Having gone to brunch at the new Summer House at Disney Springs during our April 2024 trip, I was curious about their much closer to home restaurant in Chicago. So when Andrew and Jake chose to celebrate their birthdays there I was excited to compare the two brunch experiences.
First a few photos from inside the Chicago restaurant…
Now let’s begin the Chicago brunch with our cocktails.
Out of the 6 of us, half had cocktails…
My cocktail was the Mimosa pictured in the back. I was surprised by the small size of the pour. For the same price of $14.00 I had gotten a nearly full glass when I had the Mimosa at Disney Springs. So although this one was strong, I had to give this Mimosa a rating of only 2 due its size.
My husband had had the Bloody Mary at our Disney Springs brunch but this time it was Andrew who got the Bloody Mary here. While my husband’s had only a single green olive and a stalk of celery, Andrew’s came with a well salted rim, a jalapeno pepper, celery stalk, and a piece of very tasty candied bacon. Also, as an added bonus, this Bloody Mary came with a lager beer chaser. Even with the additions and the beer, the Chicago Bloody Mary at $14.00 was $1.00 cheaper than the one at Disney Springs. Andrew gave his Bloody Mary a rating of 4 1/2, with the additional 1/2 being given because he really liked the bacon.
The third cocktail in the photo was Jake’s City by the Sea, which had Rose wine, Botanist Gin, Mallorca Melon Tea, and Raspberry juice for $16.00. Jake enjoyed his cocktail and gave it a rating of 4.
With Emily (our family family member with a gluten sensitivity) not being with us this time, we didn’t have to stick to gluten-free choices for our starters. So this time we got the…
Warm Cinnamon Roll with Vanilla Icing – $5.95
And a look inside…
At the Disney Springs restaurant they have a Giant Cinnamon Roll (with fresh blueberry swirl, candied lemon zest and house-made cream cheese frosting) on their brunch menu for $17.95. So for three times the price I assume that that cinnamon roll is much larger and more easily sharable than this. Our cinnamon roll was pretty much a regular size roll so the 6 of us got only a taste. While that taste was good, it was nothing out of the ordinary so we gave it a rating of 3.
We chose more wisely when picking our other starter to share…
Jalapeno Cornbread served with Honey Butter – $10.95
And a look inside…
This was topped with a lot of sea salt, which made it pretty salty. However, half of us (including me) still loved this and gave it a perfect rating of 5. The others gave it either a 4 or 4 1/2, so I would say it was a hit with our group. Oh, and by the way, I think Disney Springs has this same Jalapeno Cornbread on their menu for $12.95.
Now for our entrees, starting with a couple of the duplicates we had from our Disney Springs brunch.
Jake chose what Emily had previously gotten at Disney Springs…
Short Rib Hash topped with caramelized onions and sunny side eggs – $19.95 ($22.95 at Disney Springs)
Jake enjoyed this (especially the short rib meat) as much as Emily had. They both gave this entree a rating 4.
Though I tried to talk him into ordering something else so that we could try more things, my husband insisted on getting the same entree I had gotten at our Disney Springs brunch…
Breakfast Tostadas with pulled chicken, silky black beans, ranchero sauce, monterey jack cheese, and it was supposed to be topped with sunny side eggs but he asked for the eggs to be scrambled – $18.95
I really enjoyed my Tostadas with the sunny side eggs and gave them a rating of 4 1/2. Don however is not a fan of runny egg yolks so he was glad to be able to have his eggs scrambled instead. In fact, he was so happy with his Tostadas that he gave them a perfect rating of 5.
Andrew also chose a breakfast entree…
Crispy Strawberry Waffles served with strawberries and whipped cream – $15.95 ($16.95 at Disney Springs)
Just look at the big pile of strawberries on his plate…
I got to have some of those strawberries and they were so good…perfectly ripe and sweet! It was quite a treat to have strawberries like this in Chicago in December. But the strawberries played only a supporting role to the star of this dish…the waffles! Andrew thought they were delicious and I agreed, as he was kind enough to share one with me. We both gave the Waffles a perfect rating of 5!
Though his entree was a winner, Andrew’s side dish was a fail…
His bacon was way overcooked and he said it was like trying to eat leather. I probably would have given this a rating of 1 but he generously gave it a 2.
The rest of us chose our entrees from the Lunch side of their Brunch menu. Jake’s dad and I both got salads.
His choice was the…
Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad ($19.95) with Ahi Tuna Tataki added for an additional $11.95
NOTE: This salad at the Disney Springs restaurant is also $19.95 but the tuna can be added for only $9.95.
This salad had a lot going on with manchego cheese, bacon bits, avocado, toasted almonds, green peas and a mustard vinaigrette. He enjoyed all of these except for the bacon bits, which he said were very thick pieces like pork belly. Tim gave the salad a rating of 4. The Ahi Tuna did not rate as well as the salad though, as it was overcooked. He gave the tuna a rating of 3.
My salad was the…
Wilshire Blvd Cobb Salad ($20.95) with herb chicken breast added for an additional $12.95
NOTE: Disney Springs has this same salad on its menu but with a different name, Buena Vista Cobb. It is also priced at $20.95 but the grilled chicken can be added for only $7.95.
This salad also had a lot of ingredients, even more than the brussels sprouts salad. There was avocado, boiled egg, corn, cucumber, tomato, bacon, blue cheese and the dressing (served on the side) was an herb vinaigrette. This was delicious. In fact I would have to say it was one of the best cobb salads I’ve had. The highlights for me were the corn, which was super sweet, the avocado, the grilled chicken, and the dressing. Everything was good though, except for the “pork belly-like” bacon bits. So anyway, I gave my Cobb Salad a perfect rating of 5.
Jake’s mom chose one of their sandwiches…
Prime Cheeseburger with Cheddar Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickle, Mustard, Mayo and served with a side of French fries – $21.95 (same price at Disney Springs)
She said the burger was overcooked and dry but the French fries were very good. So while the cheeseburger rated only a 3, the fries were a 5.
Since we were celebrating both Andrew’s and Jake’s birthdays, they offered them their choice of any of their cookies, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Jake chose the Peanut Butter Cookie (on the left) and Andrew chose their Chocolate Chip topped with Rice Krispie Treats. Both were very good and were rated 4 1/2.
And with that our meal came to an end. However, I took several photos of their display case full of cookies and other sweet treats on my way out. First their cookies…
Then some of their other treats…
Though these were tempting, this was shortly before Christmas and we had holiday cookies and other treats at home.
I did notice though that generally the cookies and treats here were priced at $4.50, while the same cookies and treats at the Disney Springs location sell for $4.95.
So overall I would say that our experience at the Chicago restaurant was a bit better than our brunch at Disney Springs. With the exceptions of the overcooked items (burger, ahi tuna, and Andrew’s bacon) and the bacon bits in our salads that were more like pork belly, the rest of our food was very good. Also the prices were generally cheaper than at Disney Springs, except for the proteins that we added to our salads. I will though reiterate my disappointment at the size of my $14.00 mimosa, which was half the size of my mimosa at Disney Springs for the same price.
Taste of Disney 