Bongo Room

We went to breakfast at the Bongo Room in Wicker Park.  We had been given a few recommendations by friends to try it out.  They are open for both breakfast and lunch, but known more for the breakfast food.  They do not accept reservations so it can be difficult to be seated right away.  We went on a Friday holiday so we were expecting a little wait but it wasn't the wait that was the issue it was more the lack of a dedicated hostess. There were 2 parties that were seated before us (that arrived at the restaurant after us) because of the disorganization at the front end.

That aside, once we were seated the waitress was friendly.  We both ordered sweet breakfast dishes.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Pancakes

One was graham cracker crusted pumpkin flapjacks with chocolate chunks topped with warm vanilla bean cream.  The other dish was white chocolate and caramel covered pretzel pancakes.  Both were very rich and tasted more like baked cakes than griddle cakes.  In fact, the pumpkin pancakes tasted a lot like a recipe we have for pumpkin chocolate chip bread.  Both sets of pancakes were satisfying and filled us up until dinner. The pancakes were very dense, not airy and fluffy.  The sauces on both were in place of syrups and they were needed to tie the dishes together in a complete package.  When the pumpkin pancakes arrived at the table one of the people next to us commented that is smelled like Cinnabon. The pretzel pancakes were delectable and were exactly what we hoped for - the crumbled pretzel with its slight saltiness cut though the super sweet topping of white chocolate and caramel. The bottom pancake needed a bit of the topping or else it was a little dry to the taste; luckily there was plenty of the topping to be spread around.  Several people sitting around us had more of the savory breakfast items but we were more in mood for sweet that day.

Pretzel Pancakes

Final thoughts on Bongo Room:
Food - good and interesting combinations that people should try. But for us it will probably be a long time before we return - not because it is bad food but because we have so few mornings and so many other places to try. Sweet Maple Cafe  is still Nick's favorite pancake place in town.
Service - besides the whole waiting for our table experience that tainted our perception of the meal, the actual service once we got to our table was good, but not notable
Atmosphere - clean and bright faux painting an walls. Fun ceiling fans. The tables are very close together like at most breakfast places.

Interior with cool fans

Interior with "deer" heads