On Dec. 18 at 12:30 p.m. we sat down with Alan Epstein from WhatWasBreakfast to discuss what his favorite spot to have breakfast in Chicago.
Q: If you had one day in Chicago where would you eat & why?
A: White Palace, this is my favorite spot.
“The 2x2x2x2 Breakfast is my favorite breakfast in Chicago. White Palace has a crazy ambiance this painting is insanity. Look it's Jordan, Oprah, Hilary Clinton, we got Walter Payton in there, Harold Washington, they got a cow. All of this Chicago stuff a Muddy Waters poster, on the ceiling they got crazy art as well. The vibes here are spectacular everything looks like it’s fresh out of 1954. The menu is like a bible, look at the size of that.”
“I always get the 2x2x2x2 which is just two eggs, two pancakes, two pieces of bacon and two pieces of sausage. Most places they make you choose between bacon and sausage like why do I have to choose, why can't I just have bacon and sausage? Then like they refill your coffee a million times. This place never closes you can come on Christmas and New Years.”
By the way Alan had four cups of coffee.
“I would like to talk about how important it is for Pancakes to be fluffy.
I always get scrambled. I like over easy eggs but only if they're on top of something. Over easy eggs on a plate it's just gonna get everywhere.”
“I like the coffee chats I like meeting up with people for coffee. What we're doing right now this is my shit. Brainstorming, eating breakfast and drinking coffee that’s ideal for me.”
Richard interviews Alan while enjoying some coffee (even though Richard doesn’t like coffee.)
Q: What does this breakfast say about you?
A: I like the staples, I like the classics, the fundamentals. I’m not ordering off menu I’m not changing it up were just playing the hits right now. This is a classic you would’ve been able to get this 80-years-ago at the same spot.
“Food is a storytelling vehicle.”
Alan moved to Chicago three years ago in order to pursue a career in improv. Unfortunately that didn't go as planned. As improv was falling through he was working at the Cherry Circle Room in the Loop, where WhatWasBreakfast was born in Aug. 2016. He began interviewing people on the streets of Chicago and asking them what they had for breakfast. All while snapping a couple of pictures of them. Four years strong and going unto his fifth year one should expect great things in store for 2020.
Read Alan’s ‘Five Chicago’s fast-food pairings’ here.