\nAreli Antunez, left, and Alvaro Blancas, right, are the co-owners of Portage Park Breakfast Place. Credit:<\/span> Molly DeVore\/ Block Club Chicago<\/span>
\nAntunez and Blancas began renovating the storefront\u2019s interior in 2022, but they encountered delays getting city permits and rezoning the area to allow alcohol. However, they were able to get the necessary rezone and plan on applying for a liquor license this year. Antunez said they want to offer mimosas and bloody mary cocktails.<\/p>\n
Menu Highlights<\/h2>\n
Antunez said all of the restaurant\u2019s dishes are made from scratch. Menu highlights include a roasted pineapple French toast, a Chihuahua breakfast torta, chilaquiles verdes and rojos, a flight of three bread puddings \u2014 one made with orange, one made with guava and one made with mango and blueberry \u2014 and the Portage Park Breakfast Sandwich, which is topped with tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese, bacon and eggs. The business is a family affair: Antunez\u2019s wife, Elia Maya, and Blancas\u2019 wife, Elizabeth Salinas, help out, while Antunez\u2019s son and Blancas\u2019 daughter work at the restaurant. Antunez said they\u2019ve already had a lot of neighborhood support. He said they \u201chad a full house\u201d for brunch last weekend and about 75-80 percent of their customers live nearby. He also said several local business owners have stopped by to welcome them to the neighborhood.<\/p>\n Portage Park Breakfast Place joins a growing business community along Milwaukee Avenue. The chefs behind Frontier and Ina Mae Tavern opened Migos Fine Foods next door in 2024, Howling Pages comics opened down the street in 2022 and Moonflower cocktail bar opened around the corner in 2021. \u201cWe have some really good neighbors,\u201d Antunez said. \u201cWe\u2019re very proud to be part of this community.\u201d The new restaurant is open 7 a.m.-3 p.m. daily. Updates will be posted to its Instagram.<\/p>\n Q: What type of cuisine does Portage Park Breakfast Place serve? Introduction to Portage Park Breakfast Place Portage Park Breakfast Place opened at 5040 W. Montrose Ave. at the end of December, serving \u201cnew American\u201d breakfast dishes that also draw inspiration from the co-owners\u2019 Mexican heritages. Areli Antunez and Alvaro Blancas, who have worked in restaurants for more than two decades, met while cooking at M. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-35603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dining"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-9-1-scaled.png?w=1920&resize=1920,1280&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35603"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35606,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35603\/revisions\/35606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bcc-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_6920-1024x683.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1\")
The Portage Park Breakfast Sandwich. Credit:<\/span> Molly DeVore\/ Block Club Chicago<\/span>
\nThe restaurant\u2019s lunch menu features a Jamaican jerk chicken sandwich, a black Angus burger and an herb-roasted veggie sandwich. Portage Park Breakfast Place also has a children\u2019s menu.<\/p>\nCommunity Support and Family Involvement<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
FAQs<\/h2>\n
\nA: Portage Park Breakfast Place serves \u201cnew American\u201d breakfast dishes that also draw inspiration from the co-owners\u2019 Mexican heritages.
\nQ: What are some menu highlights?
\nA: Menu highlights include a roasted pineapple French toast, a Chihuahua breakfast torta, chilaquiles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"