Madison Park Kitchen

I am glad this relatively new café is doing so well. Whenever I go there are a ton of people waiting to eat. Don’t be intimidated by the large amounts of people; they seat people really fast.
The menu has a large variety of breakfast/​lunch options for all ages. Every time I go I get the Nutella and strawberry waffle they are AMAZING!!! I come here just for them. On Sundays, they have a delicious cream of rice soup I strongly recommend. The tea and coffee are also good quality, and people I go with rave about the skillets.
The last couple times I went we’ve had at least one order messed up, but it is understandable since they are usually really busy and they have a really extensive menu.

I always get a skillet, they never fail to impress. Lots of food, but spot on for the price. Eggs Benedict are great too, when I snag tastes off of my guests plates. Bacon is not soggy. Thank goodness, bacon can make or break a brunch joint.

Cute ambience, seemingly family owned, diner style with great food and reasons prices. I hate the southern skillet and it was delicious!!! It was also a large portion. Could barely get through half of it. Had the rest for breakfast the next day! I highly recommend :) Enjoy!

This is a great place to go for breakfast/​lunch. The menu is huge and should satisfy anyone. The food was delicious and our waitress, Christine, was was friendly, funny and always there with the coffee refills! MP Kitchen is the kind of place that is perfect any time of year, a place that is warm and cozy where you can sit and catch up with friends and family members of all ages. Highly recommended!

Service was ridiculous!!!
We entered 3 other ladies & myself, we were greeted and seated promptly, seemed to be off 2 a great start! WRONG!!! We got our waitress and she was straight from the trailer park!!! STRAIGHT GHETTO TRASH. Her greeting was what can I get you? Ummmm ok
We ordered and she was dry & tired, but we kind of let that go. Food comes and everytime we need something we can’t find her she has disappeared to the back. So we start asking another waitress for EVERYTHING! Coffee, napkins, replacement on items. Omg this was not good. Can’t even get to the various food items we all ordered because we kept complaining about the food. Ik I ordered a Chef’s special it was $ 6.95 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 bacon, & sausage. Everything was good. (Didn’t get eggs, I don’t eat those) I asked later to add more pancakes which they couldn’t do. So things at this point are comical to say the least. We asked for the check. Our original waitress appears, when it’s time to pay. We tipped the other waitress & told the original waitress on a napkin her tip is 2 get her fix before work so she can actually work! I’d definitely go back, but I wouldn’t sit w/​her sorry ass!

Madison park kitchen is ok. They keep changing their menu options and you don’t really have alot of choices. The food is ok. Service is good too. Kinda pricey breakfest and lunch.

I love LOVE love this place! I’m so mad that I’ve lived one block away and just after 5 years decided to try them! I’ve been 3 times already and every time the experience is awesome!
The food is beyond fresh and flavorful! Seems like they have a garden on the roof, it’s so fresh!
Very reasonable prices!
Coffee is so darn delicious!
And I even drink the water which is rare for me! Most restaurant water taste awful! Waitress are always pleasant and nice!
Good place to take a new date, family for a brunch or even go alone!
Can’t wait to go back!

I came here with my mom and sister for a girls brunch. We came on a snowy weekday morning, and didn’t have to wait for even a second before we had our own cozy table in the corner. Our waitress got us coffee and soda right away and was an absolute pleasure to work with.
My mom had an omelette. You can either build your own or choose an omelette from their list of creations. I ordered the Shanghai wrap which had stir-​fry vegetables, greens and teriyaki. I didn’t order it with any meat because I am vegan. My dish came with fries, but I upgraded to sweet potato fries. My little sis had the Caprese sandwich which came with greens, tomato, fresh mozzarella, and balsamic reduction served on a baguette.
At the end of the meal we couldn’t help but notice that not everybody cleared their plate like we usually do. The consensus was that the food was just «okay,» and unfortunately could have been much better. For example, the omelette lacked flavor and was just sort of empty-​tasting. The Caprese sandwich was the most disappointing as the cheese was hardened, and had a definitive funky flavor. We think it could have been spoiled. The Shanghai wrap was very soggy and was filled with overcooked, soggy peppers. We felt badly, and didn’t want to complain, so we ate what we could and decided that maybe this just wasn’t meant to be on our list of places to eat in Forest Park.

Management not held responsible for renegade flying sausages.
That’s what a sign in their foyer should read, next to the «people love us on Unilocal!» sticker and a flyer for the local string quartet.
MPK has an awesome menu that’s brimming with breakfast choices, none of which can do you wrong. Whether you go savory (the skillets and egg-​muffin dishes are amazing) or opt for sweet (cookies ‘n’ crème pancakes, anyone?), there’s nothing here that I’ve gotten and not enjoyed. Service has typically been diligent and friendly and food comes out in a reasonable amount of time.
On my most recent visit here (1÷24÷16), Jackie S and I had a hankering for hash browns, so we stopped in and were handed a number and asked to wait 10 – 15 minutes. No sweat, it was a Sunday at 11am and the joint was jumpin’. The place was packed with families, many of whom had small children that numbered into the dozens (dozens, I tell you!) This is where the rogue sausage links come into play.
Because table turnover was paramount, not much attention was given to the condition of the dining room. Point in case: a (rather overwhelmed) father and his 3 kids sat at an 8-​top next to us, and while the older two young’ins were busy scarfing down their Mickey Mouse pancakes/​making a mess, the youngest spent his time picking up breakfast sausages… and javelin-​style throwing them across the table. One hit the father (sorry dad), one bounced and landed on the floor, and a third sausage came sailing my way before settling underneath our table. Mind you, we found this most hilarious, but amidst all the Sunday morning commotion, nobody thought to pick them up! Eventually I notified a busboy and they took care of it, but for a good 10 minute window, there was a random sausage link rolling around a high traffic area.
Underneath our table was an assortment of scrambled egg pieces, half-​eaten bacon, sausage projectile #3, and a general syrupy disaster left over from the table’s previous customers. It was like a breakfast fragmentation grenade had gone off. I’d venture a guess that after we left, it still wasn’t cleaned up. Hmmph.
Bread = 4.5
Circuses = 2.5
Like I said, food was great. Little pricey, but Jackie S’s «Desperado» skillet came with chorizo, green pepper, onions, mushrooms, and jalapeño, and was pronounced most excellent. My Tex-​Mex egg sammy included fresh avocado, thick-​cut bacon, Monterey jack cheese, and came with a side of hash browns, cooked perfectly.
I’ll happily return in the future, I just hope that by then they’ll have all their sausages picked up and accounted for.

Great breakfast joint– their Berry Explosion Waffle is killer.
PROS: Cute breakfast/​brunch spot, tasty food
CONS: It smells of sewer— I don’t know what it is about that area, the restaurant before that Thyme and Honey and the bank also smells strongly of sewer. Off putting first thing in the morning, when you’re trying to eat breakfast.

Everything we tried was good! I had a ham and cheese omelette and my son end up taking my food. Lol I order the Cinnamon crunch French Toast and they were delicious!
A little pricey but great quality of food and service! We will definitely be back!

Been to this location multiple times. Now that I am Unilocaling I decided to write a review. Best place for breakfast and lunch in the river forest area. It’s clean atmosphere, awesome service, great food, fresh ingredients, good portions. A must try if you are in the neighborhood. Best of all complementary soup with your meals

I’ve come here a handful of times and they never disappoint on my most recent trip I had their Oreo pancakes and omg was I in heaven!
Those pancakes were pure perfection they also made really great breakfast skillets. And breakfast nachos there isn’t anything I had there that wasn’t good!
Love the décor gives it a really home-​y feel!
Service is always great

Went here for Sunday brunch. Traditional menu with something for everyone. We ordered an omelette, pumpkin pancakes, sausage & eggs, portobello benny, and corned beef hash. Food came out promptly. Everything was enjoyed, portions & taste. Liked how the entrees we ordered came with a side. Would return x)

Tried the clam chowder, which was nice and hearty on a fall afternoon, with the Reuben sandwich, which was just okay. It’s no ‘Manny’s’ but the quality of food is consistent. Very family friendly and comfortable dining area. The wait staff was again quick and courteous.
The food is definitely better than Thyme and Honey, that used to occupy the same space not very long ago.

We came upon this place one Sunday looking for a late breakfast. The place where MP is used to be another nice breakfast restaurant, we didn’t realize that a new BETTER breakfast spot had moved in! The breakfast here is Deelish, hot and fresh. Pancakes are fluffy n flavorful! That’s saying a lot because im a self-​proclaimed pancake critic. Good portion sizes as well n the skillet are the best!

Forest Park has come a long way since it’s border-​line seedy days of the 1990s when I was a resident. MP Kitchen is a fine example of FP’s new upscale attitude, but MP doesn’t give you attitude, it gives you good breakfast in big portions served friendly.
Don’t get be wrong, Madison Street still has lots of bars, including the eternal Doc Ryan’s. You can still go on a pretty good bender and eat BG fries from Sub T’s. So when you wake up in your car or an alley, if you don’t stink too much, brush yourself off and head over to MP kitchen and evaluate your choices over a huge omelet or giant stack of pancakes.
Do something with your life! But start with a good breakfast!

We ate here when it was Thyme and Honey (the previous restaurant at this location) and then ate here again when MPK opened. It gets very very busy! They have awesome skillets but they don’t have fresh jalapeños. The restaurant is packed when full and at times cramped. There is street parking for free but limited. Service is average. The food is above average. The restaurant is clean and unique in regards to décor. Definitely recommend you come here for a visit or two.

Earlier this morning, I hit a patch of ice on the highway, the car spun, hit another car, and hit a wall. Somehow, we not only survived the crash, but both of the cars involved also survived relatively unscathed. To celebrate our lives and luck, we decided to go out for brunch. It was still snowing like crazy when we parked in a nearby lot, so we were relieved to find an unassuming sign, which was easy to almost miss because it was covered almost completely with snow.
Service: We were seated right away and the hostess allowed us to choose where we were going to be seated. Of course, we chose the booth. When in doubt, always go with the booth. Our waitress had a LOT of character, service that could probably be pretty polarizing (for example, when we ordered sweet potato fries to share in addition to our meals, she said, «I’m not going to judge you. Okay, maybe I am»). I loved it, though. She was still really friendly and I felt like we were being served by a friend or something. Our food came out VERY quickly, which was a pleasant surprise. We had to wait a little bit for her to take note we had finished eating, but when she did appear, she had our check already, which was great.
Food: So, when we first got there, I had trouble deciding what to order. I’m a decisive person, too. This menu was just filled with a bunch of really appetizing-​sounding food. I ended up deciding on the frittata with the pancakes. The pancakes were good, but I’ve had fluffier in the suburb. This was the first time I had ever had a frittata and I enjoyed it. My girlfriend was really enthused about her crepes because they were filed with an assortment of fresh berries.
Our meal ended up being about $ 28, which was a fine price for a TON of food. We each had leftovers, which we plan on eating for dinner later today. Now that’s good value.

MPK is totally nice! I’m generally a creature of habit when it comes to ordering food at restaurants. For example, when I go to lunch at Subway down the street, I don’t even have to say anything. My guy has my sandwich memorized. Sometimes he knows better than I do what I want.
In contrast, at MPK, I’ve actually tried VARIOUS items on their menu which is just about unheard of for me.
It has one of those very varied menus, but everything tastes way higher quality and «cleaner» than a similar type of restaurant. I also love that they serve their water WITHOUT ice. I hate ice in my water (for numerous reasons that I won’t go into now).
As far as what I’ve had on the menu (that I can recall), we’ve got:
–the berry blast crepes (very good, though I’m not a huge fan of blackberries)
–caprese panini (which I would usually order w/​sweet potato fries)
–garlic omelette (AMAZING, but I stink like garlic for several days)
–eggurito (sp?) which is probably my current favorite item. It’s scrambled egg wrapped in a tortilla with cheese, other random veggies, and jalapeños served with salsa and sour cream
–their pancakes are some of the best I’ve ever had despite not being a huge pancake person
I’m sure there are other things, but I fail to think of them now.
They give free soup with their sandwiches, and I hear the lemon drop is divine, but I can’t have it because it’s chicken based.
It’s a good alternative to more greasy places nearby that serve somewhat similar offerings.