April Brunch: Restaurant Beatrix

For our April brunch segment, we decided to go to Lettuce Entertain You's new Restaurant Beatrix. There has been a lot of buzz lately about the trendy vibes and healthy eats at Beatrix, so naturally we had to give it a try! Beatrix is located beneath the Aloft hotel on a trendy corner in River North, and as you can see the exterior is extremely chic. The interior is extremely expansive with a full bar, seating, and coffee bar! As soon as you walk in, you are immersed in the hip music, interesting furniture, and awesome artwork (props to the poster of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on the back wall!). One of our favorite aspects of the restaurant were the lighting fixtures. The ceiling was adorned in various different bulbs and lights that gave the entire place a very funky vibe. However, the restaurant was packed with families enjoying Saturday brunch, so the vibe was not overwhelmingly "hip" or pretentious. 

A note on service: Before we went to Beatrix, I spent some time researching it on Yelp and I did notice a few complaints about the service. Some people noted that it took a long time for their drink orders to be taken. Unfortunately, we experienced this firsthand. We arrived at the restaurant with noon reservations and they sat us right away. However, we did not even receive a pitcher of water until after 12:15. While I understand Saturday is a very busy brunch day, it is normally commonplace for water to be served as soon as you are seated. Once our waitress did come, she was extremely friendly and offered many great suggestions. The food also came out pretty fast so no complaints there, but I do think there is a lack of communication between hostesses and servers in terms of seating. 

Megan's Ginger Snap juice: carrot, apple, and ginger ($4.95)

Since Caitlin was going for coffee, I decided to order some of their fresh-squeezed juice. The ginger snap juice was perfectly light and refreshing. It was a nice balance of carrot, apple, and ginger, and the size of the glass was generous. 

Megan's Light and fluffy lemon pancakes with lemon syrup ($10.95)

I had the hardest time deciding what to get! Everything on the menu looked absolutely delicious. I was really close to ordering the green chile and chicken chilaquiles special because I am a SUCKER for chilaquiles, but I ultimately decided to go with the lemon pancakes. I'm actually quite glad I did, because a table near us ordered the chilaquiles and they kind of just looked like a heaping plate of nachos. I definitely was not in the mood for something that messy! The pancakes were quite lovely. To be honest, I'm normally really not a pancake person, but I am a total lemon-head so I decided to give these a try. The pancakes are cooked soufflé style, so they are extremely light and fluffy (as the menu advertises!). They come with a garnish of fresh blackberries (mmm) and some lemon syrup. I used the syrup pretty sparingly because it was very sweet, but it still added a nice flavor to the cakes. The pancakes themselves were extremely thin. Normally three pancakes would send me catapulting into a food coma, but they were so light that it was actually the perfect amount. They had a nice hint of lemon flavor without being overpowering, and the soufflé style made them just slightly undercooked which actually gave them a nice, creamy texture. While there are three pancakes, these are so light that I would have to say the portion size is a little small for a $10.95 dish. However, this is to be expected from a more upscale restaurant like Beatrix. Overall, if you're looking for a light, sweet dish, I highly recommend the lemon pancakes!

Because of the small portion size, we were all still a bit hungry so we decided to get the hummus and naan plate to share. The hummus was really nice and flavorful, and came with a really delicious array of grape tomatoes to spread on top of the naan bread. The naan was fresh from the oven and super soft. Our only initial complaint was that the hummus-to-naan ratio way way off (there was a huge heaping pile of hummus and only 6 small slices of naan) but after we finished off the naan our waitress brought us more! We definitely recommend this as a delicious, flavorful appetizer. 

Hummus & Vegetables with Naan ($6.95)

"Taste over Trend." The phrase at the bottom of every menu at Restaurant Beatrix and the bottom line behind this Lettuce Entertain You hotspot. Having read about this restaurant from one of my many restless nights of aimlessly browsing the internet, Megan and I knew it would be a great place for our next brunch. Being the coffee fanatic that I am, Beatrix's coffee-bar was perfect in supplying me with an ample fixing of caffeine. What makes their menu unique is they not only have dairy-free "milk" options such as, almond or soy milk, but they offer creative drink specials like the chocolate chia latte, chai latte with cayenne spices, or the cinnamon and honey latte. Enticed by all these fun flavor combinations, I asked our waitress what her favorite was and ordered a cinnamon & honey soy latte. The first thing I noticed was the intense aroma of cinnamon that perfumed the table from the second I received my latte. Sweetened by honey, it was not overly sugary, and each sip was complimented by the warmth of the cinnamon spices making for a satisfying latte. One thing to note was that the espresso was lacking a bit, so for those of you that like a strong flavor-hit from espresso, I would maybe request an extra shot in this drink!

Caitlin's Cinnamon & Honey Latte ($4.35)

Seeing as gluten-free options are becoming such a big trend for those health/allergy conscious diners, I was not surprised to see that Beatrix had plenty gluten-free menu items for brunch. Such items included the quinoa cakes topped with poached eggs and herbs. On the menu, this dish comes with a "mayo" topping so for those of you that are not mayo-fans (like me) just ask for it on the side or get it without! Portion-wise this dish still left me hungry for more but the flavors were on point. I knew that I was craving when I cut my fork into it. The quinoa cakes added a much needed texture component to the dish as well as flavor from the additional spices/herbs used to bind the cakes together. The tomato sauce base at the bottom brought everything together especially with the addition from the runny yolk of the poached eggs.  I will say that one of my eggs was past the point of poached and did not have that oozy-yokey-center that I was craving when I sliced it with my fork. Overall, I highly recommend this dish, but if you are really hungry I would say get an extra side (or you can order another latte to-go like I did!).

Caitlin's Quinoa Cakes with Poached Eggs ($11.95)

Megan and I plan to explore the coffee bar side of things at Restaurant Beatrix the next time we are in the River North area. From the look of the pastry case and from my own experience of their barista skills, I am more than excited to kick back with a nice coffee and a chat it up with my girl Megan!