After recently admitting during my glowing review of neighboring Bar Ombra that I had yet to check out their sister restaurant Acre, I decided it was time to remedy that.  I stopped by Acre (5308 N Clark) for brunch recently on a Saturday where the weather was decent and Andersonville was bustling with people out for a stroll, shopping, and the kids were gathered around Puppet Bike.

With all the activity outside, I was expecting Acre to be just as buzzing as the rest of the neighborhood, but that didn’t turn out to be the case.  When I stepped inside the restaurant, a vacant host stand greeted us and I could see one other table seated in the front near the windows, and an empty bar.  After realizing the hostess stand was hostess-less, I looked around the corner to realize there was a seecond table occupied by guests in the joint and after catching the attention of a server he directed us to take a seat anywhere we’d like.  Quickly after being seated we were attended to and brought water, menus, and asked if we’d like a drink.  The server pointed out that they offered “bottomless” mimosas for $18 – all you can drink. This concept that has caught on around the city, and is priced slightly higher at Acre than most places (this turned out to be a theme of the meal), but I decided to try it. In addition Acre offers an amazing beer list, along with beer flights, earning them points in my book but probably better taken advantage of during dinner. Drinks were delivered quickly and the initial awkwardness of walking in to an empty place was chalked up to the fact that maybe we were a little on the early side and Acre would get busier as the day went on.

The menu is unique for a brunch menu, in a good way – you won’t find simple staples such as eggs and toast here, but rather creative dishes such as pulled-pork and chorizo corn cakes and a brunch burger complete with bacon and fried egg. In addition to brunch entrees, the menu has salads, sandwiches and like neighboring Ombra, small plates and cheese plates.  It is obvious that some menu items and ingredients are shared between the two locations, which is smart on their part.  For starters we decided to try the deviled eggs while pondering what to order, which based on the menu sounded unique as they feature cured artic char, lemon aioli and pickled peppers.  In hindsight, I have to say I think I make better deviled eggs myself.  These were tasty, but not all that unique and at $7 for two eggs (four halves) I was expecting a little party in my mouth.

We eventually placed our orders (after a second mimosa) and looked forward to the unique dishes we selected.  I opted for the chicken & waffles, choosing something a little different as I’ve never tried the southern concoction before, while my dining companion went with the smoked trout sandwich.  The chicken of said chicken & waffles was just plain bad, though the waffles were good.  The chicken’s breading was light and flakey, which I like, but it was almost cold which gave the entire piece of meat a sense that it was under cooked.  It came with a side of hot sauce, which was intriging as a self-proclaimed hot sauce conneseur. It was a tabasco sauce that was overly vinegar-y, and I usually can put hot sauce on anything but personally I didn’t find it to fit the dish.  The waffles were your standard belgian waffle, but again, nothing that jumped off my plate.  I barely finished one piece of the chicken and ate about one and half of the four waffles, leaving me wish I had ordered the breakfast burger which was my second choice.  The funny thing is, when asked which was best out of the two options, the server said chicken and waffles hands down.  Hopefully I just received a bad dish, otherwise I’m a little apprehensive to see what the burger is like.  The smoked trout sandwich, on the other hand, was good.   It came on a toasted sour dough bread along with avocado, onion and a lime-cilantro aioli with fries as a side dish.  The fries were seasoned and tasty and cooked to perfection – I must admit to stealing a few after being disappointed by my dish.

By the end of the meal the place had gotten a little busier, but by no means was it packed.  When the final bill came at $70 for two people it was a little higher than I would expect to pay, considering the quality oft the meal, however it was by no means outrageous considering we also had an appetizer and beverages.  Overall Acre was good, the service was top notch, and the environment is cozy, but in a neighborhood with some great brunch options (Bongo Room, M Henry, Svea, Big Jones, and others) maybe my expectations are just really high.

If you’ve dined at Acre for brunch, or dinner, let us know what YOU thought below in the comments.

Tags: Acre, Andersonville brunch, brunch, chicken and waffles, mimosa, smoked trout