By Jennifer Lunz and Weston Gleffe
Whether you’re a resident of the Chicago North Center neighborhood or just passing through, Cobblestone Restaurant (N Lincoln) should be on your radar. Cobblestone is an European American eatery, inspired by the cuisine of the Czech Republic. The name symbolizes the connection between the old and new continents, as European cities and towns are commonly paved with granite cobblestones.
This small neighborhood gem offers a brand new spring menu from the amazingly talented Chef Andre Overton, who just started there in January 2024. With 28 years of experience in several different cuisines, including pastry, he thoughtfully put together Cobblestone’s current, impressive food and drink menu. His skill and passion for great food were exhibited in our culinary experience while dining at Cobblestone.
Cobblestone is owned by Markus Chwajol, the former owner of Bohemian House in River North. Cobblestone allows Chwajol to continue his passion for the hospitality industry, introducing neighbors to an innovative European cuisine.
“We envision a wonderful, friendly, exciting, and vibrant community restaurant where people can enjoy a nice conversation in a relaxed ambiance, receive a great meal, and bring along their children as well. If you are not in the mood for or tired of pizza and burgers, Cobblestone aspires to be your local restaurant to go to” says Markus (Chicago Tribune, March 2020).
“Our priority is to assure that every guest feels personally welcomed, encouraged, and connected. The idea is simple: to nurture well-being in others through hospitality, connection, and excellent food and beverage service. Cobblestone is a place where people can relax and enjoy great food, drink, and conversation. Our goal is to bring back the feel of a community to a restaurant, an element of dining experience that is often lost in a fast-paced city like Chicago.”
Cobblestone’s new American-Chezk inspired spring menu consists of a wide, mouth watering array of breakfast, dinner and drink options. (See website for current menus). My guest and I had the opportunity to sample the amazing brunch menu earlier this month. The ambiance of Cobblestone was simple and homey, with exceptional service with employees who are cheerful, kind, attentive and have knowledge of service to their customers.
(As it gets warmer, I hope that more diners will visit Cobblestone on their revamped facade and outdoor sidewalk space, which I was told can accommodate up to 86 guests inside, 43 guests on the sidewalk cafe, and 28 guests in the rear patio).
Cobblestone had a rustic, woodsy and cozy atmosphere, along with its location at the corner of Pensacola and Lincoln. When my friend and I first entered, it felt intimate and welcoming. It was very easy to feel at home and seated awaiting a home cooked meal. It was very inviting inside and felt wonderful to sit down in our wooden booth.
We started out with a tasty cider flight at our table. Cobblestone specializes in ciders on draft. Our flight consisted of a traditional dry cider from Seattle Cider, which had a lovely dry, crisp finish to it, Uncle John’s Heirloom Traditional Cider (a bit too sweet for my taste), a beautiful, off-dry Rose Cider from Right Bee Cider and my favorite, Possman’s Black Currant Cider, a semi-sweet rose with tart blackberry, fruity flavors with every swig. My friend had the Bloody Mary, which was refreshing. He thought that the Czech Lager he had after might have served better as a chaser to the Bloody Mary. We would love to come back to the restaurant to try their other cocktails and select draft beers on different occasions.
Besides the great drinks at Cobblestone, there was the wonderful list of delectable selections to choose from on the new brunch menu. (Cobblestone focused on a farm to table experience, which I enjoy eating when dining out). I personally can never decide between sweet and savory when I go out to brunch, so it was a must to try a bit of everything. We both highly enjoyed the Blueberry Crumpets (fresh blueberries, sour cream, blueberry “Cheong” syrup, powdered sugar). The dish sounded too sweet for our tastes, but it actually had a nice balance of sweet and tart. The crumpets were perfectly crusty on the edges, moist and dense on the inside. The homemade whipped cream and blueberry syrup rounded out the dish perfectly. We ended up asking our server for seconds of the whipped cream.
My other favorite dish of the morning was the Lox and Bagels (special blend of herbs and spices cured on a Faroe Island salmon, capers, whipped cream cheese, sliced red onions, grilled tomatoes and a bagel). Bagel choices were poppyseed, everything or sesame seed. Chef Andre nailed this recipe!
My friend ordered the Hangover Hash (slow chile-braised beef, jalapeno cornbread, potato hash, mozzarella, poached egg, fried onion rings, demi hollandaise), and gave the dish a 10 out of 10. He loved the tender, flavorful cooked beef, along with the great variety of ingredients, textures and flavors. He claimed it was “a true brunch hero.” If that wasn’t enough, the cheesy jalapeno cornbread side was delicious and moist. For him, the Hangover Hash was an epic brunch dish which was savory to the max, and also generous enough to satisfy a large appetite.
Another delicious side we ordered was the lemon poppy seed waffle. I had not had such a soft and pillowy waffle in quite a while. It was lightly fragranced with lemon, crisp and savory.
During our meal, we enjoyed sitting down for a few minutes and chatting with Chef Andre, who was a warm, smiling and down to earth individual. When speaking with him, he mentioned how the restaurant first opened in 2020 during the height of the Covid 19 pandemic, resulting in multiple openings and closings. Now in 2024, the restaurant is steadily getting back on its feet and better than ever. He appeared to have a true passion for real food and creating great cuisine. He puts love into everything he creates and thinks that simplicity is best, with which I could not agree more, being an avid cook and baker myself at home. If you only “eat to live,” and do not “live to eat,” then you are cheating yourself.
Besides the impressive Czech menus he has created for Cobblestone, Chef Andre also has gained experience and a background in pastries, as well as German, Asian and southern food (Creole and Cajun). Chef Andre also told us that it is important to constantly push outside his comfort zone as a chef, and always strive to be the best version of himself. Cooking is who he is, but he reminded us that you need to look deeper into yourself and constantly be patient with yourself through a culinary journey.
Cobblestone was such a wonderful experience for us. The brunch was fantastic, but I hope to return very soon for the dinner and drinks menu. For me, dining once at this gem was not enough.
Photos: Jennifer Lunz unless otherwise noted
To get more information on Cobblestone or make a reservation, visit the website or call (773) 935-2255.
Address: Cobblestone Restaurant 4337 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
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