Lizzy J Cafe

I wouldn’t recommend this spot for a group event. The price is not worth the group rate for the buffet. It’s better to have every one order their own dishes. My family visited and items were not replenished but we paid 80-85 per person, when we could have paid half just by ordering a dish off the menu. I’d give them a 3.5/5 for service , they weren’t the most friendly. Although we did have a nice server. Food was decent. I love their biscuits and jam. It was the only thing I took to go. If you factor service, cost, and food quality together - I’d have to say that it’s not a place I’d visit again anytime soon. One and done.

Hidden away on the 2nd floor of timeout market. The food is good but it’s missing that unique item or special something that sets it apart from other brunch spots. Portion size could be bigger in all honesty.

Listen this place is amazing! I was visiting from out of town and so happy my family suggested we go to Lizzy J’s! Excellent food and service! The biscuits are top tier! The Lemon Ricotta Pancakes are something different, you have to try them! I didn’t leave anything on my plate! I was there for Sunday brunch, loved the DJ. Just go visit!

There are few things I swear by and Lizzie J being one of the best brunch restaurants in the city is one of them. Tucked away on the second floor of Time Out Market, Lizzie J emerges as a southern brunch gem. From the moment walk in their dining area, an aura of graciousness greets you, delivering an authentic taste of down-home hospitality. The catfish and grits with hot sauce are a culinary symphony, with each component harmonizing flawlessly. Crispy catfish meets velvety grits, all elevated by a tantalizing hot sauce. The flavors intertwine, crafting a sensory experience that leaves you yearning for more. For an avant-garde twist, the salmon croquettes, crowned with sweet corn, atop a meticulously seasoned bed of grits are a revelation. A symphony of flavors unfolds as the croquettes' delicate nuances meet the sweetness of corn, all accentuated by the impeccable grits. Amidst Chicago’s culinary scene, Lizzie J emerges as a beacon of southern brunch artistry. If you're looking for an unparalleled brunch experience Lizzie J at Time Out Market is your spot!

The visit to the cafe was not enjoyable with multiple concerns to contend with. A few are listed but too many to go indepth. 1. The reservation was for a group bunch of 15 for my 50th Birthday celebration, the hostess was not pleasant and made us feel like we shouldn't have been there. I'm guessing he was right. 2. It was hard to distinguish between our server, hostess and other restaurant staff. Different folks were engaging our party asking dining related questions, etc. Plenty of Disfunction/unorganization to go around. 3. They do not have a liquor license and it was suggested that if we wanted drinks we could walk up/down to self purchase from the venue bars. What's a brunch without mimosa's. This could have been pointed out at time of reservation and I would have made a different restaurant selection. Later... our server mentioned he would seek permission to obtain a few bottles of champagne on our behalf from the bar. That's a no brainer. 4. Overall not the right place and a lesson was learned!! I would not encourge a group or any other dinning at this establishment. 5. The food was meh. Fried green tomatoes too much breading, salmon croquettes were slathered with corn hash filling, grits were bland, I didn't taste any cheese. Portion sizes were mediocre.

Cool space and atmosphere! Made reservations and were super stoked to try this place out; unfortunately, even on a non-busy morning, it took us 15 minutes to be acknowledged by the wait staff, despite being passed by multiple times. Even parties who came after us were greeted promptly and had water served. Coffee machine was broken, which is ok. We finally flagged down the server, and had found that our order has not begun, and at this rate, would be late to our next gathering. We asked for our order to be cancelled and left after 45 minutes with only water. Pretty disappointed with our experience since we were excited about the menu. I hope this was just an off-day.

I’m so glad I went upstairs at the Time Out Market. I had a lovely sit-down breakfast at Lizzy Js, including delicious chicken and waffles and strawberry lemonade! What a treat! And the warmest service! I’ll be back.

Food was decent, great music & ambiance. Service was sadly horrible, went on a Sunday I am assuming they were short staffed. But, got seated rather quickly but after that it all went downhill sadly. Took forever to get waters and then our server disappeared for like 20 minutes. Came back and said sorry which was appreciated. But the apology was awkward was completely silent after only just saying “sorry”…. we had to then proceed with the conversation and ask for drinks and order our food. The drinks were taken off due to a lemonade being out of stock and having to be replaced. Waited about another 30 minutes for food which came out not that hot. The chicken and waffle portion compared to the table across from us was a big difference. My friend got two little pieces of chicken compared to the three stacked decent size pieces on top of someone else’s plate. Then we watched another party of two who I assume knew the chef get seated immediately at the bar and served right away. With drinks, food and they were in and out and received great service. Yet we had been waiting patiently for the time we had spent just sitting and looking. Lastly we waited a long to also just receive the check. Overall we just expected a better experience due to the many great reviews we heard.

For starters, I absolutely love this new location in Fulton Market, and super happy to see the restaurant expanding and evolving to bigger things! The food is still just as good; the service was immaculate, beginning with the host, who sets the tone for a great experience; and the fellas who are preparing/cooking the food were also incredible-- if you sit at the bar area you'll be able to experience this. Overall, can't wait to get back and get these exact items, and note: you're in for a whole vibe because the music was on point!

Beyond what we expected! Black owned brunch spot located on the 2nd floor of Time Out Market was phenomenal. We were served and taken care of by thee Chef Lizzy J herself! Her passion and charisma shines through her establishment and especially through her food. The pancakes came with a nice soft crunch on the outside and fluffy goodness on the inside. Catfish and salmon croquettes were well seasoned, not overbearing at all. Word to the wise--the grits will fill you up! Thank you, Chef!

I was referred to a great brunch spot at Timeout Market, Chicago, so I went straight to 2nd floor and headed to Lizzy J Cafe. I had a wonderful experience! One can have a nice experience alone or small party at the bar or in a group at the tables. I sat alone at the bar and asked for a suggested snack/light lunch. I was able to see my delicious lunch prepared as I sat at the bar; chef made Fried Green Tomatoes and Shrimp Po Boy. What a treat! Although the Fried Green tomatos were sliced thin, the flavor was tasty. Shrimp Po Boy was overflowing with shrimp, so delicious I was hoping to have another one immediately! I met the gracious owner. I compliment her and staff on their amazing hospitality!! Street Parking can be challenging, however I found parking several blocks away and used Chicago parking app to pay to park. I plan to return to Lizzy J for brunch with friends. Thanks, Lizzy J for a great experience.

The chicken and waffle was INCREDIBLE! The put a lot of love and care into the food they put out and it shows! Sitting at the bar allowed us to see how much they care! Great people!

There were 4 other customers, but it took 45 minutes for our simple order of eggs to come out as grits. Another 30 minutes without food and we left. We were given water when we sat down, but no refills since no one came to check on us. When we got up to leave someone who I believe to be the owner said if we wait a bit longer they could start on our food - so clearly she was aware of the situation the whole time. We ended up going elsewhere to get french fries.

Unfortunately not the unique find we had hope that it would be. Tried many items from the menu. Cannot recommend.

Went here the other day, hungry looking for the nearest open spot. My only expectation was to get full. Well the chicken sausage tasted like pork and the maple butter for the biscuits was phenomenal. Would definitely go back with more patience and explore the menu. The waiter was nice also, we had coffee from outside and he was willing to serve us in the seating outside the restaurant.

My wife and I were wandering around Time Out Market around lunchtime yesterday and had almost settled on our choices when we looked upstairs and noticed this brunch place. When we approached the restaurant the server immediately greeted us and gave us a table. The place was not crowded at all, but there appeared to be some sort of industry gathering happening in the back. When we placed our order, we asked about the teapot they had on the beverage list for $10. The server said that they only have one teapot and someone had taken it out for an event. She told us we could have a mug of tea with free refills, but we would each need to order one. $20 for tea seemed pretty steep to us, so we passed. Then my wife ordered the steak and eggs and the server informed her they were out of steak. She ultimately went with the chicken and waffle. I got the Crabby Benny, and we ordered fried green tomatoes to share. After placing our order, it took about 40 minutes for us to receive any food. After about 30 minutes, we inquired with the server, who had given us no updates to that point. She told us she should've put our tomatoes in first and apologized for the wait. The server did seem pretty new, so we cut her some slack and didn't make a fuss. We asked her how long she thought it would take, and she said 5 more minutes. 10 minutes later, the tomatoes came out, and the rest of the food followed about 5 minutes after that. The food was great. Benedict had a generous portion of crab and the eggs were prepared perfectly. Tomatoes were plated beautifully and topped with crab remoulade. Chicken and waffle was huge and the thighs were cooked perfectly. The server came back to check on us a couple times just after the food was delivered, but halfway through eating my water glass was empty and stayed that way for 10+ minutes until I finally got her attention as we were wrapping up. Overall, it was great food, below average service, and a disappointing wait without much of an explanation. After we inquired about the tea but balked at the price, it seemed like it would have been an easy win for them to offer that or another beverage to us on the house to make up for the wait. I don't see us coming back anytime soon, but it's worth a shot if you've got time to kill and are willing to take a gamble on the service. We were there for well over an hour for our simple brunch order.

I have wanted to go to Lizzy J since it was on the north side and closed before I could patronize. On this day a Saturday I want to visit and then make my play which was the Wiz at Cadillac Place. The theater was 15v/ 20 tops in proximity.i planned our afternoon to the T. I also was looking on the website for Fulton market and noted that Lizzie J. The restaurant hosted and was attached to a Christmas brunch with Santa in the Grinch on the same day as my reservation. I quickly inboxed, which I believe was the owner Lizzie J or whoever she allows to handle her emails. I confirmed that I did make a reservation and I was inquiring about the event that would be happening around the same time to make sure there was no conflict of interest. The person assured me that my reservation would be fine in that the restaurant will be open during this event that they will cater. When I arrived I saw a lot of long faces and unhappy participants walking in two and from where the Santa event was to be held. This location is located on a second floor. It was about me and maybe 12 other people that I can figure out when we first sat down the young lady after the desk kept asking me if I had a reservation and I assured her that I had a reservation and I wasn't. Just a walk-up. Finally got seated it. These are communal seats very uncomfortable by the way. The people sitting at the father end of the table were looking around as we were looking around because they had placed their food order 45 minutes prior and still no food. We told the wait staff who were dressed like an elf that we were ready to order. Finally got the order in and we waited mind you the restaurant was not crowded and what I could see was maybe about 3 to 4 people working in the kitchen area which is relatively small. I don't know how it got. Decided that they would cater the food and maybe they didn't estimate the amount of manpower and leg work and preparation. But they should not have been trying to run and event catering event, feed prepaid guest and then run a restaurant with us waiting on our food as well. Long story short, I got up personally several times checking on our food having to take my eggs back where I clearly ask for them to be fried hard and upon putting the fork in the eggs they were running we kept getting one thing at a time. We were absolutely starving. I would have loved my full meal as I ordered it. My friend got salmon croquettes which looked delicious. She couldn't wait to dig i5nto but they were ice cold. I myself am a major foodie I have over 700 reviews. I definitely wouldn't come here and waste time. This is my honest review. Maybe on a day that they were not hosting an event. It will be better service. But to me customer service is very important. I even waved and tried to speak to the owner Lizzie J. Who turned her back proceeded to walk against the wall to be out of the way when I tried to merely speak to her. That left a very bad impression to me and my guest. I definitely talked this place up and we were very excited to be there. I personally don't know if I will return. The food was okay. The lemon ricotta pancakes would definitely be my favorite. I was told that you get three and for the amount I thought they were going to be three full-size pancakes. They were okay and again very basic. Concerning the eggs couldn't get the order right and the grits seemed like they were lacking something but it was okay. One of the cooks personally came out and said to me that that's not how they run things. They were overwhelmed. But again, when you are in the food industry you need to be prepared for the unexpected and people are coming high expectations and first impressions are everything!

Had the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes Pictures say enough! Delicious!! Service was fantastic! Super atmosphere being in the TimeOut Market! Patrick, Jermaine , Armand, Livele took great care of us for Saturday morning breakfast! Go see them!

We're from out of town L.A., made a breakfast reservation for 10:15. Arrived at the restaurant @9:46 greeter said "we don't open until 10:00", however, she placed a call I'm assuming to find out if ANYONE was coming in since there was NO chef . We were told to come back at 10:00 for our 10:15 reservation, we arrived BACK @10:09 STILL no chef, no grills fired up ...NOTHING!! HORRIBLE HORRIBLE service. NO concern for the consumers (customers), whatsoever. I DO NOT recommend this place. They need an etiquette.class first

We absolutely loved this place. The food was so delicious. It is a great place for a weekday breakfast. Definitely would come back!

Best grits I've had outside of the south. Truly delicious; I'll be going back for other items on the menu. This place would be great for either a proper get-together or casual (solo) brunch. Nice service too.

The service and the food was great. The vibe was good with some nice R&B playing while we ate in the restaurant. The owner was very nice and accommodating.

Really really good! Best eggs! Pancakes were amazing. No frills environment, just delicious eats.

Awesome food and service! Hand made salmon croquette!!! Pancakes mouth water. A must visit restaurant in Chicago.