Most big hotels have more than one restaurants to offer a few dining options to their patrons. When I stayed at Sheraton Grand Chicago, I was glad to find more than one restaurants in the hotel. I dined at Shula’s Steak House (you can read about it here: http://www.foodlovergirl.com/shulas-steak-house/) for dinner at the hotel, and then when the morning came, I went to another restaurant that was open for breakfast. It was on the lower level, and the elevator didn’t get me there… Interesting… So, I went to the lobby, found an escalator all the way at the back, and down I went.
I found the LB’s Bistro & Pâtisserie right by the escalator. It was nice and quiet in the early morning, and they had option of ordering off the menu, or the buffet. When you don’t have a lot of time, or just want quick and easy breakfast, buffet is always the best option, to me at least. It was a nice space, larger than I thought, very clean and had good amount to lights.
The buffet is called “LB Bistro Breakfast” ($25). I believe that includes drinks, since I didn’t get charged for the Orange Juice (normally $5) or the pot of Coffee (normally $5).
The breakfast buffet includes build-your-own parfait, berries and fruit, with good amount of choices. The fruits were fresh, and even though I didn’t make my own parfait, it looked pretty good.
It also had build-your-own omelet bar, but that usually takes a bit of time, and most of the time, the omelet comes out huge and too filling. So, unless I am super hungry or I have someone to share it with, I don’t really try them. And, the fact that there was no one there behind the omelet bar, I didn’t want to wait around either. It did have plenty of choices when it came to the omelet filling, which was nice.
Of course, it had all sorts of baked goods and breads, including bagles plain and chocolate croissants, few kinds of danishes, etc. I thought they had really nice selections.
As for hot item, they had the usual, like bacon, sausage, pancakes, and breakfast potatoes. But, they also had few other items like Asparagus and Feta Frittata, and a mini Breakfast Sandwich made with Pesto, Swiss Cheese and Bacon. They were not too bad, not fantastic, but not bad at all.
The waiter was really nice and polite, I was well taken care of. Even though the food was not amazing, but buffet style meal is not something you get a gourmet, super delicious, amazing food. But, again, they did have really good amount of options and choices. I thought that was pretty nice and considerate.
I actually went back there for a quick lunch on the same day before leaving the hotel. There is not buffet for lunch, but a regular lunch menu. I wanted a salad, which I thought would be quick and fast. I actually got the same server from the morning time, which was kind of funny. He was really nice and polite, as he was in the morning. He even brought out chips for free! It came with spicy aioli, which was awesome…
The chips were actually really good since the salad took a while to come out. I ordered Ahi Tuna Salad ($18), which comes with sesame togarachi tuna, bay scallops, passion fruit vinaigrette, mango relish, frisee, mache, breakfast radish, citrus segments. It was huge, much bigger than I expected. I actually couldn’t finish, it was so filling. Even though the salad was massive, there were not much of tuna or the scallops… Overall, it was a super fresh salad, I liked the fruity flavor added to the salad. It had lots of ingredients in there, and they were all tasty.
It is not the kind of restaurant I would go out of my way to get to, but it was a “hotel restaurant” and they did fulfill the need of quick breakfast. The lunch option was nice too, but I thought it took too long for a salad order. The staffs were all really nice, friendly and welcoming, which is always a plus. It must not be easy dealing with so many hotel guests on daily bases, I applaud them for their kindness and patience!
LB’s Bistro & Pâtisserie – Sheraton Grand Chicago, 301 E North Water St, Chicago, IL 60611