Monteverde Launches Weekend Lunch & Five More New Brunches to Try

WEST LOOP — Chef Sarah Grueneberg may be calling it a “weekend lunch” rather than a straight-up brunch, but Monteverde will now be available during weekend afternoons with options like her Tigelle breakfast sandwich (two fried eggs, broccoli smear, fontina, dried cherry tomato, and optional mangalista peameal bacon) and a cheesy scrambled egg fonduta and egg yolk raviolo. The Eater 38 Italian restaurant weekend lunch menu is offered from 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. There’s also a mid-day menu from 3-4 p.m. before dinner starts before at 4 p.m. Take a peek at the weekend lunch menu below.

THE LOOP— Early Society is bringing the band of brothers from WHISK for a brunch pop-up throughout August. WHISK is the Ukrainian Village restaurant known for its obsession with bacon and Mexican twists. Items include WHISK favorites likes shrimp and grits and chicken and waffles. They’ll also have new dishes like huevos rancheros and achiote-glazed pork belly and pickled onion. WHISK has a relationship with Early Society’s Adolfo Garcia, as they took over Garcia’s Son of a Butcher space in Logan Square. If the pop-up is successful, brunch may be a fixture. Service goes from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday on Sunday through August.

ROGERS PARK — The beer-and-brunch trend continues at the new Empirical Brew Pub. This new menu offers a beer biscuit (made with their American wheat ale), stuffed French toast, and what the menu describes as “giant” cinnamon rolls. A $6 beermosa is among the new breakfast cocktails. The brunch menu is available Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

EAST VILLAGE — Sabroso, the Mexican restaurant and California transplant whose original location was featured on Diners, Drive-In and Dives has started a BYOB brunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The menu features Mexican classics like chilaquiles, as well as American standbys: French toast, pancakes, and oatmeal.

LAKEVIEW — The brunch scene on Broadway is already solid, but Maison Marcel, the newish French bakery, has thrown its croissants into the ring with a three-course brunch menu. It’s available from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m on weekends.

NORTHBROOK — Jar Bar, which is largely known for its jar-based menu (overnight oats, anyone?), is now offering a unique “Get Toasted” menu for breakfast/lunch. It has avocado and sweet potato toasts, each served in several varieties. The sweetest-sounding creation is called Pie for Breakfast, a gluten-free sourdough toast topped with mashed sweet potato, cashew ricotta, cinnamon and maple syrup.