Bite Cafe, 1035 N Western, Chicago, IL 773.395.2483

Poutine for breakfast? Fuck yea. Bite Cafe, a great little resto tucked away in the lovely neighborhood of the Ukrainian Village serves up their very own brunch only Poutine.

Where Schlafy’s dabbles in mustard seeds with their gravy, Bite Cafe adds a morning twist with a smoked bacon beef gravy… along with curds (a little too runny), two poached eggs, and pickled chilies. Holy awesome. This punches eggs benedict in the face.

Interestingly enough, Poutine is most commonly eaten during late night drunken nights…but I wouldn’t mind waiting a few hours for sunrise and setting myself in front of this breakfast explosion of goodness. Kudos Bite Cafe, Kudos.

bitecafechicago.com

Schlafy’s Tap Room, 2100 Locust St, Saint Louis, MO 314.241.2337

A great example of social media FTW moment here. After checking in on Foursquare via Twitter, @schlafy tweets back, sparks conversation, and comes by our table for an introduction.

Schlafy’s Tap Room serves up Poutine with orange cheese curds and get this: a cracked mustard seed gravy for some extra kick. Flipping awesome. Solid cheese texture, good gravy distribution down to the last fry, and a perfect portion (we were satiated with 2 orders for 3 hungry customers). If you’re begging for more info, be sure to check out their site, curated by @schlafy himself: 

http://www.schlafly.com/

The Gage, 24 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, 312.372.4243

Delicious. A beef gravy made with shallots over what look to be hand cut fries and traditional white cheese curds. I’m told the wife of the owner is French Canadian and wanted a slice of life from Quebec. She’s outdone herself here. So far, this the Poutine to beat in Chicago. Good gravy to fry ratio, all the way down to the last fry. There could have been more cheese and the curds could have been a bit more spongy.

Pretty damn good.

www.thegagechicago.com/

Vincent: A Restaurant, 100 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 612.630.1189

First post, first American poutine. Location: Minneapolis. I was in town for the Planningness conference and immediately Yelped for some poutine - this location came up as a 4 star, 3-dollar-sign resto on Yelp with poutine on the bar menu.

 Served with skinny fries, Wisconsin white cheese curds, and a beef gravy made with shallots, the poutine at first glance looks pretty good. But looks aren’t everything I soon discovered.

 Pretty good for the first bite. Though through eating, I would have enjoyed more curds and more gravy. Poutine ingredients are simple and therefore should be generous. By the time I got through the thick gravy, I was left with nude fries with no curds. Very disappointing. Shit’s gotta swimming in gravy. The gravy could have also been a bit hotter.

Honestly, I was expecting a lot more from Minneapolis. 

 All in all, an ok experience.

www.vincentarestaurant.com/