LOKal

I'm a bit obsessed with Sunday's in Chicago. Especially Sundays that are spent roaming neighborhoods and refraining from checking my watch or phone for hours. This past Sunday Warren and I decided to brunch at LOKal then spend the afternoon checking out some stores. It is a rare opportunity to get him to agree to shop with me so of course I wouldn't turn it down. And also, it's my last Sunday in town before heading back to Cali.

I was excited to try LoKal since I've been dying to brunch the 7$ bottomless mimosa's / or 9$ bottomless bloody's. What a great deal. This is a European-inspired restaurant, as reflected by the menu and decor. We opted to sit at the bar as it not only allows for great people watching but is just plan fun to chat with the staff.

We both got bloody's and man, were they good! I love garnish in my drink but I think for a bottomless option celery and olives did suffice. The bartender informed us he made the concoction himself and half-way through service when they ran out we watched them make more. This mix consisted of siracha sauce, worcester, horseradish etc. A few surprises that tickle your throat but tasty none the less.

For brunch I was feeling a bit full from the drinks so I ordered a LOKal sandwich with fried eggs, oven roasted tomatoes, arugula, smoked polish sausage and a sesame aioli. And Warren ordered the biscuits and gravy with smoked sausage, sundried tomatoes, coriander and roasted potatoes. Mine was pretty darn good. I could have used a bit more of the aioli but the sausage was smokey and yummy with the tomatoes. And his was pretty good, again smoky gravy and the same sausage.

The brunch was elevated by the sausage and sauces that they used. It's not exactly The Southern's brunch, but a bit more Euro if you will. I wanna give props to the staff because half-way through brunch a wave of people started service and they were swamped. I felt so bad I almost wanted to jump behind the bar and help out. They managed to pull it together nicely and we left with genuine thank-you's and goodbyes.  I think I'd come back to brunch with a large group, not sure about dinner though I didn't see anything on the menu that stood out to me.

After brunch we strolled down Milwaukee to the lovely vintage/consignment stores with a little buzz. A lovely Sunday. Hope you had a great weekend!!