Cute spot near my hotel! I dined in by myself and ordered an iced latte as well as the beet juice. The iced latte was made to perfection. This is very rare whenever I order from a sit down restaurant. The beet juice was very fresh and it was a pretty decent portion of juice. I ordered a build your own omelette with veggies and chicken chorizo and paired it with fruit and hash browns. It was a huge portion of food and I left with my belly full! The service started to get a bit slower towards the end and I waited a few minutes to find a server to pay for my meal, but other than that everything was great! read more

See all

Food is your typical breakfast food, but conveniently located next to hotels downtown. Food isn't bad, but still quite baffled by the 20%+ suggested tips without much service provided and receipts that ask for another additional 5% tips after you pay.... read more

Meli Cafe - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Brunch was very good. Our waitress was prompt while it took a couple of minutes to get our food as they were busy. The atmosphere was just fine for a breakfast place. Having it connected to the Hotel Blake is a real convenience, especially when it's blowing and cold.... We had coffee, tea, eggs, and toast, and we were quite pleased with brunch. I would recommend it, especially because you don't have to go outside!! read more

(Kari's Rating 8.5/10) As someone is not a huge breakfast person, I actually love Meli's Café. I used to come here a lot more when I lived down the street. They have a really good build your own omelette, I usually do the Denver omelette and I always get their seasonal potatoes. They don't take reservations, so if you do go on a Saturday or a Sunday brunch, be prepared to wait a little bit. This food is definitely worth it, it's also nice if you wanted to just grab a coffee and a bagel and not do a sit down. River River North prices, this place is very reasonable and gives you a lot of food. Hoping to come back again soon! read more

Phenomenal breakfast! I came here with some friends of mine who raved about this place. They said they come here often and everything they've tried has been delicious, and they were right! We came for a late Sunday brunch and although they were busy, they were able to seat us right away. All of the staff were so friendly and welcoming! I ordered an iced late to start that was high quality and delicious yet simple. For food, I couldn't decide between something sweet and savory so I got both! I had the banana bread french toast and breakfast tacos. The banana bread french toast blew my mind! What a creative concept that was so beautifully executed! I'm not even a french toast lover but these are a must try! The breakfast tacos were very good, too! Both hit the spot and made for great leftovers. I highly recommend this gem in south loop! read more

Meli Cafe - Banana Bread French Toast - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

I'm torn about this place. I've eaten here twice. The first time it was really good and the second time it was not. The first time, I ordered the Shakshuka and it was quite tasty and the poached eggs were perfect. The second time, I had the breakfast tacos and they were really dense, lacking flavor, the components were stuck together, and the tortillas were soggy and falling apart. My friend ordered the Tofu Scrambler and didn't like it, and she's not a picky person. It was basically just veggies and tofu mixed with a marinara sauce. She thought it was really bland. She and I loved the iced chai tea latte was very tasty. And we really liked the beet juice too. Both times I received excellent service. The service is definitely consistent. Everyone is very friendly and attentive here. Indoor and outdoor seating. Cute cafe. A bit warm inside. Located in the same building as Hotel Blake. The decor is really lovely, especially the chandeliers. Bright space, lots of natural light. read more

See all

I'm not impressed. The outdoor seating is very cute and quaint so that's what drew me to it. Indoor just feels sticky if that makes any sense. The lox Benedict is awful. It has the TINIEST piece of salmon I've ever seen. I know places are cheap but this is just bad I got the bowl with zucchini. No seasoning and the potatoes were soggy The egg is ok read more

Meli Cafe - Farmland Bowl 4/10 - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Food, drinks, & service was amazing! I had the crème brûlée french toast and it was delicious. Perfect brunch spot, highly recommend. read more

Meli Cafe - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I came here a couple of weeks ago with some friends and it was really nice. The service is a bit slow but the food is flavorful. It can get hot in the restaurant. I got the special which was the lamb shakshouka. It was super flavorful and really worth it in my opinion. It is a super cute place for a date. read more

Meli Cafe - lamb Shakshouka - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I was hoping for better. Perhaps coming in when it was slow meant folks weren't on their game. The service was decent. Very friendly, but slow once our order was taken. The food was just ok. Pancakes themselves were good but there were -so- many nuts it was hard to eat. The bacon was overcooked which gave it a burnt flavor. I'll have to try it again when it is a bit busier. I love the location and the room is nice, so I want to like it and hope I caught them on an off day. read more

Quick and efficient service. Friendly staff and food was delicious. I ordered the classic eggs benedict and it hit the spot! read more

Meli Cafe - Menu - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Gluten free French toast was disgusting. We decided to go here since we seen a hand full of TikTok videos hyping this breakfast place up. Unfortunately it was a disappointment and breakfast is hard to mess up. There was just something missing everything was bland. Our service was not great either. My French toast didn't arrive till after my food was ate. My favorite part was the chai tea latte. However they did not charge us for the French toast or my mom's food as she did not like it either, which was appreciated! read more

See all

Stopped in for breakfast and it was okay overall. The food was fine and the service was fine as well, but nothing really stood out as exceptional. It's an average spot, but not somewhere I'd go out of my way for. read more

Meli Cafe - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This was a fantastic place for a lovely brunch with friends. We all thoroughly enjoyed our dishes and the waitstaff were equally fantastic as well. I had the cobbler crepes (fresh fruit and granola) it was beautifully presented and one of the best crepes I've ever had. My husband had an omelette he loved and an English muffin with orange marmalade. The muffin and marmalade both appeared to be homemade. After eating we sat and enjoyed an extra cup of coffee, the ambiance and each other's company. read more

Tasty generous breakfast. Good service. Bright clean restaurant. Smack dab in the middle of Printers' Row, we chose the Meli Cafe on Dearborn for a family breakfast for six. The friendly efficient staff accommodated us easily at a circular table overlooking the window tables. The room is brightly decorated with large modern ornate chandeliers. There's a good number of outdoor tables, too. And the adjoining modern hotel lobby serves as a waiting room, with clean card-restricted restrooms off to the side. (You borrow the card from the restaurant's reception desk.) On a Saturday at 8:45am, we had only a 5 or 10 minute wait for a table. We had a pair of classic eggs Benedicts, each a soft-poached egg on an lightly toasted fresh English muffin, with a moderately thin circle of Canadian bacon, well-sauced with a rich flavorful hollandaise. They were accompanied by Meli's hashbrowns of which they are rightly proud, shredded potatoes well-grilled for a sturdy crispiness over tenderness. We added a generous plate of lightly powdered-sugared fluffy buttermilk pancakes, softly-scrambled eggs, thin sweet smoked Applewood bacon, and more of those perfect Meli's breakfast potatoes, and added a generous bowl of juicy sweet pineapple chunks, kiwi disks, and seedless red grapes. We added a side of tasty sausages. One of us went for egg-white poached eggs with well-flavored turkey sausages and those lovely hashbrowns. And the staffed seemed pleased when I chose the shakshuka bowl: two lightly-poached eggs in a rich flavorful lightly-spiced sauce of plum tomatoes, onions, peppers, and garlic, lightly sprinkled with soft feta, served with crispy lightly-toasted quartered pita. We had fresh tasty coffee and tea, and a hot bold double espresso. The room was lovely. Servings were large enough for the adults to share with children, and we all had a satisfying breakfast, efficiently served, at a reasonable price. read more

See all

We order the steak breakfast. It comes with hash, eggs and toast and a side of their seasonal fruit. The service is great. Very attentive and accurate. It has a nice bar,booths and tables with some flat screens across the restaurant. It can be slightly noisy but on a Sunday it's great. Football, mimosas and good food. read more

This place is delicious!! Coffee was some of the best I've had in Chicago. The scrambled eggs are super fluffy. Service is great and always refilling our water and coffee. The dinning room is so much nicer than I was expecting it to be. Would for sure some back! read more

See all

While initially, the menu was not very enticing, the food we ordered ended up being very good. read more

See all

We came in here for the first time ever for brunch with some friends, and we were happily surprised to see this cafe has a beautiful interior and is actually Greek as well. We started with some of the Greek donuts, which were amazing and similar or churros, and our group got a variety of things including chicken and waffles (amazing, even slightly savory), gf polenta pancakes (little dry but good), croissant sandwich (great), crepes (amazing), and an egg white scrambler (really good, although would call this more of a frittata). The staff was a bit slammed but they were nice and the food came out quick. The atmosphere is really nice here and we'd love to return to this location or one of their other ones nearby! read more

See all

Meli Café was such a nice, upscale spot for breakfast. We ordered the breakfast tacos and the crème brûlée French toast, and both were absolutely amazing. The service was great, and the atmosphere really stood out--very clean, elegant, and welcoming for a breakfast place. I would definitely come back again the next time I'm in town. read more

I came here to have brunch with friends to celebrate my belated birthday. I've always wanted to try Meli café because I've heard a lot about them and they have many location locations around Chicago. We came here around 1 PM on a Saturday and there were plenty of seats at the restaurant. This location is actually really nice inside because you get to look outside the window, no matter where you really sit. I ordered the breakfast quesadilla and meli's sunrise for the drink. I thought the drink was really refreshing, sweet and good for a Chicago spring season kind of drink. When I saw the quesadilla, I was shook because it was huge. I definitely barely finish half of it and had to take it to go just to eat it the next day for breakfast. You're really getting your moneys worth at this place because of the portion you get for the amount you pay. This will definitely be one of my go to brunch place with friends because it is just simple yet good breakfast food. Overall, I had a great time in definitely will visit again. read more

Meli Cafe - Breakfast Quesadilla - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

I came here for lunch with co-workers. The food was reasonably priced and filling. The restaurant was clean and pretty big (so I'd be shocked if you needed a reservation unless it's a Sat or Sunday brunch.) The server could've checked in more to ensure we were good. All in all no complaints; I would come back again for breakfast or lunch. read more

Went in around lunchtime on a Thursday afternoon. The restaurant itself was very well decorated and very clean. There was a lot of space for seating. I was sat for one very fast and I got three menus. One of the menus is the regular one, another for drinks like juices and lattes, and one last piece of paper that stated their specials. I decided to get something off their special menu, I don't remember the name, but it had a medium rare steak on top of some crispy hash browns with an egg on top. The steak itself was cooked well, and the entire dish was well balanced. The hash-browns really soaked up all of the steak's sauces. The steak also came pre-sliced a bit. It was a good portion for me, and I finished all of the steak and egg, leaving some of the hash browns. I liked this, it was a 7/10 for me. I also got a juice off the drinks menu, it contains mango, pineapple, and orange. I usually like these kind of favors, but I think the one of fruits was not ripe or something and I can't really taste mango in this either. I don't like this drink. It was a 3/10. Server was nice and attentive. Overall, it was a good experience, I paid 45 dollars including tip and tax. read more

Meli Cafe - Streak Special, not sure of the name anymore - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

Just a regular breakfast spot. We were staying in the hotel it's connected to so we got it to go. We ordered a bacon, cheese, and egg sandwich on sourdough, a waffle, and a side of bacon. We felt the items were overpriced but the food was good for being able to walk away with a to go order from a quick place. Sandwich - huge! I gave half to my fiancé but it was good. Very fluffy eggs which I really like. Waffle - eh, nothing special about it. Bacon - side of bacon was cold when we ate it which wasn't long after we walked away from the restaurant because we ate in our room and again they are connected. So we were bummed about that. read more

The server was very friendly, it was clean, prices was right. The food comes out hot & fresh. It is very tasty. I would come back.

I was staying at the Hotel Blake for a work trip and decided to grab breakfast at Meli cafe since it's connected to the hotel itself. Unfortunately, it was the wrong choice. McDonald's would've been a better choice, honestly. First impression was the looks of the place. It seemed like a nice cozy place for breakfast, but I ordered to bring it up to my room. The girl who took my order didn't seem to want to be there. After I ordered, she told me it would only be 10 mins and I could sit in the lobby and they'd bring it out to me. Closer to 15 mins, I went back in to ask about my order since I had to go back up to get ready to leave (also checking out as well). Right when I came back in, the girl looked annoyed, and I had to ask her to check on my order since the only thing she said was my order wasn't ready yet. Overall, already a bad experience and I hadn't even seen the food yet. Anyway, I'm a sucker for biscuits and gravy. This one was very disappointing. The gravy itself was SUPER salty. It was hard to eat with how much sodium was in it. Even trying to scrape most of it off, it was still very salty. The hashbrowns were decent and it was basically the only thing I ate before tossing the entire thing :( Also, there was a 3.5% surcharge I knew NOTHING about. It's on the receipt but as a takeout order, I didn't look super closely at the receipt until I was waiting for my order. It states they would remove it if asked but how am I suppose to ask if I've already been charged and signed for it? I'm only in Chicago once a year for work so I'm not sure if this was a normal thing for customers to pay to support the rising costs or not. I was overall so disappointed and unhappy with this whole experience and I would definitely not recommend this place to anyone. read more

Meli Cafe - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

See all

I stopped by here for a quick breakfast between my meetings and I had a great experience from the waitress who was quick to attend my request. I was seated very quickly since it was morning time, she took my order and the food coming out fast and fresh. The Irish Benedict was delicious and the hash brown was flavored and crispy. I would definitely return for another visit. read more

Meli Cafe - The Irish Benedict - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Came here for a weekday brunch date and it was absolutely delicious. Also rather quiet during the week as well too. I got a strawberry salad and added salmon to it which was absolutely delicious. read more

See all

This place is great and every time we stay in the city we go here for breakfast. The food, service and ambiance is always great.

We had breakfast. The menu was widely wried with some interesting spins on typical dishes. The service was great. Ambiance was casual.

Cute brunch place in South Loop in Chicago. Located inside the hotel, it is small and cozy but popular. Clean with good menu and friendly staff. The only down side is it's size as it is rather small. I had avocado toast on my last day in Chicago, and service was good and fast. Thanks to my server Milica! Friendly and efficient! Menu is pretty good and just about everyone will find something good on it! read more

See all

I had ordered a omelette it was overcooked! If you're a chef your NEVER supposed to toast ANY omelette. The waitress was irritated when I was telling her how I wanted my omelette cooked. However the restaurant has a nice French style design. read more

Undercooked, cold, overpriced food. When you tell the server, they say 'sorry' and that's it! Save your money, McDonald's has better food and service! read more

Love this place! Came here on Sunday around noon and was able to get a table for 2 no problem! It's a cute little diner and service was speedy! Food was out in minutes! I had a vanilla iced latte with oat milk, this was surprisingly delicious! To eat I had the breakfast tacos with well down hash browns. The hash browns were still very soggy. The breakfast tacos are sooooo good, but they are HUGE!!! They were 3 regular size tacos! I could only eat one, I would recommend splitting with someone! Overall great time, cant wait to come back! read more

Great, reliable brunch spot. There's almost always a wait, so definitely go earlier. There's a large selection of brunch items, so there should be something for everyone. The shakshuka is my fave, incredibly flavorful and delightful. If you're looking for a new brunch place, add this place to your list! read more

Great breakfast spot! Nice views of downtown and very comfortable seating. Food was delicious and well made. Also came out pretty quickly. Our server Melica was incredibly kind and gave good recs on food. Would love to come back. read more

Meli Cafe - English Muffin sausage scrambled eggs hash brown - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Great place to eat breakfast in Chicago. Several different options to choose from. We made two trips. I had the maple butter pancakes and the biscuits and gravy. Both were really good. My wife had the gluten free crepes twice. She raved about them. Enjoyed their wonderful mocha on visit one and a nice peach mimosa on visit two. My wife liked her coffee so much she order another to go. Close to transportation options and seemed to be some pay to park options nearby. Our waitress was excellent too. The space is a good size. Always seemed busy but not overcrowded. Can be noisy but not loud. Our table on the first day had a nice skyline view. read more

Meli Cafe - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The service was good and the various mimosa options were good. However, the food left a lot to be desired. The yoke wasn't runny in my poached egg. The food wasn't very hot and the hash browns were not very seasoned. read more

Meli Cafe - New American Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Always the Food is Excellent as the Service. But my most recent visit, @500 S Deaborn, I Witnessed the Supervisor in the kitchen Screaming at a Female staff , she was Shaken and Cried . It was sad to see, I lost my appetite. It was a Pityful site. I felt sick to my stomach , I wrapped my food and left. This was disheartening Sad. SHOCKING read more

Pros- good food Good decor Cons-staff is unfriendly. -Staff including the manager have a total meltdown if you ask for separate bills. -Require an extra "convenience fee" for billing and undisclosed expenses by management. -charged gratuity on a bill for two people of 15% -say they close at 3pm, but by 2:10 they are closing the place down. Will not be returning!!! read more