Mittel-European time/space warp at Cafe Lutz

When I first moved here 17-some years ago, one of the places I liked to take out of town guests was Lutz Cafe, one of what were then numerous old school German places in the general Lincoln Avenue area-- Heidelberger Fass, Delicatessen Meyer (not to be confused with Meyer Delicatessen), Zum Deutschen Eck, Gasthaus zum Lowen all among those that have vanished since I first arrived. I don't even remember how I discovered Lutz, it being considerably out of the Lincoln Park to Wrigleyville area I was usually confined to, but in the spring and summer, the backyard garden was a wonderful escape from the city, an instant immersion in small town mittel-Europäischer hospitality. (The inside is awfully grandmotherly and never did much for me, but even it nearly perfectly reproduces the interior of a one-star hotel and restaurant in the German or Austrian countryside.)



Then somehow a decade passed and I didn't go to Lutz in all that time. I am lucky it was still there for me, now it seems Polish-owned or at least staffed rather than German, but still conveying the same unchanged-since-Bismarck-died vibe that makes it, for Sunday breakfast, the perfect anti-Bongo Room. Here's old-fashioned coffee service:



Very old-fashioned but perfectly rendered Eggs Benedict:



Liam says, why do I need pancakes to come between me and my syrup?



Service was a little haphazard, but on the other hand on the way out as I picked up a couple of croissants, the boys were given free cookies by a very friendly counter gal. All in all, it was nice to see the old place still going, and I highly recommend a visit during these pleasant sunny months.

Lutz Continental Cafe & Pastry
2458 W Montrose Ave
(773) 478-7785