Nestled in downtown Evanston, fast-casual restaurant Eggs with Benefits promises its patrons an elevated take on an eternally popular breakfast staple: the scrambled egg.
Owners Andrew Oh, Ricardo Chavez and Will Song first opened the restaurant near Loyola University Chicago’s campus in October 2023, with its second location arriving in Evanston the following year. The team aims to provide college students with filling yet affordable meals, Oh told The Daily last October.
Their menu features a range of offerings, including breakfast sandwiches, tacos and Asian-inspired rice bowls.
The restaurant’s Evanston location is less than a ten-minute walk from Northwestern’s campus, situated between Joy Yee and La Cocinita on Davis Street. Inside, it’s serene, quiet and minimally decorated. I ordered on a self-serve tablet at the front counter, which a single chef whipped up scrambles behind.
It’s clear what the star of the show is here, and the menu does little to obscure that. The sandwiches, breakfast tacos and bowls here each feature a generous helping of Korean-style soft scrambled eggs, along with a range of protein options to pair with them.
On the sandwich front, I opted for the Slagel’s Farm Sausage and Egg Sando for $9.99. The sandwich had a sausage patty, eggs, cheese, garlic parmesan mayonnaise, chives and onion jam, all atop a fluffy brioche bun.
No doubt about it — this sandwich is a far cry from the plasticky gas-station breakfast sandwiches I’m used to. The eggs were creamy, buttery and almost sinfully rich; the sausage patty and cheese added a salty kick, which was pleasantly offset by the sweetness of the brioche bun and onions.
The price is also pretty reasonable, especially given how filling the sandwich was. I can easily see myself shelling out $10 for this sandwich again if I ever need a quick meal downtown, though I’ll probably go for chorizo or bacon instead of sausage next time.
I also ordered the Chicken and Egg Bowl for $11.99, which included white rice, onions, morsels of grilled chicken and a soy sauce reduction. The store didn’t appear to have its side of kimchi in stock, so I opted for a small tub of togarashi mayonnaise for $0.99 to pair with my bowl instead.
In all honesty, this bowl paled in comparison to the egg sando. The chicken, scrambled eggs, soy sauce reduction and mayo were each similarly savory, and the chives and onions did little to break up that one-note flavor. This bowl sorely needed something fresh, crunchy or sour to balance the saltiness and lighten up an overwhelmingly starch-heavy dish.
Along with all its egg-centric entrees, the restaurant’s in-person menu offered a side of five Spicy Pork Dumplings for $9.99. These, too, were mediocre — the meat filling was satisfyingly spicy, but the fried wrapping felt greasy to the touch, and the side of garlic parmesan mayo only weighed it down further.
Frankly, for two dollars a pop, I expected more.
All in all, Eggs with Benefits offered a pleasant, no-frills dining experience, and their egg-forward concept is unique enough to set it apart from the plethora of other fast-casual spots downtown.
There are definitely better bowls and dumpling options available elsewhere, I’ll admit. But as far as breakfast sandwiches go, you can’t get much better than Eggs with Benefits — and I’ll certainly be back to try more soon.
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