North and Clark Café

Great food. They have great vegetarian burger selection and intelligencia coffee. Excellent location right at the Chicago history museum, so makes it easy to grab lunch during a whole day of visit to the museum and the Chicago history museum store is right there too so easy to grab souvenirs. Great place to spend time on a cold winter day in the city!

Walk by here all the time and after viewing the Fashion On Michigan Ave exhibit I thought I’d try it. The food was good. I had a grilled chicken sandwich, plain no bun. It was great. I loved the way it was seasoned with BBQ sauce on the side. The side of chips were good, but not salty. The ladies behind the counter were very patient and made good recommendations. They were very pleasant. They also have tuna sandwiches, hot dogs, and burgers. It was a weekend and it was not crowded. They do need to do better in wiping the tables and chairs. My chair had food stuck in it and I had to clean it myself. You can also sit in the attached sunny room, with a nice view. After you order they bring your food to you which is nice. It was a nice quiet relaxing atmosphere. I saw a lot of people on computers, so it also is a good place for that while having dessert and coffee.

Yaay! Finally, my first visit to the Chicago History Museum (well, it was free after all). But first, I had to eat so I ventured into the café attached to the museum. It was a glorious fall day that felt almost like nice summer weather so the interior of the café was welcoming with lots of natural light and a view of the water fountain outside (a second floor dining area is also availble).
I ordered a cup of the soup of the day, something like pumpkin-​squash, that smelled as good as it tasted. I also had a caprese panini that was pretty good too. The potato chips appeared to be made in-​house and were also decent; not too greasy or over-​cooked. Bonus, they have fresh-​brewed, un-​sweetened ice tea and an incredible, decadent looking lemon bar that I ultimately resisted.

I had a few hours to kill and this place was close to where I was staying so I parked to work and eat. The salad was pretty good and the staff was nice. No wait staff, so don’t expect to impress a date. But if you want to hang out and eat, drink and surf or work, happy to recommend.

This was my first time at North and Clark Café. I have to say I was expecting a high priced venue considering it was attached to the museum. Boy was I surprised when I arrived the café serves salad, panini’s, burger’s, and sandwiches
I had the O’Hare chicken sandwich. It was grilled chicken, mayo and choice of 3 cheeses. I chose Cheddar. You could order fries for an additional .75. The sandwich tasted good and the fries were good as well.
For a place in the downtown area of Chicago the food is very fair priced. My sandwich was $ 7.50 plus .75 for fries instead of homemade potato chips.
If your heading to the museum I’d advise eating here, plenty of space to eat and affordable.

Might have given more stars if I could have actually found my way in. Tried two doors that were locked. I just wanted a cold beverage. Whys it gotta be so hard?

This is one of my neighborhood favorites. The staff is always friendly and the food really good. They serve basic lunch fare salads, wraps, sandwiches at good prices and they have a full coffee bar. The seating area is so pretty with large windows. I just wish they had longer hours so I could stop over after work.

Hmmm, hungry and in need of some food while at the chicago history museum, North&Clark café is a very easy solution.
All I needed was a sanwich, so I settled on a chicken+cheddar+bbq sauce. It had the kitschy name of our fair airport: midway. this was pretty good. Granted, put a bit of bbq sauce, add some cheddar, and I’m probably gonna enjoy it regardless.
The only disappointment was the chips. They were just too greasy for me. They also looked like they had been cooked a bit too much as well. Since I was hungry, eating them was happening, it just took me longer to eat them
The price wasn’t too bad all things considered, it is the old townish area after all. I ended up paying like $ 9ish for the full meal. It didn’t really come off as a museum meal type place, if that makes sense. It was a solid sandwich with below average chips. So, 3 stars it is

Did you know that you can eat gourmet sandwiches, nosh on fancy fries, gulp down grape soda (made with sugar and not hfcs), and sip on aromatic coffee… at one of the best museums in the city? I didn’t know it either until I ate at North & Clark.
Usually museum cafes have a ‘keep it moving’ mentality. The food is nothing special. I can’t blame them. Getting so much foot (and tourist) traffic, the goal has got to be efficiency. Makes sense. But, at North & Clark, they’ve slowed their step just a bit and the quality shows. I’ve had two meals there so far and they’ve both been quite satisfying. The paninis I had were both full of ingredients and flavor. I had a ‘special’ and an Italian-​inspired sandwich and both hit the spot… and filled me up. I have a big appetite and I wasn’t left feeling hungry. Sandwiches come with a dill pickle spear (love when places include this) and fries. You can fancy yours up for a slight upcharge. I liked mine the way they were served, so I left well enough alone. And, any time I can get locally-​produced grape soda made from the real stuff… well, that’s always worth an extra star (comes in orange as well).
You can choose to either sit in the main lounge or in the back open-​air café/​atrium thingie. Choose the latter. The tables are metallic and the chairs are comfortable… but the view will draw you in. Fully ensconced in glass, you’ll feel as though you’re dining in a giant birdcage with views of Lincoln Park. The temperature control is spot on. You won’t feel cold in winter or warm in the summer. And, the reason why you can luxuriate in this splendor? You’re waited on. That’s right. You order at the counter, take a number and wait for your food to be brought to you. It’s a little touch but one I enjoyed. The employees I dealt with were all nice and professional. Again, I felt as though I was in a separately-​operated restaurant and not a museum eatery. It only takes a few minutes to improve upon a dining experience but the impression will last forever. Well done, North & Clark, for setting the bar high.

Nothing special — we had lunch here a few months ago, after visiting the Chicago History Museum. The food was good, but it did not feel like a café at all… The upside was there the museum shop was just around the corner, so it ended up for being an OK experience after all.

We ate here today only because we were in the Chicago History Museum (where the café is located) and others in my party didn’t want to venture elsewhere to dine. Mistake!
If you order a sandwich, don’t plan on getting it any other way than the way it comes. I ordered the bacon grilled cheese and asked for no tomatoes; they brought it with no onions. I said that was wrong; they took it back and returned in too short a time to have made a new sandwich with a sandwich with no tomatoes. Yet when the sandwich was opened… telltale tomato seeds and juice inside. Have some class and make a new sandwich. Have you never heard of allergies? You could make someone sick doing things like that.
In addition, the hot chocolate I ordered was all hot milk with only the barest hint of cocoa flavor.
Skip this place. Museum restaurants are usually never any good and this one certainly wasn’t.