Welcome to Bunches o’ Brunches, a semi-weekly series featuring superior brunch and breakfast booze from new restaurants and menus throughout Chicago.
If you ask anyone at Bang Bang Pie and Biscuits which days they serve brunch, they’ll tell you every day, seven days a week. Really, brunch all day every day? Sounds too good to be true! That all depends on how you define brunch.
Really, Bang Bang’s cavalier attitude toward our favorite meal is an act of philosophical defiance. A tiny pie shop in Logan Square (so tiny, in fact, that dining benches must be circled around its bustling kitchen) is making us ask some truly uncomfortable, soul-searching, questions: Is brunch relative? If I pair a mimosa with pie at 10 a.m., do I have a problem and should I seek help? Is the hashtag #brunch ever truly necessary? Is it always necessary? Is brunch life?
Excuse me. I need a moment.
Here’s what I know for sure: Bang Bang’s pie is addictive. Too addictive for me to even purchase. After getting my hands on their signature Key Lime, Cherry Pie, and a specially made Salted Chocolate Pie, I immediately knew I wasn’t the type of person that could have pie this pure only some of the time. I needed it every day or never again. If you’re paying attention, you realize I was already three pies deep at that point. I’m telling you, the stuff is dangerous.
What sets Bang Bang apart from other bake shops is the feeling that each pie is made with love, thoughtfully and carefully. It’s the type of pie you’d receive after taking a nasty fall at grandma’s house but not the pie she’d give you just for stopping by. It’s the exceptional “it’s going to be okay and I love you” sort of sweet sapidity. Their crusts are perfectly sweet. Their cream is always light and airy. Their chocolate is deep, dark, and rich.
But we’re here for brunch.
Yes, I’m off pie completely (well…) but I still visit regularly for their biscuits. On the savory side of the menu, Bang Bang Pie sinks its teeth into breakfast proper. Biscuits are made from scratch and can be paired with an array of locally sourced meats, salmon, grits, greens, and/or veggies. Speaking of grits, they offer a “grits du jour”. I had my first al pastor style of grits here, made with pork and pineapples. I’ve been trying to recreate the same thing at home ever since. Fail.
If the final dish doesn’t feel breakfast enough for you, put an egg on anything for just $1.50 more. Make it all brunch by bringing in your own Prosecco and ordering a cup of fresh squeezed orange. Bang Bang is down with the BYOB.
Guests are offered intimate seating indoors at communal rustic benches and wooden tables. If weather permits, I recommend sitting outside in their pie garden.
So what makes a brunch? I really have no idea but Bang Bang Pie and Biscuits serves a great one. #brunchislife
All photos by Kari Herrera of Chicagoings.com