A Squared: Lakeview Neighborhood Guide: Crosby's Kitchen

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Lakeview Neighborhood Guide: Crosby's Kitchen

I've been a roll with the neighborhood guide posts this weekend-- and today I am featuring another one of my favorites. Today's post is all about brunch and one of my favorite brunch spots is Crosby's Kitchen on Southport.


Crosby's Kitchen serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but the truth is that I have only ever been here for brunch-- and have plans in two weekends to go back again too! Crosby's is one of my top picks for brunch spots in the neighborhood, offering a solid menu of elevated classic dishes, a friendly staff, and a charming space that's stylish, but casual and comfortable. They're the sister restaurant of one of my other local favorites Frasca, so it only makes sense that Crosby's would rank up there among my Lakeview go to spots.


I've tried a few things on the brunch menu at Crosby's, but the one item that we always order (and that is a must for your table when you go) is a skillet of their housemade monkey bread. For those of you not familiar with this delicious (mostly Midwestern) treat, let me educate you: Monkey bread is made up of chunks of bread dough rolled in a cinnamon and sugar that are then piled on to one another and baked. The result is that the cinnamon and sugar melts and gets gooey in between (like a cinnamon roll) and pieces of the baked monkey bread can be then be pulled apart. While the moms of my childhood made theirs with tubes of refrigerated dough, Crosby's uses a special homemade sweet bread dough and bakes the monkey bread in a skillet so those cinnamon sugar edges get nice and caramelized. It's all topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting. This is such a guilty pleasure, so enjoy alone at your own risk or split a skillet or two with your dining companions... just make sure that you try it!


Crosby's offers a really great selection of egg entrees on their brunch menu, including three signature omelets. The Southport Omelet is one of my favorites. This omelet is perfect vegetarians or if you're looking for something that's better for you, but still really delicious. It's filled with flavorful asparagus, roasted red peppers, and artichokes and creamy goat cheese which melts perfectly in the middle. The omelet is a perfect size and is accompanied by Crosby's amazing breakfast potatoes. These hashbrowns looked average, but we were blown away by how delicious they are: crispy on the outside and cheesy on the inside, these are not your average breakfast potatoes.


I went rogue with my order the next time we visited Crosby's and decided to create my own brunch out of one of the more lunch-leaning menu items. In addition to great breakfast dishes, Crosby's also offers a nice selection of sandwiches and salads for diners that lean more toward the lunch side of brunch. Their Brussels Sprout Salad caught my eye and for good reason: it's a huge salad topped with dried blueberries, bacon, almonds, manchego cheese, dressed in a light lemon vinaigrette. I loved the flavor combination in this salad to begin with, but decided that ordering an a la carte poached egg would be the perfect way to make this salad brunch-appropriate. And although my server thought I was insane, I have to say I was right... there's no good dish that cannot be further improved by a runny yolked egg!


My husband is always a nontraditional brunch eater-- many times opting for something right off the lunch menu (like a burger) or going super sweet with something like a Nutella crepe. He totally surprised me at Crosby's though when he ordered the lobster deviled eggs off the appetizer menu along with a side of pancakes. The deviled eggs shouldn't be a surprise because Alex will order them almost any time he sees them on the menu. And the fact that Crosby's lightly seasons theirs and then tops them with creamy lobster really makes them something special.

One other dish that I don't have a photo of  that is SO good is Crosby's bacon strata Benedict. If you love eggs Benedict, then this spin on the classic brunch dish has your name on it. It starts with a fresh baked buttermilk biscuit, topped with cheddar cheese, poached eggs, and the most delicious bacon-sriracha hollandaise sauce. It's spicy and cheesy and really, a perfect savory brunch dish.

Crosby's Kitchen is the perfect place for a brunch date, for meeting up with friends, or for breakfast with the family. It's definitely one of Lakeview's best neighborhood spots!

4 comments:

  1. You had me at Monkey Bread :) But seriously, everything looks delicious. I'll have to try it out!

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    1. Sarah, it's a must! I should probably return and try dinner at some point... but brunch is just so good!

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  2. I LOVE Crosby's! And the brussels sprout salad is my fav! I might have to try it with an egg next time!

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    1. Ooh definitely give it a try and let me know what you think!

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