Ann Sather

This restaurant is suggested in just about every Chicago book I come across. Most importantly, it was in Chicago With Kids and Chicago Free and Dirt Cheap. Since we were headed downtown for Liesel's haircut, we decided to tie in a budget-conscious lunch.

Ann Sather is a Swedish restaurant famous for their cinnamon buns. As promised, it was very kid-friendly. Any noise or mess the girls made was lost in the hustle and bustle. I've never been big on cinnamon buns, but when they come appropriately sized, warm, with sticky sweet icing who can refuse? We were delighted to find it may be the only thing on earth Ireland is NOT interested in eating!
Although breakfast is served all day, I had to try the Swedish meatballs. It was a good choice (and yes, much better than IKEA). The plate was steaming and somehow stayed that way down to my last bite. The girls were more than happy with their scrambled eggs and chocolate milk. There didn't seem to be a kid's menu but our affable waiter didn't even flinch when I asked him to split an order into two plates.

There are 4 locations and we went to the Wrigleyville one. I loved this sign over the door. In case you can't read it from the photo it says, "May the road to Wrigley rise to meet you. May the sun always shine on your back. May the wind blow out to greet you and may the Cubs find the winning track." Love it!

Next time we go, Brent is planning to get the waffles with lingonberries and I want to try the crab cake Benedict. Since the girls get up at the crack of dawn and they open at 7AM that may be sooner rather than later! As we were leaving a sweet old lady told me how beautiful the girls were. She said she had two little girls once, but they grew up and went away. Liesel and Ireland gave her a smile and a wave on our way out the door.