The wait was crazy! We had brunch on Sunday our food took 30 min we had jabrito sandwich and rice nothing special but our order took longer then it should read more

I've been to Nellie's twice and both times have been very pleased with the food. My first time I had the breakfast special (think it's called the Nellie breakfast combo) which came with a generous portion of puerto rican oatmeal and a big omelet with plantains (ma duro). Both were delicious and definitely will fill you up (it was almost to much to finish)! The 2nd time I went I did the lunch buffet which had pollo frito (fried chicken), papa relleno (a potato with awesomeness inside), and I think there was both types of rice but I had my usual arroz blanco y habichuelas (white rice , kidney beans). All of it was great too. The prices are very reasonable and the staff is nice but can be slow at times which is why I did 4 instead of 5 stars. read more

Avena de coco is delicious! Ordered the Nellies Special which was great, the sweet plantain was different, but good! I also took a few bites of The El Coqui sandwich which was also great...no complaints on my end. Will definitely be coming back to try out the brunch buffet they have on the weekends! read more

"Best scrambled eggs I've had in years"' is how my son, Kevin, and fellow reviewer rated the moist, well textured staple. I had the buffet which included a made to order omelet, flan, plantains, bacon and sausage, french toast, waffle sections, a native Puerto Rican casserole-like dish, fruit, the coconut oatmeal, potatoes, coffee and orange juice ( and why can't I lose those 10 pounds?) Others had individual plates that all came from the buffet area. Everyone had only good things to say. $70.00 with a good tip for 5 adults. Friendly server, Cindy, kept the coffee cups full. We made reservations for Sunday at 12 noon and only had to wait 10 minutes to be seated. Only negative: no booze but that's another story and my problem...had a taste for a bloody mary or mimosa. read more

Not all that impressed. The service was bad (I'll be nice) we waited a while before someone came over and took our order. Let's put it this way, we waited so long that we had to ask another waiter to get our drinks. The food was ok. I ordered the breakfast jibarito. The plantains were soggy so I only ate half and then just what was in the inside of the other. It came with a small avena de coco which I was super thrilled to have and that was short lived bc when I got it it was cold so didn't enjoy it. I will say, I will give it another try if I'm ever back in Chicago. read more

Went there to eat on Sunday with a friend of mine and we had the best service, the best food, and such a great time! EVERYTHING is so good there! If you like good food with good flavor, you will LOVE this place!!! read more

I went there before noon today and I asked the lady do I sit myself down and she said no they well sit your down. Then they took a long time in getting my order and I never got water to drink and also had to ask the man for my order of food after that it was maybe 12:27 Pm too keep on waiting then once I got my food they forgot my fries were cold and then my drink had to ask for it also . I told one of the lady's there that I was going to call her manger and tell him they need more people we're waiting more then 1 hour for there food . I wasn't happy at all won't be going back at all they need more people helping out also . read more

They were out of chicharrón, fruit was not fresh at all, water poured all over, dry omelet, and sword their orange juice was freshly squeezed when it obviously was not. It's sad to see how this place has changed. The oatmeal continues to be delicious. read more

I personally don't like oatmeal. Until I came to Nellie's, one taste of their coconut oatmeal and you'll be in heaven. Absolutely wonderful puerto rican breakfast which consisted of sweet plaintains and a delicious cheesy omelet with ham and veggies. The cafe con leche wasn't bad either. read more

AVENA DE COCO... That is, if you happen to be in like or in love & absolutely obsessed with the warm, stick to your stomach, full of flavor (that scream "Caribbean") coconut infused absolutely AH-mazing oatmeal, then THIS my Yelp! Friends is your place to go. And mine to say the least. P.S. Go for the Avena but visit the buffet while you are here, you will not be disappointed. read more

Nellie's Restaurant is in the Heart Of Humbolt Park! and is one of my Favorite!!! Places to eat for Breakfast or Brunch I go all the time after church . The Food is The best !! Puerto Rican/Carribean Breakfast ever! and the Customer Service is superb soo Friendly!! and Fast and you also have the option to B.Y.O.B The cook there named Victor is Amazing!!!! I Highly!! Recommend this Restaurant to my Family and Friends ANYTIME!!!! read more

Although it took some time to gather our meal, they forgot bacon, oatmeal, toast and catchup, once we got it, the food was excellent and very generous portions. Oatmeal is worth raving about, delish, not thick, nice gentle texture and amazing flavor, aromatic almost. We sat next to a large table and acoustics in this place is so terrible that we couldn't hear each other at all. Once most people left the place we could resume the conversation. I'm still not reducing the stars in this review because our breakfast was worth it. They had buffet on Saturday too but we found ordering off the menu is plenty food. read more

Coconut oatmeal. Good god. It is amazing. I needed to a dedicate a paragraph to that. Onward, had breakfast there a few times and the food is definitely good. Great sandwiches, egg based dishes, and awesome sweet plantains. The service the last time was a bit slow so hopefully they can take this as feedback and try to work on that. I'd definitely recommend a stop by. Why not? Easy parking, no waiting, good food. read more

I've only been here for breakfast, so I can't comment otherwise, except that it always smells nice during non-breakfast hours. I think we'd be looking at 3-stars if it weren't for the unbelievably good oatmeal. So, so good. Never thought oatmeal could get me like that. Other than that, I feel like the buffet is a bit overpriced and the a la carte items I've had were middling. Garlic powder in an omelet makes me cry ) : Really nice folks, too! read more

Stopped in for breakfast, and instead of the waitress telling us the buffet was in the back if we wanted to choose that, she literally showed us what each item was. The arroz con gandules was amazing as was the coconut oatmeal. Such a friendly place, I definitely recommend a stop here! read more

We redeemed my Groupon here for a Friday lunch. It was a pretty cool day, and I was surprised that they wouldn't turn up the heat a bit more considering my sister and a couple other people left their coats on. I felt rather cool myself without my coat and was rubbing my arms to keep warm. We placed our order and didn't get our food until 45 minute later, which was very surprising to have the waitress come back to tell me that they were out of the yellow rice with Pigeon peas. I have to wonder how they decided who got to have the remaining, since I did give her my order before my sister and this guy that came in after us also got to have the yellow rice and his meal before us while I had to accept getting the white rice and beans unless I wanted to wait for them to cook more. This is quite ridiculous considering we got here for lunch at 12:20pm, how do you run out of a main staple item at a prime lunch time hour...? I can't believe it would also take so long to tell your customer that you ran out. The pork jibarito I had was quite small in terms of portion, and probably the smallest of all the Latin restaurants I have been to. Some bits of my pork were dry and crispy/sharp. I'd probably cross the street if I have another craving for a jibarito. read more

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First time in a Chicago and eating at Nellies has really made this experience much more exciting. The outside colorful decorations are a glimpse to what you see when you make your way inside, give you a homie feel. We had the brunch buffet which was packed with options and the staff kept the food coming. Every single food item is full with flavor! $16.99 and it came it's OJ and coffee :) its a must ! Thank you Nellies for the wonderful experience read more

Was there on 11/6/21 - Food was good ,but it took way too long to be served. The avena de coco is superb though.

$17 later....Ordered two breakfast sandwiches and the bread was hard as stone. Impossible to eat. In ordered a sandwich not toasted garlic bread. read more

Nellie's - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Super good!! I had the salchichon sopa, pastels and maduros. The soup was tasty and came with bread and butter.

I've been wanting to try Nellie's for some time and finally managed to make it over there with a friend today. When we first walked in we didn't know if we were supposed to seat ourselves or if someone was going to greet and seat us. After debating what we should do for a minute we just went and picked a place to sit. I totally thought it was going to be a small cafe or something but it was actually pretty big with ample space and great portrait art on the wall. I am a huge fan of breakfast food, however I failed to remember that my friend is not. This wasn't a problem being that they had ample breakfast and lunch Items on the menu. I ordered the Jibaro breakfast special which is an omelet with onions, orange & green peppers, tomatoes, cheese, and about six slices of sweet plantains on top. In addition to the omelet was about 4 slices of small toast, and of course the oatmeal which everyone has raved about in each review before this one. The coconut oatmeal with cinnamon sprinkled on top was pretty good, though I would have liked it to be a bit thicker. My friend had the vegetarian sandwich which she enjoyed but failed to tell them that she didn't want tomatoes. This resulted in her picking them off. It came on a flat bread and looked pretty yummy. In addition she ordered a side of arroz con gandules which I had to try. They were really good and she enjoyed it as well. We both enjoyed water and I had a cup of green tea. Now all this great food I would figure our bill to be about $22 or something, but naw...our bill was only $14 and some change not including tip. That is super cheap. Driving later and looking at the receipt I realized we did not get charged for the arroz con gandules which would have bumped our bill up to $17 which is still a great deal compared to some places I have been. I really liked the food, the service and the ambiance of Nellie's. I'll be back for sure. read more

Looove the plantains in the omelette! I've been here twice and both times I've gotten the Nellie's special. You can't go wrong with it. A cup of the coconut oatmeal, and an omelette with plantains in it (ingenious!) and you get a piece of bread with it too. If I remember correctly, they kept my coffee cup full. This can make or break a breakfast meal so bravo for that. It seems to be family run and they are pretty friendly but both times I've been here it has taken forever to get someone to come over to take our order. That's why I took a star off. Parking is easily found on Division. Will definitely be back. read more

We made Mother's Day reservations for what we thought would be a great meal. When we got there (7 minutes early), we were rushed to their upstairs area. It was chilly up there and we were seated on fold out chairs. Ok fine, we could do this, we were just hungry and wanted to eat. We were given their Mother's Day menus and decided to go with the buffet since it seemed to be a good variety of items. Opening the containers, there was hardly any food in each tray. We got to our table to eat and the rice was COLD (not warm) and the meat was COLD. We let our server know and he said they would bring more out. They didn't. Instead they reheated the burners that they had already turned off for the day (we had 2:30 reservations so I guess it was the end of their day). We then again asked for a new tray of hot food. Another employee brought out more rice in another tray... COLD again. They did bring out more meat that was hot and that was good. The pastelon was DRY. Not good at all. Then I receive a call from them on my cell phone as I'm trying to eat what I can on my plate.. they are telling me I had reservations at 2:30 and if I will still be attending because they will be closing soon???? I advised them that I was upstairs eating already. We basically didn't end up eating anything, in fact we ate lots of oatmeal which seemed to be the only warm thing. So we basically paid $22 each plate for oatmeal and a drink. Coffee was also cold, like it had been sitting out. Completely disappointed for a bad meal on a special occasion. read more

Maybe it's good for breakfast, but I came here for lunch and was not impressed... at all. I really do like the space, but the food was pretty gross. We had the mofongo as recommended by the server, and it was dry, flavorless and kind of disgusting. The "chicken" it was served with seemed like all the parts that were leftover after butchering and removing the good stuff, and it was fried within an inch of it's life. I'm guessing we got maybe 1 oz of meat off the entire plate. The mofongo also had chewy, inedible bits of fat mixed into it's dry texture, which turned my stomach. We also had maduros, which were tasty, but I've never found a sweet plaintain I didn't like, so that's not saying much. Again, the atmosphere is cute, and if I'd had a better experience with the food, I'd consider renting it out for parties. Unfortunately, after the food I tried, I won't ever risk going back. read more

Avena de Coco!!! I'm the type of person who prefers hot chocolate with milk, oatmeal with milk, everything with milk. I like it creamy. Add coconut milk to this oatmeal/porridge of sorts and it's a win-win situation. Honestly, I ate the cup so quickly it made me hungry for more. I ordered the first thing on the menu... Nellie's special or something like that. It pretty much encompassed everything you would want from the buffet for $9.50 instead of $15. It was a huge omelet with plantain, came with the coconut oatmeal, etc. The best part about the meal was the oatmeal though. Don't get me wrong, I ate the omelet but it didn't wow me. I love plantain so that was an exciting addition that I've never seen done before. Overall though, I'd only go back for the oatmeal! But that's not enough for me to rate it above a 3 sadly. read more

Authentic as can be. Come by for the buffet or you can just order off the menu, either way you'll enjoy anything. Good atmosphere and you'll definitely feel at home. read more

I haven't given a 5 star review in awhile, but Nellie's is really a spot that I see myself returning to again and again for many reasons. It's a small family owned business with friendly and attentive staff, not crazily crowded like most other top brunch spots. I've been seated right away both times I've been here. The Sunday brunch buffet is a GREAT deal - $12.95 for a buffet that includes made-to-order omelets (I'd recommend getting the spices in it and some giardiniera on top), plantains, bottomless cups of wonderful coconut oatmeal, waffles, french toast, home fries, coffee, fresh OJ, flan, fruit, bacon, sausage... The coconut oatmeal really is that good. The first bite is just "okay this is good," but the subsequent bites just get better and better. The flavor is really subtle, but so tasty. You definitely have to try it! And on your way out, grab a Dum Dum lollipop or two. For some reason, the Dum Dum makes the experience even better. I have yet to have lunch here, but I am sure it is just as delicious as breakfast. read more

After a late night, we were looking for a diner type place with quick service and no wait. Yelp suggested Nellie's so we decided to try it. It was exactly what we were looking for. Right before leaving, I found a groupon for $20, for $10. Perfect. We got there and did the buffet. Bacon, sausage, omelets, pancakes etc plus the coconut oatmeal everyone was raving about on yelp. All for $15. Everything was very good. Nothing outstanding, but it was exactly what we wanted. We were seated immediately and were eating within 5 min. read more

The Brunch Buffet at this place is excellent. As many have said, the Coconut Oatmeal is amazing. I would definitely recommend giving this place a try. Pros - Coconut Oatmeal, Very Friendly Service, Something Different Cons - No Cream for the Coffee, Milk only read more

This is definitely the place that I go to most often for breakfast. Nellie's is another mom-n-pop place in the heart of Humboldt Park. If you are looking for a good 'ole Puerto Rican breakfast place; you've found it! This is my Sunday after church spot that is ridiculously amazing! Food is great (*hat tips off* to Victor, the cook) and the service is good. That may be because I know the waitresses by name, but I have never had a bad experience. As for the food, the tortilla boriqua (omelette) is a-ma-zing! And the avena (coconut infused oatmeal)...to die for!!! The last time I went I asked if they had any bigger containers that they could serve the avena to me in. The waitress suggested the pot and I almost accepted! :) I *heart* Nellie's!!!!!! read more

You can't beat the price for the amount of food you get. For less than 20, you can get a bowl of arroz con gandules and a heap of lechon asado, a side of maduros and a cup of coffee. The service was okay. Only one person to take care of the front... she was friendly and only really came to he table to give us more coffee. the place was a little dead, but that's probably because we were there an hour before they closed. The food was okay... the arroz con gandules, though better than the regular rice and beans, was lacking. I haven't had arroz con gandules a lot, but my friends throw a kick ass pot luck dinner for thanksgiving every year, and there's always top notch arroz con gandules. Lechon asado started off juicy but then dried up half way through my meal. it made me wish I had a side of beans so my food wasn't do dry. It also reminded me a lot of Filipino lechon.... which then made me want mang tomas sauce, but a quick remedy for this is eating the lechon and rice with the maduros. I'm still glad to have tried nellies.. I didn't know Chicago had a mini Puertorico town! read more

They got some awesome food and pastries, but they drag a lot on serving you the food. I had just ordered one Ham sand cheese sandwich, which is just basic ham, cheese, and a few veggies. Yet it took at an hour for me to receive, while there weren't that many costumers. read more

Had mofongo with camarones and side of maduros (sweet plantains). The food is delicious and Tony (waiter) treated us superbly. I strongly recommend this place to all visiting the north side Chicago. You will not be disappointed and the cost is very reasonable. It is well worth the price and visit to this typical puertorriqueño restaurante. read more

Nellie's - At the front of Puerto Rican restaurant - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Okay food, bad service! I would have gone back again if the service was better. We were ignored when we walked in. We had to seat ourselves and then it took them at least 5 minutes to get us menus. Then when she took our order she seemed very annoyed by us. Treated us like we were stupid and gave us an attitude the entire time. Then the food came without my bread. By the way the wheat bread there, is white bread that is brown, it's bad. Finally when I went to go pay I had to walk up to the register to get my own check, when I got there she asked with an attitude, "what do I want?" I paid and we left right away. Overall food was okay, of course how can you screw up eggs & toast? But the service was horrible! As an end result we will never go there again!! If you are looking at this review, I would go to Bite (on Western and Augusta) instead who has great food, great service and good prices!! read more

Rich and satisfying meal. If you get something sweet, it's going to be very sweet. Something savory?? Probably infused with butter. With that said, the food was very rich. I'd recommend the traditional PR breakfast; it's something I haven't had at other breakfast/brunch spots. Going out to brunch for eggs doesn't impress me much, but these eggs did for some reason. The omelette was made with love I think. The meal balances itself out with the avena de coco. Decent prices. Service was slow, but not to the point where we didn't want to be there. read more

Had Sunday brunch at Nellie's today. For $15 per person, this is a real value. The buffet is small but most items are done well. In addition, the omelette station is a winner! The folks who work there are very nice as well. It feels like a family establishment and a neighborhood institution. It's a bit of a drive for me but I can see eating here a few times per year! read more

DEEEEEEEELISHHHHHH!! Came here with a few gf's on a last minute decision for brunch, and I had never been here before, but let me say I was very happy and so were my taste buds! Food was delicious.....next time I'm trying the buffet! The wait for a table wasn't long either! Definitely coming back real SOON! read more

This is truely a diamond in the rough. The food is fresh, authentic and all around delicious! The customer service is beyond comparing. I felt like I was at home with how approachable everyone was. One thing that you must try is their homemade oatmeal! Once you get a taste of this treat, your world will never be the same. If you are near or far and want to try a real authentic Puerto Rican meal, nellies is your destination! Besides, nellies is in the heart of Chicagos greatest Puerto Rican cultured neighborhood. read more

Nellie's is a warm neighborhood restaurant with a delicious and different coconut oatmeal and interesting art on the walls. I enjoyed the generous Nellie's Breakfast Special with a fluffy omelet and garlicky toast while my friend had thick slices of French Toast and a heaping side dish of bacon. The woman who took our orders was very competent but be prepared for somewhat young and inexperienced bus boys. read more

Nellie's - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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They take forever if you dine in. Better off ordering to go. Came by for a coffee and They're were cleaning so they didn't want to make it . Slow service bad service . Shame read more