I think I'm the only Filipina in the Chicagoland area to have not visited Uncle Mike's Place. For a while it seemed like one by one, all my IRL Yelp friends were visiting and giving it huge stars. I give Uncle Mike 3.5 stars. I love Filipino breakfast. I could eat it every meal...kind of funny because I love breakfast food in general. Filipino breakfast is garlicky, super filling and best to have with a Coke with it to cut through the fat and the eggs. My son and I came here for lunch and although he loves tocino and rice, he opted for the grilled cheese and fries. I went full Filipino and got my tocilog--Tocino (house cured pork shoulder, cooked up in a frying pan) with 2 eggs over easy, all served over garlic rice. We did get the arroz caldo starter soup (chicken rice soup, like Congee if you will) and the Champarrado (chocolate rice porridge, kind of like chocolate oatmeal). The food was good--the eggs perfectly cooked, the tocino cooked with some charred edges (the best!), but don't hate me when I say, I've had better. But this comes from a gal who goes to the PI every other year and stays in the provinces. And you know the food is best in the farmland. To me, my breakfast was good, it just needed more garlic, more flavor to the tocino. It was a huge portion too--enough for 2 people, or one person with leftovers. I'd come back for sure, maybe try the longanisa or bangus breakfast...service was friendly. And all the servers were busy, ensuring folks had drinks, didn't need anything, etc. I dig their "Got Filipino" shirts too. read more

Don't be scared. No, seriously, stop that. You have to try Uncle Mike's. I'd never had Filipino cuisine before, and they have both that and standard American fare. This is definitely the place to eat outside of your comfort zone if you're new to Filipino food! The lugao (soup with chicken, rice and garlic) is made fresh daily and it's delicious! Tastes like Greek avgolemono soup, but with yummy fried garlic bits on top! Comes with all eat-in meals. Be warned about the Longanisa & Tocino breakfast--it's HUGE! Anise Wine-Cured Sweet Chorizo (not spicy) & Pork Shoulder (similar to Chinese spareribs) with eggs, garlic fried rice and salsa-like mixture with fish sauce and vinegar, and a cocoa sticky rice pudding. (The pudding wasn't standard accompaniment, just a bonus amuse (inter)bouche, and not super sweet.) It was all terrific! For the less adventuresome, the Monte Cristo sandwich was great--griddled to perfection and delightfully melty. The thick-cut slab bacon was tasty and not crazily salty, as bacon goes. (I mean, it's bacon, so it's salty, but the thickness makes it meaty and tasty!) and perfectly cooked--crispy, but not burned. Service was terrific--we never had to ask for coffee or water refills, and at the end of the meal they came around with another amuse (post)bouche of a hot oatmeal/cinnamon/banana/apple dessert! A great time was had by all with what was, for us, quite a culinary adventure! read more

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OMG this place is so bomb. I love the menu. The waitress was so friendly. Loved the tile walls and green ceiling. The soup starter was so delicious I wanted a whole gallon of it. The Tocino was so sweet and tasty, the rice was perfectly garlicky. Will be back ASAP! read more

My first foray into Filipino food! You heard me, people. My Asian brothers from another mother, yo! As soon as I sat down, I spotted the "sofrito" on a shelf and a huge smile came across my face. I'm half Puerto Rican and this is our gold!!! There are plenty of options on the menu but their specialty here are the "Filipino" breakfast specials. I went with the Tocino and eggs and ordered a side of pancakes for the wee one. Before our meal comes, we are served "lugaw" which is their version of a congee. I've never had either and I'm glad this was my first! Garlicky rice that was creamy and jam packed with flavor. Ok. Our friendly server arrives with what has to be the BIGGEST plate ever. On it are my perfectly over-medium eggs over garlic fried white rice (another big thing in the PR community is a fried egg over rice), a huge serving of tocino, a bowl of something similar to a pico de gallo, and a small bowl of what looked like cocoa crispies! Everything was sooo good (wasn't crazy about the cocoa crispy dish) and I am glad to have found this place! P.S-they serve Intelligentsia coffee here and offer free tea when dining in house. read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Tocino Breakfast - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Long Live Filipino Breakfast!!! I have never tasted their main menu only the dishes on the Filipino Breakfast, because it's just so #$)%&@) goood!!! The dish comes with garlic fried rice, two eggs, toast, and choice of sausage, pork shoulder, spam, skirt steak, or pork chop. I had the first three but not the later two (one being that I don't eat beef). The pork shoulder and sausage are truly truly the best Asian flavored meat I have had in Chi town. I am sorry to BBQ King and all these other restaurants in Chinatown and Argyle, but it's just soo much better. The meats are marinated to the perfect amount and the sausage reminded me of my childhood in Taipei and Bangkok. The spam was good as well but spam is and always have been on the salty side for me. So imagine two sunny side up eggs' (my personal preference) broken yolk flowing over the garlic fried rice with either pork shoulder or sausage dipped in the yolk, and did I mentioned the homemade sauce? ( a mixture of fish sauce, vinegar, and more) all mixed into one into your mouth with all the different flavors dancing accordingly energizing different parts of your pallet.... please tell me you are drooling now because I am!!! You think that's it right? just a big plate of rice and meat..... NOPE!!! they have homemade Lugaw, which is Filipino for porridge or congee. Sorry to hate on Chinatown again..... but that bowl of congee reminded me of the streets of Asoke in Bangkok where I used to grab my breakfast during summer vacation... On top of that Uncle Mike is such a genuine man. We contemplated his dishes and the next thing you know he was explaining to us how to make it. Additionally once Uncle Mike learned that we are from Thailand he began to talk about his adventure with sticky rice, and the proper way to make the sticky rice for mango with sticky rice. Fantastic place and I am such a fan that I even wrote to DDD on Food Channel begging them to come! read more

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I'm filipino, and I'm thinking to myself I could make this at home! I can pick this up at Uni-Mart. Why am I here?! I'll tell you why! 5 stars for their champorado man! I've had champorado before but there is just something that they add to give it an awesome twist. Is it vanilla? Is it coconut? I don't know. However, I do know that it is awesome! Their combo dishes are nicely priced I must say because you get Lugo/arroz caldo and Champorado along with your combo. I'm definitely coming back. read more

i never even knew what filipino breakfast was until Uncle Mike's came into my life. I've consistently gotten their tocino breakfast combo which is grilled cured pork shoulder with eggs, garlic fried rice, and a bowl of lugao (aka congee aka porridge). It does the trick everytime. I leave with a full belly and extremely satisfied. Their house coffee is, surprisingly, good! Like really, really good for a diner. I usually get 3 refills. Why not when it's free? Sometimes, maybe when they had the chance to eat breakfast before working, will give out free dessert! I got chocolate rice pudding once. It doesn't sound appetizing, but low and behold, i gulped it in a minute. My bf has gotten the bangus breakfast, which is the boneless marinated milkfish, and the longanisa breakfast - sweet chorizo sausages. Every breakfast combo comes with eggs, garlic rice, and a bowl of porridge which has a hint of lemon. Plates are HUGE so i always have leftovers. The grilled pork and sausages are only $9.95, milkfish was $14.95. Warning: I havent been to other filipino breakfast joints so maybe that's why i think so highly of Uncle Mike's, but i'm really content with this place cuz it hits the spot, everytime. read more

Uncle Mike's Place - boneless marinated milkfish - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Really good Filipino breakfast. Service is quick. The longaniza was delicious. The flavor mixed with the garlic rice and the pico de galo was awesome. That brown thing that comes along with your food (seems like re-fried beans, but it's not) might be an acquired taste, but it was interesting to try. good portion size, good prices, good coffee. The reason I'm giving this place four stars is only because of the space itself. I found it a little crowded, but it is a dinner and I believe this is just my personal preference. I have an eye for aesthetics, and I thought they could improve the layout of the place a little. Clearly they broke some wall to have access to the back room , and the reform is still unfinished, but there were people eating at the back room anyways. But you know what they say - as long as the food is good, why look at the small stuff? Btw I don't know if anyone says that. I just made it up. read more

I rate this about a 3.5 stars but I'm rounding up because it satisfied my filipino food cravings and portions are huge! The inside of the restaurant is a bit confusing because of all the mismatched decor. They have a fairly good sized front room, but when you walk towards the bathroom, you can see there's a huge room in the back of the restaurant that can seat more people. It looked almost like a school cafeteria which was a bit off. The Filipino breakfast platters are all about $15 or so. I went with the Tocilog and Longanisa combo. Rice Porridge - comes free when you eat at the restaurant. A bit lemony and very garlicy! Great start to your meal Tocilog & Longanisa combo - portion is huge! Definitely sharable between 2 people. 2 pieces of Longanisa, some tocilog & 2 eggs cooked however you want. On the side, you also get a chocolate porridge and veggies. The longanisa was good but the tocilog was a little dry and didn't have as much flavor as I'd like it to. I probably would not come back here since Chicago has so many other filipino places that I have yet to try! read more

Oh, what a blessing to stumble here the morning after St. Patty's Day...you know what I mean..hangover cure! My Filipino boyfriend has been bugging me to go with him here for what seems like forever, and maybe it was my headache but I finally caved and made the trek west to this Filipino slice of heaven. First off, I was really surprised that for how greasy Filipino food can get, this really wasn't too bad. I got a toscino breakfast and i was pleasantly surprised to get the porridge before even ordering! It came with 2 eggs, rice and of course the meat!..and all to the fine tune of $10. Needless to say, I'll be back! read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Breakfast food is great. Very Filipino. Clean and very friendly. Parking is hard but nice place.

Don't have other Filipino breakfast spots to compare to but this place was really good. I got the Tocino (marinated pork shoulder) and Bangus (fish) combo platter. It came with lugao (congee or porridge), 2 sunny side up eggs, garlic fried rice and some chocolate oatmeal dessert. Unbelievable! With the generous portion size, it was all for I think $12. Definitely recommend and will definitely come back. Prepare to eat some heavy breakfast/brunch! Friend had the spam & steak combo with the longanisa?(a sweet sausage) on the side. I had the chance to try all of them but still decided that the bangus and tocino were my favorite! What made my platter 10x better is when I mixed my sunny side up eggs with the garlic rice and added sriracha. DROOL!-- try it! read more

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Uncle Mike's is hidden gem that visitors wouldn't know about. I learned about this restaurant from a friend who lived in the area and we had made plans to meet here for breakfast. It is about a 20 minute Uber ride from the Mag Mile area. From the moment I walked in it felt like a quaint mom and pop hole in the wall restaurant. I went on a Sunday afternoon and the restaurant was alive and vibrant with lots of chatter, waitresses bringing out food, and welcoming guests. Entrance space is tight and there is no formal hostess stand. You wait at either entrance until a waiter can seat you. The wait was short, about 5-10 minutes for a table of 3. Before you even order you are welcomed with a warm bowl of congee. Lightly salted with a twist of lemon. A nice way to start off my meal. I ordered and would recommend the Tocino breakfast which comes with garlic rice, eggs (any style), salsa, and a chocolate pudding dessert. Everything was great! I had a cup of coffee with breakfast and the small vintage cups make you feel like you're having breakfast at grandma's. Service was quick and friendly. They were really good at keeping water and coffee refilled. Great find in the Ukraine village in Chicago! read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Oh, man. I love this place. The food tastes like home cooking, and just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I ordered the tocino and eggs over medium with garlic rice. This massive plate of food also comes with this little bowl of chicken congee/broth and chocolate tapioca pudding. Everything was delicious and tasted authentic. Everyone who works there is very kind and friendly as well. Can't wait to go back! read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Tocino - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I, along with several of my friends, were here in Chicago last week for vacation out of California, and one of our destination spots for eats was this place. To be honest, this place doesn't deserve 5 stars.... BUT 6 or more!! The environment was calm nice and quiet with some background music (near closing they switch over to songs in tagalog), and the staff/waitress were kind and polite and so accommodating. What we all had was the Tocino breakfast I think, two eggs, two links of filipino sausage, slices of pork, rice and a bowl of chopped tomatoes and onios, and either patis (fish sauce) or vinegar. I forgot. We really enjoyed it.. and it can take a while to finish eating this plate, or we were just taking our time. Then without expecting we were given a complimentary plate on the house. It was some tasty grazed beef slices, forgive me I forgot what it was called, but it was good. So we're were finishing that up as much as we can and given another complimentary plate of Spam, with rice sprinkled with dried seaweed shreds. And the Spam tasted unique with this hint of spice, and is better than the canned Spam or other Spam that I tasted, for example the Masubi at L & L. So, again we we're finishing that up, and we were at the fullest already. Then given a complimentary plate of camote (sweet potato). I haven't had camote as a dessert that often, but again this was good and tasty. We could not finish everything I still had some pork slices and beef and spam and rice and toast, oh yeah forgot also had toast on the side with our breakfast. So we took the rest home in a box. And later we saw a gentlemen that would appear to be Uncle Mike himself. One of my friends just spoke and had quite long conversation, just talking about anything ordinary like filipino culture and where we were vacationing out of and so on, and if related or anything of that sort. Then we paid/tipped graciously and took a group picture with him. Now, I don't know why given the complimentary meals and dessert (probably because I was Facebooking where I was and taking pics of the food), but we went on a weekday about near the last hour and a half before they close. I'd think we were lucky? I don't know. We're unsure when's the next time we're ever going to be in Chicago IL again, probably not for a while. We went during the freezing time. In conclusion, for you folks traveling to Chicago and that love filipino breakfasts and other food, look no further and eat here. Seriously. read more

Note: I went back here again for the 3rd time and had to take a star away :( . Food is still great for American Filipino Breakfast however beware in the Summer months. I say this because they DO NOT Turn on the Air conditioning in the restaurant and I was drenched in sweat despite having a craving for Tocino and Logonisa Breakfast for lunch and ordering lots of water. I would still go back however not in the summer months now that I found out about this from what the staff told me about the owner's idea of not using A/C. Here is my original view below An American Filipino Surprise thanks to my older sister who told me this place in Chicago. The Tocino Breakfast was worth it. They give you hearty portions of Tocino and eggs plus 1 complementary Lugaw (or Aarroz caldo). best of all It is not that expensive either. For Older Filipinos or families that bring they can eat a fish Breakfast called Bagus (Milkfish) or a combination of other rich filled Filipino American Breakfast dishes all served also with Fried Rice all Under $16 to $12. Also called Topsy Log Bangos Log (thus Log meaning abbreviation of Egg in Filipino language, Tagalog). It is a must try if you want to experience True American Filipino or Filipino American Breakfast. Open super early 6 am to 7 pm except Sundays open 6 am to 3 pm. They serve the Filipino Breakfast for Dinner or Lunch too. Also serve American Breakfast and Lunch dishes too that are non-Filipino (or Non Pinoy) related. read more

Filipino breakfast (aka tapsilog) is what they do best! You get free rice porridge (lugao) before your meals and it is ahhmazinggg! Tastes like my grandma's cooking! For breakfast I ordered the longanisa plate which included garlic fried rice, tomato/onion salsa, egg prepared any way, and champorrado. It's truly a lot of food but I wanted to try their cornbeef hash also...hehe. At the end, I got to meet Uncle Mike himself and rolled myself out with siopao in my hand. read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

What a cool place. Definitely a great spot to try something new. Their Filipino breakfasts come with your choice of protein, eggs any style, garlic fried rice and fresh salsa (you will NOT miss your usual hash browns and ketchup). I had skirt steak which was super juicy and cooked perfectly. Boyfriend was a little more adventurous than I and got the milkfish and tocino. The portions are huge! Our server (I think his name was Jim) was super welcoming and attentive. Gave us a keychain when he found out it was our first time there. Goes without saying that we will be back! *forgot to mention the complimentary soup at the beginning of your meal, so good! read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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What an awesome breakfast! I could eat some Tocino (sweet cured pork shoulder) any day of the week. Thickly sliced and served with a side of eggs over garlic rice, this is definitely one of my new favorite breakfast dishes. A delicious plate of porky garlicky goodness any time of the day. Their Longaniza is also really good, which is a anise & red wine chorizo sausage. Both can be found on their Filipino breakfast menu, written up on the chalkboard. I saw spicy spam on the board, so I'll have to try that next time. They also have a large menu, filled with your standard diner fare such as omelettes, pancakes, and sandwiches. Plus they serve Intelligentsia coffee and have free soup on the weekend. The weekends get pretty crowded up until noon, but by around 1pm you won't have to wait long for a seat. Go hungry, make sure you order some Tocino, and if you're extra hungry get the combo with some Longaniza. read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Tocino + Longaniza combo - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I am jealous that I didn't grow up in a Filipino household after eating the breakfast here because it was slammin'. Honestly, this huge combo filipino meat and egg dish was so flavorful and really satisfying. Not only is it huge, but the flavor is intense for breakfast, which is exactly what I enjoy since I am all about the savory and not the sweet. The Filipino combo I ordered came with 2 types of Filipino meats, two large eggs served over rice(perfect for over soft to let the yolk run through the rice), some pico and a cup of soup which is similar to congee only with more flavor. Needless to say, I ate the entire plate and not only was I extremely satisfied but I was stuffed. All in all, this not so small diner on the outskirts of Ukie Village is a great place to come anytime of the day. The menu is large and the staff is friendly, and with plenty of seating for lunch on a weekend, this place is a gold-mine in a city where waits on the weekend for good breakfast food can become annoying. Enjoy Suckas'!!! read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Lugao! Like congee but more flavorful... - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Home cooking for homesick Filipinos who immigrated to California, moved to Boston, and visiting Chicago on its first day of snow. Huge plate. Very nice touch of free chicken arroz caldo cup starter amd including champorado dessert with the huge silog plate-- i got the combo tocino and bangus. read more

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The best Filipino breakfast ever! Mike is always a great host and I cannot remember a time ever leaving hungry. Love the skirt steak and longanisa combo! Must try! read more

Want some garlic with your breakfast? Well look no further than Uncle Mike's place which is a Filipino breakfast spot where everything comes with garlic, from the creamy rice soup at the start to the fried garlic rice served with most of the traditional Filipino breakfasts. We arrived at 10:30 on a very busy Sunday. Know that this place, since being featured on a local food show, is packed all the time so you will probably have to wait. Now that the weather is turning colder, they are encouraging you to use their side door (facing Grand) as what used to be the main entrance opens directly to the dining area making it freezing in there for the patrons. Lucky for us- our friends had gotten there at 10, secured a table and we were seated immediately. The menu has a mix of Filipino breakfast favorites (including a SPAM breakfast) as well as American classics such as pancakes, omlettes, etc. We ordered a range of foods from the pumpkin pancakes to a custom omelette to a couple of those crazy Filipino breakfasts. When the plates came- the portion sizes were huge! But we must have all been hungry as we cleaned our plates by the end. Service had a few timing issues with our food coming up at different times, we had to repeatedly ask for coffee and the darn door kept opening to let in the cold air which made for a chilly breakfast. But that aside, I think once this business gets back to normal after it's "recent celebrity status" it will be the place that it once was. . . . A great neighborhood place to meet up with friends for some tasty Filipino food served by servers who care. read more

Oh, I'm sorry...what? NO WAIT?! Talk about a Sunday miracle. Ok, so, let's talk about the breakfast. I was torn between the spam, bangus and the longanisa, but ultimately ended up with the longanisa. (Don't knock spam until you've tried it!) I always get the eggs over medium as it blends well with the garlic fried rice. The longanisa and garlic fried rice were perfect. It's also served with this vinegar dipping sauce (perfect to dip the meat in!) and champorado (this delish chocolate rice porridge). Comfort food-esque frealz. All for $10? Nothing makes for a better Sunday than this. They serve up a soup beforehand (arroz caldo, no?) which I devoured. I love that stuff. We were also treated to some longanisa sliders (aka pieces of longanisa on a pretzel bun). If you're not feelin' the Filipino breakfast options, they also have your typical American breakfast stuffs (eggs, bacon, omelets, pancakes) and lunch stuffs (burgers, steak sandwiches, soups). Very diverse menu and very reasonable prices! You can also order things a la carte (like, an egg and a piece of spam. I saw this happen.) if you feel like trying some items, but aren't sure how you'll feel about it. Yum! read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place is SO GOOD!! I love the garlic fried rice and skirt steak. Everything here was delicious. I can't wait to be back!! However this place is losing 1 star from me cuz the service was not good at all. My group kept on having to ask for more water and server just never came by. read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We walked the .2 miles to Uncle Mike's Place. It was a long .2 in ninety degree heat- felt like .3 or longer. The interior was cool in climate and design. Green ceiling, tiled walls, aqua cambro cups. They have half size plastic cambro cups for kids. The laminated menu reminded me of bad diner food, the coffee from Metropolis I don't like and the waiters noticeably lagged after 7 hours of Sunday brunch. Girlfriend ordered the steak and eggs only to be told ten minutes later by a tired waiter that uncle mike had run out of skirt steak. She changed her order to patty melt. The surprise was the food had quality. First we received a lemony garlicky rice porridge called lugao. The waitstaff though understandably hobbled after the bulk of a ninety plus degree shift covered coffee refills and worked as a team. A second server brought mayonnaise for my partner's patty melt. The French fries were hand cut. The potato salad was homemade. My sausages were sweet. My rice was garlicky. My eggs were cooked to perfection- over easy. I think there was fish sauce in the salsa. And despite leaving full I still limped to hoosier mama for a big piece of banana cream pie that I scarfed in its entirety like a sick dog. read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Longanisa - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Fantastic place for non-traditional brunch. You'll find plenty of Filipino breakfast & lunch staples here, including longanisa, tocino, and fried bangus (flat milkfish). Dishes are served with lugaw (rice soup) and most entrees will come with garlic rice. The staff are very friendly, the food comes out quick, and the portions are HUGE. My favorite order is the longanisa (pork sausage) and skirt steak combo, which comes with rice, a salsa side, and eggs served your choice of style. The skirt is delicious... well-marinated and juicy! You'll be hard pressed to find better steak & eggs anywhere else in Chicago, but as a fellow Filipino, I supposed I'm biased. If you're looking for Jufran banana sauce, they have it; you just have to ask. All-in-all, great place for a quick drop-in and healthy portions. If you're in the area and hungry, hungover, or both, consider coming by! read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Eggs, garlic rice, longanisa sausage and skirt steak combo. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Only took a trash picture before I was too hungry to not start eating. But this place is AMAZING !! Their Tocino combo was FIRE! We had to rush for a bus and our waiter really helped us out by rushing the kitchen and we got our food in under 15 mins at their busy hours. Did not expect such a great meal at $9. THE BEST read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Thank you fpr the complementary Lugaw!! Very delicious for a sick person . Also the omelette and fruit platter is banging! The fruit platter is huge and fresh read more

A couple of years later and I'm still LOVING this place for Filipino breakfast. The options have expanded to include bangus (Bahng-OOSZ), a marinated deep fried fish, a skirt steak, and pork chop. I know that the fish sounds weird to have first thing in the morning, but it sure is tasty! When it comes to Filipino breakfast, I am a creature of habit. I stuck with the tocino (sweet cured pork) and longanisa (Filipino-style chorizo) combo. It hit the spot as usual. My friend M jokingly mentioned that it was our friend T's birthday. Thinking that no one heard this, we were shocked when the staff came out with chocolate chip pancakes covered in whipped cream and a lit candle, singing Happy Birthday! Uncle Mike's satisfies my craving for Filipino breakfast when I don't have time to drive out to the 'burbs to see my folks. You know I'll be back! read more

The Filipino breakfast options did not look appealing, so I ordered the Classic breakfast, and it was good. Toast, bacon, scrambled eggs, and a HUGE side of fruit. The side of fruit is a huge plateful and it's seriously the FRESHEST fruit I've ever received at a restaurant. The fruit was farmers market fresh, not grocery store "fresh" and I was amazed because restaurants always give you that packaged, non-organic type fruit. I also had a pancake, and it was YUMMY. For a place promoting its Filipino breakfast menu, it has some awesome American breakfast foods! Would go back just for the American breakfast food! read more

Love Garlic? This is YOUR place. Garlic-y to keep lovers and vampires away. :-) Filipino breakfast is as good as it gets and better! ScoutMob dragged me into Uncle Mike's and now addicted! My only go-to place for Filipino breakfast in the City. The dishes have a clean, healthier taste without sacrificing tradition. Everything about Uncle Mike's Place is a reflection of owner's heritage and variety of work experience. The Chinoy background is reflected on the here and there chinese decor. Pinoy is obviously in the food infused with Hawaiian background (reflected on Spam for breakfast), and a clean preparation of sawsa-wan. Bottomless Intelligensia coffee. Excellent service -- no one is ignored nor forgotten, staff is happy and pleasing, knowledgeable about the dishes that is good enough to be mistaken as 'tunay na pilipino'. Good value for your $: - free house tea - free soup (aka lugaw, a simplier version of congee) for dine-in with roasted garlic - bottomless intelligensia coffee - Filipino breakfast dishes can serve 2 without overeating Longaniza with Tocino, yum! Bangus with 2 kinds of sawsa-wan comes with a surprise of perfectly sweetened champorado. Eating pinoy breakfast with spoon and fork is the only way to go. Ask how to do the sawsa-wan and the spoon/fork combination. It's fun! Para kay Uncle Mike po: Kung gusto mong tulungan ang ating kababayan....palitan po ang intelligentsia sa Batangas Coffee. Baka mas mura pa. Maraming salamat po sa masarap na almusal. read more

Kids love the breakfast "silog" - but they are not a fan of the lugaw. Their favorite order is the tocino /spam and tocino / longanisa. I do either the tocino / spam or the tocino / bangus.. I'm picky with lugaw too. read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Two Words: Filipino Breakfast!!!!! I may be a bit biased writing this review since I am Filipino, and my taste buds are aligned to crave and want Filipino breakfast everyday. I was recently in town visiting my sister and she took us to brunch at Uncle Mike's Place. When I first learned they have a Filipino breakfast menu I was stoked.... especially since I do not get to eat that kind of breakfast very often anymore. When we first pulled up to it... it's really not much to look at, but all of the bang for your buck is packed into the food. We sat in what seems to be an extension since the decor was very different from the main diner part. Our party was a group of 5 so there was a large table in the back. I had the longanisa, eggs, rice, and it was heaven on earth. Even tried their lugaw, which was very good especially on a cold day. My uncle ordered the fried bangus, which was awesome as well. It was like being transported :) The servers were very friendly, but seemed like they were short and in turn caused a little bit of a slow service. We were on vacation so I didn't really notice it as much, but if you are in a rush I could see you getting a little frustrated if you wanted to be in and out. read more

Hubby and I go here only for the Filipino breakfast - so I can't really comment on their other menu offerings. I love how the Filipino items aren't even on the printed or online menus: they are just listed on a chalkboard on the wall. Between the two of us and the friend's we've brought here over the years, we've sampled all of them. We recently had breakfast there yesterday after several months (or maybe even a year!) away. It seems that the portions have definitely gotten smaller. I remember the first time we got the free bowl of lugaw it was a bigger bowl and I was so full that I couldn't finish my main meal. I also thought this batch was more liquidy and watered down than before. When did they start adding lemon too? It's nice they added a "baby" size bagnus (aka milkfish) which was the perfect portion considering you get lugaw and a small bowl of champorado (aka rice porridge) with the meal. My personal favorites in preferential order are bagnus, longganisa, tocino, Spam, porkchop or skirt steak (just because I usually don't eat that big meat for breakfast). The staff is friendly and ambiance warm. The tables remind me of tables in homes back in Manila where I spent some of my childhood. Even the Christmas decorations reminded me of home. I also love the wall of Spam behind the cash register...you know us Filipinos love our Spam! read more

Steak and Egg Extraordinaire! BIG portions & BIG flavor all served on a BIGGER plate! Pay attention to the menu here because Uncle Mike strongly suggests what to order with BIG pictures. "I like BIG pictures...You like Big Pictures". There is a reason why everything else on the menu is in very, very "small" print! read more

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I went to Uncle Mike's Place yesterday for brunch with some friends who have been raving about it for months. I had heard only good things via Yelp as well, so I was pretty pumped. When we arrived, it was about 1pm, and our friends were seated all the way in the back. The first thing they said was that they had never sat back there. It literally felt like we were sitting in the kitchen because it was right next to the dishwasher. I've worked in restaurants before and was pretty grossed out by the smell. Not a good way to start off our visit. I ordered the baby bangus with overeasy eggs served with garlic rice. Our meals came out pretty quickly and were served on gigantic plates. The only thing about those plates was that our entrees weren't that large. They took up the whole table unnecessarily. Maybe I'm being a little too nit-picky. Anyway, the food look ok, so I dug in. The eggs and rice were pretty ordinary. I'm not sure I like to eat fish for breakfast, but it was probably the best part about my meal, but was definitely a "baby" sized portion. All in all, I was very disappointed with Uncle Mike's and definitely won't be back. read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Been craving a home cooked Filipino breakfast for months! I'm originally from California and moved to NYC a year ago. Home cooking Is missing from my life. So as a birthday gift my guy takes me here to Chicago for the weekend. And my first instinct was- gotta find Filipino food! So found Tito mikes on yelp. To a 8 dollar cab ride here and it was downhill. My guy has never had Filipino breakfast so I was excited to introduce this to him. We get there & sit at the diner stools. Place is sorta packed. So I order the bangus and tocino combo and he gets the skirt steak and tocino combo. Garlic fried rice, egg, tomatoes, vinegar, and champorrado! Wow can we say hella food! Tocino was great. Bangus was fried really well with a lot of flavor. My guys said his skirt steak was a little overdone but the tocino was awesome. The kicker was the Lugao also. It came with the breakfast and with a little lemon and fish saw it was on point. Needless to say this place is awesome. Piece of advice. Get there early or expect to wait for a little. Cheers! read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Lugao - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Solid place for Filipino breakfast and super cheap given the portion sizes. I ordered the loganisa breakfast and my only complaint was I got pico de gallo instead of vinegar for my breakfast. Everyone knows you need that side of vinegar. Garlic fried rice was amazing, but definitely real garlicky (which is how it obviously should be. Bring breath mints/gum). Breakfast also comes with lugao (rice porridge with a ginger base) to start and a side of chomparado (chocolate rice pudding). By the time my lunch came around I was full so I had a nice portion of leftovers for breakfast tomorrow nom mom nom. Ambience is nothing fancy but the servers are nice and efficient. I recommend going early since it's popular. Good value, good food, would definitely come back. read more

Uncle Mike's Place - Longanisa breakfast - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The place is a bit cramped but their food is very good and there is NO better hangover food than their amazing steak and eggs!!! SO SO good!!! read more

Uncle Mike's Place - when you wake up Sunday with a hangover, this is perfect!!! Even without a hangover... - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Chicago, Illinois