Milk & Honey Cafe

I've been here several times and I've always enjoyed it. I love the outdoor patio space, and the fact that its dog friendly. This place is always packed, but that isn't their fault. It's just really good.

You order at the counter and they bring the food out to your table when it's ready. Service is always really quick (once you can actually order and find a table) and I love the coffee and chai lattes. The food is great, especially for the price. The waffles, french toast and pancakes I've sampled have all been stellar. Oatmeal is good but not comparably as good as the other items I have had, but who could expect it to be.

If you are going for a weekend breakfast, go early!

Just walking around the neighborhood and stopped at the first place we passed to have breakfast (not an awesome idea in hindsight). The counter service was stiffly cordial at best and at worst it was mildly rude and unwelcoming. I just chalked it up to busyness, they weren't quite to capacity though and there was no wait (it was a Monday morning about 11 AM). But the only time you're interacting is when you're ordering food so whatever. Just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The food came pretty quickly and was neither good nor bad. It just was. Nothing memorable nothing offensive. The coffee was meh, the food was meh, the service was less than meh. I'd give 2.5 stars if I could but I'll round up to 3, it had a nice bright breakfast/brunch ambience working for it.

My friend Megan and I go a few months without seeing each other, so it was a delight that we decided to meet up at Milk & Honey for a late Sunday brunch. I'm all for brunch foods, so this place was heaven and here's why:

Arriving:
We arrived close to 1pm on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It was my first time dining at Milk & Honey, so I had no idea what to expect. I was surprised to find a long line extending from the counter to the door. Instead of ordering at your table, you order everything at the counter (including coffee and drinks), then they give you a number, seat you when a table becomes available, and bring the food out right away. It was a bit unconventional, but I didn't mind.

Food:
I ordered the Orange Brioche French Toast with Almonds and Maple Syrup - it was heaven in my mouth. Two large slices of bread covered in magic with a hint of orange and with the crunchiness of the almonds made it one of the best french toasts I've ever had. When I've ordered french toast at other places, it's usually soggy. This was not the case at M&H - it was soft, yet toasted.

Service:
Although we did not have a waiter, there was a host walking around making sure everything was being enjoyed. We were unsure if the coffee refills were complimentary, so when we asked he politely grabbed our cups and gave us more. He was very friendly.

In short, the wait CAN be a bit long, but ti's definitely worth it. It's inexpensive, DELICIOUS, and a great place for a nice brunch. I highly recommend it.

Milk & Honey was good, but not great.

We walked in and ordered and were seated pretty quickly. I had the Turkey Reuben and others at my table enjoyed the Huevos Rancheros and the Breakfast Panini. The huevos rancheros looked delicious and made me wish I like eggs. My Turkey Panini was good. Our food came very quickly and the service was fine.

I think the reason I give Milk & Honey 3/5 stars is that it's just not my kind of place. I think brunch should be a relaxing and enjoyable mood. The moment you walk into Milk & Honey you are rushed to order as there is a crowd of people in line. They also make you get your own coffee, water, silverware, napkins, etc. Part of the enjoyment of brunch is being served. They also have a sign on the wall encouraging patrons NOT to take their time on the weekends so other people can sit down.

There's nothing wrong with Milk & Honey but it's just not my kind of place.

Best home-made dill pickles this side of Atlantic.
Period.

The food deserves four stars, but this place is outta control.

It seems to have become a favorite of parents who think discipline stifles their kid's self-esteem. I don't mind stepping around a stroller or two, but come on. It is never the right time to listen to someone else's kid scream its lungs out, but especially not on a Sunday morning before I've ingested any coffee. I know this isn't technically Milk and Honey's fault, but the clientele they tend to attract is worth noting.

There's also no structure to the ordering process. They seem to have twenty people behind the counter, but no hostess directing people where to wait. The counter service seems to throw some people for a loop, especially when they get busy and there's just a mass of people standing in the middle of the dining room waiting to order.

If you think of this place as a coffee shop with delicious food and coffee, you're not likely to be disappointed. Relaxing brunch, though, it ain't.

I am a sucker for weekend brunch, and I always request to go here when I visit my friend who lives in Wicker Park..... very much an MMMMM breakfast. Great coffee, and the panini breakfast sandwich is excellent.

The only downside is the layout of the restuarant. They make you wait in the corner where the waiters have to walk through and you feel very much in the way. That said, at least you get to order right away, so your food is being made while you wait!

I think I'll have to come back here for breakfast because I wasn't that impressed. Maybe it was because I was totally exhausted when I came in with a group of friends after a fun weekend but it didn't wow me.

I had the Grilled Chicken with Bacon, Lettuce, Roasted Plum Tomatoes and Bleu Cheese Spread on Ciabatta. It was alright, I thought the chicken was kind of dry. My friend always gets on my case when I order a chicken sandwich at a place I've never been too, but it's what I wanted.

I did order the Pesto with Pine Nuts though as a side and that was pretty awesome. The lemonade I had was really tart and I loved every minute of it. My friends had the Smoked Turkey Reuben with Sauerkraut, Swiss and Dressing on Rye, it was alright, but nothing to rave about. The food kind of reminded me of Corner Bakery.

They also had some really good looking deserts, cookies, cupcakes and such so I will have to try those the next time I'm in.

I've come to the conclusion, that the main draw of this place is the breakfast because the lines are down the block on the weekends.

It's really cute on the inside though, but there's not a lot of space to sit which is a downfall but the fireplace is a nice touch. I will say, the girl at the counter wasn't too friendly, but maybe she was just having a bad day.

My opinion, breakfast may work better than the lunch menu.

I wanted to really like this place, I've passed it on numerous occasions on my way to KChula which is down the street. I always see people waiting in line and I've always said to myself, "Self, I need to try this place"....and yesterday I did....

After a failed attempt to eat at another popular restaurant (long story), I ended up at Milk & Honey, remembering my note to self above. We got there right before breakfast ended, so my mom ordered the breakfast panini. My daughter and I ordered lunch- me, the crab cake sandwich and my daughter the grilled cheese.

The grilled cheese was bomb.com. I should have ordered that...because that crab cake sandwich was spicy and flavorless. I didn't even finish one half of the sandwich. Best thing about this place were the huge chocolate chip cookies. Also, try the oatmeal, cherry and toffee cookie...to die for and totally worth the $2.42.

I must say that I might be adding one star to my review purely because I got to sit next to the fireplace (oh fireplaces how you seduce me and mess up my yelp reviews so). Even so, this place is great!

First, I am extremely picky about my lattes, most times I don't even order them in a restaurant because they never taste that great, but this was as good as I've had in any coffee shop ever.

Second, even though I had read all about how to order and sit I was still totally confused when I walked in. Everyone there was super nice and helpful and never made us feel stupid.

Third...the food! My friend Annie ordered the pancakes du jour and I got the truly amazing avocado and romaine sandwich. The avocado was really ripe and fresh so it didn't come sliding out of the sandwich in one piece making it impossible to eat, yeah.

Also I really like these little places where you end up basically sitting next to strangers. We met a really cute couple and got to talk to to them about our favorite brunch spots. I just think that it's neat and serves of a reminder that most people in this city are truly nice and fun to talk to.