brunches are in this post, but am I missing any? Which ones are your favorites?!