The Cousins

The cousins is gone! We went this morning and it was closed. This was one of my FAVORITE spots. Did they move to another location or close for good?

Love, love their brunch specials.
We’ve been here for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner.
Again, you must try their specials! We love going here with friends and love the cozy atmosphere. You aren’t rushed when you’re there. It just feels homey and did I mention that everything tastes so fresh!
I will say this… when and if they do have Mexican Benedict as a special, get it! Try their stuffed pepper soup… amazingly delicious!

Stopped in for lunch, had a very nice time. My Chicken Florentine was Awesome!!! Well be back in the future for breakfast :-) The service was very attentive and GREAT, thank you to my server for an awesome lunch experience. :-)

Food was dope. I had the crab benedict. It was a little too crabby for my man friend but I thoroughly enjoyed it. And he loved his breakfast platter. However, SERVICE WAS HORRIBLE. Our waiter dripped water from the pitcher all across the table, onto my man friends pancakes, pants, and shoes. When I ordered my cappuccino, I recieved an eye roll. Water glasses werent refilled until they both were completely empty (which left me with no water for a good 15 – 20 minutes.) And when we received the check, silence. No «thanks for coming in» or «anything else?» Straight silence. So rude. Probably wont be back due to the atrocious service. Dont know the plump 40something year old mans name since he didnt give us so much as a good morning. Thumbs DOWN.

I ate here once a couple of years ago and was recently going through some old photos and found one where I had taken a picture of this place to remember and thus this review is long over due.
I literally stumbled upon it while going on a walk looking for something to eat for a late breakfast. I was really excited to find that they had breakfast skillets as that’s my favorite breakfast and they did not disappoint. Since it has been a while, I don’t remember some of the finer details other than enjoying my meal and liking the service. It seemed like a 2 person team of one server and one cook. I liked the simplicity.
Being in town now for a few weeks I plan to come here again. I had actually been thinking about it recently but forgot the name and only had a vague idea/​memory of where it was located. Thanks to past me for taking the photo.

Went for brunch… classic choices. No corking fee for BYOB was great for mimosas… but the server seemed way less-​than-​excited to be working :-/

this place never fails to make us happy!!! This summer, their salads have been delicious, with a variety of vegies and the greens are always so fresh. The vinaigrette is spot on.
A couple of nights ago, I had the lobster ravioli in a red wine sauce. Delightful. And my husband’s salmon was well cooked too and very flavorful.
The carrot cake was different, with a bit of whipped cream on it, in addition to the cream cheese frosting (not too sweet, either). We liked it.
We love the fact that in the many times we have eaten there, we have never had a poorly prepared dish. The variety is so eclectic. And the fact that we can bring our own wines without even a corkage fee is so customer-​friendly.
The Cousins is our «go to» restaurant when we don’t want to cook.

Breakfast was good for the price and service was fast. Coffee could have been better, but it’s not a coffee place anyway.

BYOB, great patio and discount for checking out. Great spot! Really calm and peaceful for brunch.

The chilaquiles are amazing. For real, skip out on the skillets or omelets. You can get that at any Denny’s, IHOP, or Golden Nugget. Get the fucking chilaquiles with overeasy eggs. Thank me later.

They are still doing their thing and I am happy for them as it is a great place for me to walk to for food. Tonight one of the special was spinach/​cheese crepes covered in cheese sauce with a chicken tortilla soup. Very yummy and the price was right. There was also a lovely roasted herb chicken special in an orange sauce with mashed sweet potatoes.
For a neighborhood place, they do amazing specials if you want to to go beyond the burger selection. Also you can’t beat the homemade tiramisu and no corkage fee for BOYB.

Cousins was a good diner style breakfast place. We went for the breakfast menu and I enjoyed myself. The service was good and the food was fine as well. I thought the pancakes were nice a fluffy. The Belgian waffle with walnuts was nice because the walnuts come with a sweet glazed topping which was pretty unique.
I would have to add that the order taking could have been better. We had to repeat the order a few times and there were still a mistake or two. No big deal, as they were very nice about correcting it.
Overall, I enjoyed the breakfast, but I don’t know if it’s worth the special trek up from downtown. We paid the visit due to the positive Unilocal reviews. If you’re already nearby, I would recommend you stop by.

Partner and I stopped her for breakfast before going to Midsomerfest this year. My chihuahua Skillet was quite tasty and reasonably priced. It wasn’t a huge portion (and I really need to be cutting back anyway) but it was enough. Partner liked his selection as well (I tasted the pancakes which were delicious). The space is bright and inviting; the service was friendly and efficient. We’ll be back.

Last night my friend Michelle and I had dinner at the Cousins.
We were welcomed by Carlos who seems to be the man
who does it all at this Restaurant.
I love this restaurant. so charming and peaceful.
Michelle and I were there for 2 hours enjoying our dinner
and to my great friend Michelle. Thank You for being
the great person you are.
This has been my 2^nd. visit here and Michelle’s first and I
think she enjoyed her Chicken Parmesean very much.
And. okay. I had to order Tiramisu for dessert since they
make it fresh on premisis. and you can taste the difference. truly.
So. to the great staff at The Cousins. I say Thank You once again.
You never seem to disappoint.
And to Carlos. I would like to say what this 5 year old little boy
said to you as he was leaving the restaurant with his parents.
Gracias Carlos.

I am giving it 4 stars because it was your basic breakfast and it was the day after Bakin and Eggs (which rocked!) But the basic breakfast was really good. Scrambled eggs, ham, and taters… I was impressed with how simple the place is inside and the service was great.
If you are looking for a quick, quiet, and very good breakfast spot this is the one. It was also on Chicago’s Best as one of the top breakfast places in the city.

Lori L, Megan G and I were looking forward to the extended weekend. We wanted to do what any responsible, young professional would do after a hard week’s work and unwind on a Saturday afternoon with bottomless mimosas and a hearty brunch. The only problem is that brunch is typically a Sunday deal and bottomless mimosas (especially at a decent price) seemed to be few and far between.
After weighing our options of the usual suspects, we decided to throw in the towel and pick somewhere closer and more convenient. The Cousins was well within walking distance, it was cheap, the reviews are very favorable, and it’s BYOB. Have OJ? Will make mimosas!
You’re not allowed to keep your booze on the patio, but you can give it to your waiter and they will chill it for you and bring it to you when you need a refill. Our glasses never went empty and the OJ went well with the Brut. We also drank a bottle of wine and split my Ace Pear Cider pack.
To soak up all the alcohol, we made sure to order something substantial in size and calories but not heavy hitting on the wallet. Everything on the menu sounds appetizing and it’s hard to decide when most of it’s priced between $ 7 – 9 dollars. Megan and I studied the menu carefully and were torn between a few items. We both went with the Chihuahua Skillet, which is loaded with sliced «hash brown» potatoes, chorizo, jalapenos, cilantro and onions. It’s topped with an abundance of chihuahua cheese and two eggs any style. I was hell bent on finishing every last delicious bite before the margarita marathon we did later in the afternoon.
We split the bill and added a generous tip for our wonderful waiter. It came out to $ 12 per person. Needless to say, I look forward to returning for breakfast and I hope to come for dinner too. I have my eye on the Chihuahua NY Strip Steak.

I’m not sure who the cousins are, because the two guys there were clearly not related; but I had a good solid breakfast here on a recent Saturday morning. The cousins is one of those place that you kind of forget about because of its side street location off Clark on the Ravenswood/​Uptown border. I stopped on one of my walks to the lakefront. The décor is nice and bright and colorful with original art. Very casual and unpretentious neighborhood diner. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are available.
The breakfast menu has a nice selection of egg, pancake, waffle and skillet offerings. I ordered a Greek Omelet with hash browns and turkey sausage on the side (I would recommend skipping that last item and just getting regular sausage or bacon.) The omelet was big and tasty and the hash browns, a baseline must for me at a breakfast place, were excellent. Coffee was good and bottomless. In addition to the menu items, there are chalkboard specials which go beyond diner fare: a special walnut Belgian Waffle for breakfast, Lobster ravioli for dinner. I would love to come back and try that. This would probably be a good Sunday Supper choice for casual and inexpensive dining.
The service here was friendly and casual, and there were some neighborhood regulars here who seemed to be friends with the server. Familiarity is always a nice touch. Prices are reasonable and I doubt the place ever gets too crowded, since there were only three full tables Saturday around noon. So a good accessible independent neighborhood diner where you can find sustenance from 7AM until 10PM.

Another place found as a result of the primary choice not being available. Initially, we were going to go to Tizal Café to get one of their Oatmeal shakes. But they were still closed even though hours state something different. So, as we passed Cousins, I said this is our backup if Tizal is closed.
Décor wise, it was ok. I can get beyond ok décor as long as the food is decent.
I ordered a Belgian Waffle with ham. My partner ordered a double triple (2 eggs, 2 sausage patties, 2 pieces of toast. I enjoyed my breakfast and would definitely go back. Thanks Tizal for being closed. Found another local place to support!

House made tiramisu? Yes, please!
Let’s not jump ahead too far. I didn’t really know The Cousins existed because it’s eclipsed by that country western juggernaut called Carol’s. Don’t let that throw you off. The Cousin’s is pretty classy, casual and homey. The night we went there, the place was completely empty and we weren’t sure if it was actually open. We stood at the door awkwardly for a few minutes before deciding to leave. The owner chased us down and very politely informed us that they were, in fact, open. We sat, and awkwardness fading fast, he made us feel right at home.
I picked a gnocchi dish from the specials menu on the wall. It was wonderful but since I filled up on complementary warm bread and olive oil waiting for the food, I couldn’t finish. At the end of our meal they pushed dessert on us, and I was about to refuse until he said the T word. Probably some of the best tiramisu I ever had. We loved the place and we vowed to come back one day.
I have to throw this in there, since my girlfriend is a pescetarian. They do have veggie and seafood items. For those wanting to go BYOB, according to the website, there is no corkage fee.

My Dude and I were looking for some breakfast today using the Unilocal app on our iPhones. For the first time, The Cousins came up. Maybe it’s new? Maybe we just didn’t notice it before? Either way, it’s only 4 blocks away so we should walk over and give it a whirl.
As everyone else said, it was pretty empty. When we sat down, there was only one other table.
So, my Dude and I agreed… we honestly don’t know what everyone talking about when they say the menu is «extensive». The skillet menu and the omelet menu were basically the same thing. There was nothing that actually came with a breakfast meat, you had to order it on the side.
On top of it, sadly, the waitress committed one of my biggest server pet peeves: she sat us, gave us menus, let us look them over for a while. When I ordered corned beef hash, THAT’S she told me they were out of it. Sigh. That’s information that would have been helpful BEFORE I looked at the menu. Back to the drawing board…
We both ended up getting the chihuahua skillet (but I REALLY wanted corned beef, dammit!). We agreed that there was just not enough chorizo in there. The jalapenos were abundant which was nice but I felt like it was just mostly potatoes. We also shared an order of pancakes which were decent. Not fantastic, not awesome, just good. The coffee, however, was very good. They didn’t have any decaf made when we sat down and made it fresh for me… yum.
It was ok but with so many good breakfast options in the area, I doubt we’ll be back.