Breakfast

Near the Loop & Magnificent Mile

You can get a good (and upscale) breakfast at one of the hotels near the Loop or Magnificent Mile. Favorites spots for business travelers looking to impress include The Café at the Four Seasons Hotel, 120 E. Delaware Place (tel. 312/280-8800), and Drake Bros. Restaurant at The Drake Hotel, 140 E. Walton Place at Michigan Avenue (tel. 312/787-2200).

A more informal choice in the Loop, overlooking the El tracks, is Heaven on Seven, where the Cajun and Creole specialties supplement an enormous diner-style menu.

For brunch with some soul, head to House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., at Kinzie Street (tel. 312/527-2583), for its popular Sunday gospel brunch. To guarantee seating, it's a good idea to book a spot 2 weeks in advance.

A local breakfast favorite since 1923 is Lou Mitchell's, 565 W. Jackson Blvd. (tel. 312/939-3111), across the south branch of the Chicago River from the Loop, a block farther west than Union Station. You'll be greeted at the door with a basket of doughnut holes and milk duds so that you can nibble while waiting for a table.

For a Southern-style breakfast of spicy red eggs, cheese grits, or biscuits and gravy, head over to Wishbone, a homespun dining hall in a warehouse district west of the Loop.

Lincoln Park & The North Side

A perfect breakfast or brunch spot if you're heading up to Wrigleyville for a Cubs game or a walk through Lincoln Park is Ann Sather, famous for its homemade cinnamon rolls.

The Nookies restaurants are Chicago favorites for all the standard morning fare. Locations include 2114 N. Halsted St., in Lincoln Park (tel. 773/327-1400); 1748 N. Wells St., in Old Town (tel. 312/337-2454); and 3334 N. Halsted St., in Lakeview (tel. 773/248-9888).

Go to Orange, 3231 N. Clark St., at Belmont (tel. 773/549-4400), for a fun twist on breakfast foods. Try the Green Eggs and Ham -- eggs scrambled with pesto, tomatoes, mozzarella, and pancetta. There's a kids' menu, too, making this a popular choice for families. But a warning to all those with hungry kids (and parents): Come early or late; the line for a table winds outside during prime weekend brunch hours.

Lincoln Park's Toast, 746 W. Webster St., at Halsted Street (tel. 773/935-5600), is homey yet slightly funky, and kids are encouraged to scribble away on the butcher-block table coverings. Breakfast includes a twist on the usual diner fare. Pancakes come in all sorts of tempting varieties, from lemon/poppy seed drizzled with honey to the "pancake orgy," a strawberry, mango, and banana-pecan pancake topped with granola, yogurt, and honey. Come early on weekends, though; by 10:30am or so, there's guaranteed to be a lengthy wait.

Wicker park/Bucktown

The brightly colored Bongo Room, 1470 N. Milwaukee Ave. (btw. Evergreen Ave. and Honore St.; tel. 773/489-0690), is a neighborhood gathering place for the hipsters of Wicker Park/Bucktown, but the restaurant's tasty, creative breakfasts have drawn partisans from all over the city who feel right at home stretching out the morning with a late breakfast. (A caveat: Don't bother trekking over here for weekend brunch, when you'll have to wait an hour or more for a table; it's much more pleasant eating here during the week.) The same owners also run Room 12, 1152 S. Wabash Ave. (btw. 11th St. and Roosevelt Rd.; tel. 312/291-0100), in the South Loop; the food is just as good as at the Wicker Park location, and it tends to be less crowded.