Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Brunch at Bistrot Margot

We recently stopped by the Old Town restaurant Bistrot Margot (1437 N. Wells) for brunch.  When we arrived at the restaurant on a Sunday at 11:30, it was quite busy.  We had made a reservation since we had a fairly large group and it was definitely necessary.  They take reservations through Open Table so it is easy to do and with kids it is always nice to know you won't have to wait.  The brunch menu at Bistrot Margot is very good.  As the name implies, the food is French.  Everyone in our group enjoyed what they ordered.  I had the quiche of the day (sausage, mushroom, and gruyere), which came with a salad of greens.  The quiche was quite enjoyable and the dressing on the greens was very good.  Most people at our table ordered breakfast items but there are quite a few lunch type items on the menu as well.  My husband had a croque monsieur served with frites that he really enjoyed.  The food items all ranged in the $7-$14 range, which seemed completely appropriate since the food portions were large.  The kids menu included pancakes, french toast, chicken fingers, and a few other items that I can't recall.  My favorite item on the kids menu was steak frites, which is what I would love for my kids to order at a french bistro but of course they got pancakes.  The kids portion was two quite generously sized pancakes that came with whipped cream, strawberries, and blueberry sauce and one sausage.  It  was so much food that neither girl came close to finishing her meal and, had I known, I would have only ordered one serving for both of them to share.  Brunch is available on Saturdays and Sundays from 10-3. 

There were a few other kids dining while we were in the restaurant but in that neighborhood you definitely get less families out for brunch on a Sunday.  We didn't feel at all out of place with kids, however.  The hostesses were very nice giving our daughters crayons to color on the white paper on our table and they graciously found a place to store our stroller since it was raining outside. 

Parking can be difficult in this neighborhood but there is meter parking along Wells and I believe free parking along LaSalle if you can find it.  The Sedgwick stop on the Brown Line gets you pretty close to the restaurant and the Clark and Division stop on the Red Line isn't too far away if you don't mind walking a few blocks.

It was really nice to be able to take our kids out to a place that was a little more upscale than our normal brunch spots and still feel completely comfortable being there.