Same Day Cafe

I’m so pumped for this relatively new addition to my neighborhood. Conveniently next to the blue line I love to stop in for the mint iced coffee on the go. But the food is EVEN BETTER. Hooray for the patio seating added.

Their food is fine – I got some eggs – and it’s a cute place. The problem is that it’s overpriced as hell for how small their servings are. I got a meal that was probably one or two scrambled eggs, a biscuit, and a «salad» that was basically a tiny pile of spinach. With tax and a 15% tip, it was over $ 16. They also really need to expand their menu, which really could pass for a small assortment of brunch appetizers. Not worth it.

I’m still sitting at my table because I’m too full to move. I’m generally not someone who stuffs themselves, but the food was so good, I didn’t want to waste any. The BREAD for the grilled cheese is a rosemary bread and I couldn’t get enough. I didn’t even need the cheese (though it was delicious). When my husband took his first bite, he smiled with the joy of a 4 year old boy and didn’t stop till he was done.
The pan roasted potatoes were amazing as well, with a yummy spicy mustard on them.

I came here last week, before going into Longman & Eagle next door (okay two doors down) for a light lunch. It looked inviting and there were lenity of seats available. Very clean and organized at the counter service area and very friendly staff. He was just one guy, but a good multitasker. The menu is small, but perfect. Very reasonable prices too. I needed something to hold me over before staging (culinary term for auditioning) at L&E. I tried the special which was hominy grits, with gruyère and rosemary. $ 4. Also the dill roasted carrots served with crème fraiche. $ 4. Talk about a pretty good inexpensive small meal. Service took a little long, because I was pretty much there mid day (after initial lunch service) and there was only one bartender/​server. The carrots were soft with a little al dente feel, and a slight char, very tasty, perfectly seasoned. The crème fraiche was perfect dipping. The grits, unfortunately, I couldn’t bring myself to give this place 5 stars only based on that. The grits themselves were cooked perfectly, but there was a real lack of that gruyère taste (I’m a cheese snob), and I felt was a little bland. Needed something, maybe an addition of more cheese to get that bit of salt. Otherwise, I would definitely come back for a sandwich, as reading about them made my salivate, but I didn’t want to go into my audition all food coma’d out.

One of the best veggie burgers I’ve had in a long time. Apparently, the chef at the old Same Day Café incarnation makes and sells their «amazing» kale burgers (frozen) at the Dill Pickle co-​op in Logan, so right after we ate lunch at SDC, me and my gf went straight to Dill Pickle and picked a couple up. So worth it.

Same Day Café is inside of what used to be a dry cleaners so you may be deceived looking at the outside of this quaint bistro. As a dry cleaners, it was called Alex Cleaners and they rearranged some letters of the old signage & added a «F» for it to spell Café on the outside. You can still see the faint outline of the rest of the old name on their signage so it looks as if they did some janky half @$$ job removing the former label. Rest assured, it’s intentional.
Same Day Café has been open just about a year now and they’ve been pumping out food ever since. Some may see it as the overflow holder for Longman & Eagle two doors down but I think it’s a destination in and of itself. Service is phenomenal and the food had an elevated simplistic touch that makes it delicious and unique.
Take their grilled cheese. We all know and love this sandwich but the grilled cheese at Same Day Café isn’t run of the mill by any means. It comes on rosemary bread topped with a ton of shaved ham, gruyère cheese and a dash of house dill mustard. For $ 12 you get this sandwich with a little side potato salad/​coleslaw dish. It’s tasty and a fun new spin on a classic meal.
I have to say that when I went to Same Day Café, I was with my cousin who had her two little munchkins in tow. Wonderful children but a lot of work & Same Day Café was extremely accommodating to them despite them I’m sure being just as horrified as I was at some of their behaviors. Eek. Thanks, Same Day.
They are BYOB which is always good. And if you’re not from our ‘hood, don’t fret. There couldn’t be a more convenient restaurant to public transportation, it’s right off the Blue Line’s Logan Square stop.

Warning: shameless sales pitch to follow…
Same day café, almost one year old…
A gem at 2651 N. Kedzie, between Longman & Eagle, and Azucar, El Cid, and G-​Mart Comics.
Visited Friday afternoon and made it a most rewarding remote office.
I’ve got two words for the experience: damn good.
I had the best blt I’ve ever tasted (no hyperbole, straight up true):
Sriracha bacon, arugula,
tomatoes, tarragon aioli,
Rosemary bread.
Served with dee-​licious slaw.
With a side of beet salad with almonds and goat cheese.
And the best soda too:
The flip side: blackberry, ginger, and lime.
And always damn fine tunes.
ps-​I tagged a few of my favorite Logan Square friends (and William/​Dennis friends too) to make sure you’re aware of and patronize this wonderful establishment, started and owned by the inimitable William VonHartz and Dennis Waldvogel. Hope you don’t mind. It’s the very best of company…

I always came here for mac and cheese. But not this time because I just want to have a cold desserts, I’m kinda upset and just want to enjoy dessert I’m glad I remember that this place serves what exactly my type of desserts to I came in. Thanks to this Same Day Café who always there whenever I needed a place to relax and enjoy food. I got strawberry hand pie.

Cute, very small café. Grilled ham and cheese was good, not worth $ 12. The homemade Rosemary bread is delicious.
The owner likes his grunge music a bit too loud.

Welp, I just had the best egg salad sandwich of my entire life. I almost don’t want to call it an egg salad sandwich, because it is on such a level above all other sandwiches that share that moniker. Same Day Café FTW.
(Their BLT is fantastic, too.)

Stopped in here for Sunday brunch because the wait at Longman & Eagle was 1.5 hours. It’s a little cramped, but the food was truly excellent.
Had a grilled cheese w/​bacon and a side of spicy potatoes, along with a house-​made ginger soda. The giardiniera cream on the potatoes was really unique and delicious, and the sandwich perfectly executed with, as other reviews have mentioned, a slight hint of tangy mustard. Great thick bacon as well. Very reasonable portions.
One downside if you like an alcoholic beverage with your weekend brunches is that this restaurant is not licensed. No Bloody Mary or Mimosa to be found here. You can always hit up one of the nearby bars for an after-​meal drink, though.
I’d highly recommend stopping by here, especially if the wait at nearby brunch spots is a little long for your liking.

Flavor in your mouth. From the golden grilled ham & cheese with a perfect glaze of mild mustard to the tangy, ultra-​tomatoe-​y soup to the sharp, crisp homemade lemon-​lime soda, this place is all about the flava! They have about 7 things on the menu, but they’re all done with exacting skill & care. Simple, beautiful wood interior matches the simplicity of the menu, though they still have the old dry cleaner sign out front so it’s easy to walk right past it. When you’re looking for a peaceful half hour and something simple and delicious, this is the place.
Oh, and the cookies. Hell yeah, the cookies.

Yup. All that. Coffee, delicious gourmet sandwiches with homemade bread, and cool vibe. Try the fried egg sandwich with candied bacon, arugula, and slaw. Also try the grilled ham and cheese sandwich with smoked Gouda and home made Rosemary bread. Best grilled sandwich I’ve ever had. So good.
Service is attentive and prices are reasonable. A must if your in the area.

My girlfriend and I ate here recently on a Fried-​day night. There were plenty of available tables. We brought vodka and each ordered a a mixer of flavored soda (made in-​house). Both were egg-​cellent. For dinner we ordered the tomato soup, cavatappi mac & cheese with chicken skin and roasted Brussels sprouts, arugula salad, and spicy potatoes.
All of these were deli-​cious, but the mac & cheese was truly flan-​tastic. The potatoes, on the other hand, were my girlfriend’s favorite (and she’s Asian!!).
Overall, it was a great meal and for the price it can’t be beet.

We didn’t know what to think when this place opened up near our home in Logan Square, but we were duly impressed and have become breakfast regulars. The atmosphere is very bare-​bones, and the service is fine, but the menu really shines; it’s not extensive, but Same Day is a perfect illustration on how to do a very limited menu right by making every item on it work perfectly. There’s not a lot of choices, but everything you get will be expertly done, filled with fresh and local ingredients, and surprisingly affordable. They also make a hell of an egg cream.

Same Day has quickly become one of my favorites. They have really interesting sodas, and their food is delicious. The staff is super friendly and the café is always clean and calm. even when they’re crazy busy, like for weekend brunch, the staff always has a smile on their faces. this is always my go-​to for meeting up with friends.

As a Logan Square resident, we frequent a lot of neighborhood spots. Same Day is our favorite spot for a casual, light brunch and we hit it up nearly every weekend armed with our respective newspapers as this is the perfect café to sit and relax in when it isn’t too busy.
The food is some next level stuff; every dish has just that extra bit of thought and flavor put into it. Love the portion sizes; I’m always pleasantly full without feeling like I’ve eaten a salt bomb. My personal favorites: the vegan patty melt (and I’m a straight up carnivore), their chicken soup special, the reasonably priced iced coffees ($ 3.50, $ 1.50 for a refill) and my boyfriend goes on and on about the BLT.
Best of all, the service is wonderful. The owner Will is engaging and always receptive to feedback. The waiters and waitresses I don’t know by name but they’re lovely and friendly (and have great music taste – the rotating vinyl is always on point). Same Day felt like a neighborhood spot from Day One and I love it to pieces.

Very tasty vegetable-​forward food in relatively small portions (though these are justified by the low prices). The scrambled eggs, egg on toast, or modest portion of hash were no bigger than I would have made for breakfast at home — which is a nice rarity in breakfast restaurants that usually seemed determined to help lumberjacks consume their entirely day’s calories in a mess of egg, sausage, potato, etc.
We ordered nearly everything on the «specials» blackboard, which included a particularly nice side of green beans dressed in a rough herb-​nut pesto for $ 3.
And I can’t help but add that the service was particularly gracious. We were treating an out-​of-​town friend and small baby and had a relatively tight timeline. We called on our way here and they reserved us a table with a hand-​drawn note. I’m not sure if they even take reservations normally, but it demonstrated a hospitality and eagerness to serve that charmed me greatly. Four stars for the food and a fifth for the hospitality.

We were there on a warm afternoon, seated in the sun by the window, served warm water sans ice, and sweating in the probably 85 degree temps inside. There was one floor fan on the opposite side of the restaurant near the kitchen. It was stifling. Not a good start.
Considering the heat, I had to try one of the house-​made sodas which I quite liked, but my wife did not. We ordered mini pot pies for the kiddos which they didn’t eat, but we did. They would have tasted a lot better if they were 4 bucks each. My BLT was delicious, but we were a little underwhelmed by the portion size for the price. I’d say they’re overpriced by 25%. Maybe they use primo expensive ingredients, but it’s a bit hard to justify the price.
This place is more hipster-​friendly than kid friendly. I understand kids being less welcome at busy times, but we were there around 4 pm. Maybe I was just already pissed off from the heat. 2 star experience, 4 star food. Maybe I’ll give it another go in the winter.

After coming here for brunch last weekend, I promised myself I would come back and try it for dinner. Well, that didn’t take long.
More reasons why this place is so damn appealing:
*delicious (and adorable!) mini chicken pot pie. Flaky, buttery crust, and savory filling.
**tomato soup that bursts with fresh-​from-​the-​garden flavor.
***homemade italian ice. They were juicing (by hand, no less) what appeared to be a thousand limes to make lime italian ice.
****they play albums here, not an iPod. We’re talking real LPs.
I can’t seem to stay away; why would I?