Ann Sather Restaurant
Swedish restaurant · Lakeview ·
Hearty Swedish-American breakfast & lunch with amazing cinnamon rolls
Hearty Swedish-American breakfast & lunch with amazing cinnamon rolls
"A long-established brick-and-mortar restaurant whose owner and former alderman played a leading role in shaping the city’s food-truck ordinance; critics say the resulting rules favored established restaurants by protecting their turf from mobile vendors." - Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu
"Nothing compares to a quality cinnamon roll, and nobody does it better than Ann Sather on Belmont. Ann Sather is a standard breakfast and lunch restaurant, except for two special twists. First, it’s technically an ode to Swedish cuisine, but more so in the form of serving a few Swedish staples like pancakes with lingonberries, meatballs, and potato pancakes with applesauce. Imagine the items you’d see at an Ikea cafeteria, but a bit better. The second twist, and the more important of the two, is the cinnamon rolls. These bad boys are everything you want in a cinnamon roll and then some, and we often seek them out as diligently as humanity has searched for the Lost City beneath the sea. Keep in mind that a single order of cinnamon rolls actually includes two. Ann Sather has the look and feel of a classic diner, and you can also BYOB for mimosas or Bloody Marys if you so wish. Aside from these two things and our favorite baked goods though, the rest of the food is so-so. The Swedish pancakes are fine, but other breakfast items like omelets, wraps, and benedicts are by no means impressive. They will help satisfy your hunger, but that’s about all. The cinnamon rolls, however, are exceptional, and they will make for a better rest of your day. Food Rundown Cinnamon Roll Fantastic, and the real reason we come to Ann Sather for meals. So good, so sweet, so divine. Pecan Roll A sophisticated version of the regular cinnamon roll. And by sophisticated we mean a similar great baked good covered in pecans. Biscuits Douse them in honey and you’re good to go. Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberries Swedish pancakes are more like French crepes, and lingonberries are basically cranberries. Imagine thin pancakes with a sweet cranberry preserve. Breakfast Wraps A sizeable breakfast wrap in a large tortilla. You have the options of the basics like bacon, egg, and cheese, or build your own with a number of different available ingredients. Overall, they are OK, but you probably won’t want to eat it all anyway once you power through the cinnamon rolls. Smoked Salmon Benedict Our preferred route in the benedict department. Again, nothing out of the ordinary, but it won’t make you mad." - Sam Faye
"Ald. (44th) Tom Tunney, owner of Swedish restaurant Ann Sather, paid $2,000 in fines after he was caught in late December allowing patrons to eat indoors, despite the state's ban on indoor dining at the time." - Naomi Waxman
"Located on Belmont Avenue, the flagship Ann Sather has been a North Side breakfast institution for more than seven decades, known for its cinnamon rolls and breakfasts and supported by two additional North Side locations. The restaurant, owned by Ald. Tom Tunney, became the center of controversy after undercover photos published in December showed customers being served inside its Lakeview dining room during a period when indoor dining was banned, agitating residents and other restaurant owners who followed COVID-19 rules and prompting accusations of hypocrisy because Tunney is a City Council member and former Illinois Restaurant Association chair; Tunney said the restaurant allowed a limited number of mask-wearing indoor diners "on a sporadic basis." The city issued two citations on December 8, levied a $2,000 fine at a February 16 hearing (the restaurant faced a maximum of $10,500), and an Ann Sather spokesperson said the matter has been settled and the restaurant looks forward to easing restrictions as positivity rates fall and vaccinations increase; the restaurant also said it fully cooperated with the city's investigation. Indoor dining has since returned to Chicago with a 50-person-per-room cap, and some struggling restaurant owners have defended Tunney." - Ashok Selvam
"A popular breakfast restaurant near Belmont and Clark, Ann Sather is a longtime Lakeview fixture known for its Swedish breakfasts; the article notes it's been open for 75 years and also says it has operated since 1945. The city cited Ann Sather twice for serving customers indoors and ignoring the state's COVID-19 indoor dining ban instituted on October 30, and the restaurant faces a maximum combined fine of $10,500 (one citation could result in $10,000 and the other up to $500), with the exact amount to be determined at a future administrative hearing. Owner Ald. Tom Tunney, whose ward includes Wrigleyville and Lakeview and who is a former chair of the Illinois Restaurant Association, admitted to serving regular customers indoors after photos of patrons eating inside appeared in a blog post, promised staff would cease dining room service, and said staff required social distancing for customers." - Ashok Selvam