Cafes in Chicago - alternatives to Starbucks

[This is a repost of a post I recently made to the hound board, reposting here for further comments and additions. The post I replied to complained about a lack of alternatives to Starbucks in Chicago, this is my response.]

While I have had really good Latte's at Filter, it is highly barista dependant.

That said, the absolute best Latte in the city I have had (and possibly the best I have had anywhere in the world) is at Intelligentsia on Broadway (the one in the loop is good but just a step down).

It is made from beans they roast themselves, but as importantly they have invested in literally weeks of training for all of their baristas in "latte art" - resulting in lattes with a wonderful taste and which are beautiful to behold.

Chicago has dozens of great independant coffee shops that have been opening up in the past few years. Other spots I would point out - just to name a few, there are likely dozens which I will miss:

- Box Car Cafe (on wrightwood just east of Lincoln). Targeted at parents with kids, decorated in a railroad motif (including trains that will deliver your order). Their coffee is Intelligentsia and decent, they serve Homers ice cream and have a nice selection of food. (Full disclosure, I have known the owners since before they opened at their first location)

- Cafe Medici - in Hyde Park. As a student at U. of C. in the 90's I spent many, many afternoons studying at Cafe Medici. They have since expanded to a nice bakery next door. Also in Hyde Park, there are a half-dozen great cafes on the U. of C. campus, all recommended as great spots to study.

- Artopolis - in Greek Town. A greek coffeeshop, restaurant, bar. Great food, open late, two stories of seating, decadent desserts - all in all a great alternative to larger meal at another spot in Greektown.

- Cafe Descartes - on Michigan Ave, just south of the Art Institute. Serves gelato from Ice Dreams.

- Millenium Perk. Just off of Michigan Ave across from the new park. A smallish space but with free WIFI. A nice selection of drinks and food items (full disclosure again, I also know some of the owners here from a business networking group we both are members of)

- Kaffien - in Evanston, a late night cafe catering to Northwestern students. Large space, large patio seating area. Decadent drinks, decent food.

- No Exit Cafe - in Rogers Park, somewhat unusual hours (I'm not 100% certain they are always open) but the quintesential bohemium cafe, with poetry readings, live jazz etc.

- Savories - on Wells in Old Town. Closes early in the day, but an alternative (during the day) to Starbucks. Great local character.

- 3rd Coast Cafe on Dearborn and Goethe. Open late (though no longer 24hrs). Serves alchohol and a full menu - the specials or anything with their bacon are very highly recomended. On the weekends they are non-smoking for brunch, otherwise they do have a smoking section. Late night they are a great alternative to the bars on Division. A bit of a reputation for celebrity spoting as well (I've sat next to the Smashing Pumpkins in the past, U2 hung out here when last in town, one night while dining I saw a woman who seemed familiar - turns out she was the star of the Father of the Bride movies, etc) - again, full disclosure, as a regular there for 12+ years I have gotten to know the staff and the owners.

- Bourgeois Pig. In addition to a very cool name, the Pig has two stories of seating, great sandwiches and location just blocks from the Fullerton El stop on Fullerton. Caters to DePaul students but all are welcome.

- Aion - not coffee, but one of the best tea shops in the city. On Division just a few blocks east of Western. Not open very late, but a great spot for afternoon tea (and the food is good but it is the 120+ teas available by the pot which is the draw). Also an antiquity shop.

- Atomic Cafe. On Chicago, south of Wicker Park. A "hipster" place but also good food and drink.

There are many, many others around town. I encourage you to try spots that you see and to report back to Chowhounds about them. Many independant cafes have unusual offerings if you get to know them, whether a particular brand of ice cream (sometimes homemade) or dishes or drinks that they make extremely well.

Above all enjoy!

Shannon

Thanks for posting the list.

That's a great list, thanks! It's funny to think at how much time I've spent at a lot of those places.

Just thought I'd add a couple more:

I've been really enjoying the double espressos (great creme) and soy lattes (the milk ones are good too, if you're into dairy) at Cafe De Luca on Damen. Also a wide - though not very traditional - selection of panini. I really enjoy the atmosphere at De Luca as well, airy and open. Free doggie biscuits for the canines.

Also Kopi, in Andersonville, bills itself as a "Traveler's cafe," and is very cozy and much cheaper than the Starbucks down the block. They've had soy milk as an option forever, and the daily pastry offerings never fail to please.

Cafe De Luca
1721 N. Damen, Chicago

Kopi
5317 N. Clark St., Chicago

In Pilsen there are some nice cafés. Two on 18th Street are Mi Cafetal (next door to Nuevo Leon) and Jumping Bean, one block east of Nuevo Leon.

In Printer's Row, on Dearborn Street, west side of the 700 block just north of Dearborn Station is Gourmand, which also has a broad offering of light meal options and beer and wine.

Rain Dog, Michigan, by the Van Buren Metra station, seems to have completed the transition from bookstore to bookstore with café to café without bookstore. It's a nice space but I haven't tried their coffee.

Concerning the campus cafés at the UofC: the ones in most University buildings aren't really open to the public (though I doubt one would be stopped from visiting unless one does something fairly outrageous). Some of them are okay but to me they're for convenience, anything but pleasure.

I still lament regularly the closing of my favorite café in Chicago, Dulce Vida, on Madison just west of Loomis, essentially next to the hockey rink, Johnny's Icehouse (pre-game coffee fix, post-game cool drinks and lunch). I hope the proprietress opens another place somewhere else.

Antonius

Post-site-move character problems fixed.

A few others of note


NoFriction Cafe
2502 N. California Ave

They serve intelligentsia, and are always affable behind the counter. Serve pastries and sandwiches as well. Bonus points for opening up nearly across the street from Starbucks.

Sweet Thang
1921 W North Ave

Illy coffee; the pastry selection here is well-documented on Chowhound. Also serve very good savory croissants.


In the loop:

Often I stop at the Coffee Grounds on 203 N Wabash Ave when I don't feel like dealing with the line at Starbucks or the hit or miss quality at Cosi.

Does anyone here enjoy our home-town Metropolis coffee? I think it far exceeds Intelligentsia in flavor.
Anyone else?

Never tried Metropolis Coffee, so I can't compare it to Intelligentsia, which I do like. Intelligentsia is also served at:

Bodega at the corner of Wolcott & Addison - a nice addition to the neighborhood that serves breakfast and lunch. I've only been for the brewed coffee.

MoJoe's also in Roscoe Village a little east of Hot Doug's. Furnished with 60's kitchen furniture, it definitely has a kitschy feel.

I am a fan of Gourmand. I work not too far away, and it offers a pleasant respite from the office and a good alternative to most other Loop-area lunch options. Plus, since I'm not a huge coffee drinker, being able to order a beer in a coffeehouse setting is nice.

On a related side-note, I noticed that Letizia's in Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village is applying for an incidental liquor license. What other coffeehouse/cafe-type places have liquor licenses? This is a cafe sub-category that Chicago has a shortage of.

Katerina's at 1920 W. Irving Park has a liquor license, though at night thsi morphs into a jazz club rather than a cafe.
Cafe Selmarie has a liquor license, though at any time this is more like a restaurant than a cafe.
As for pure cafes, I can't be of more assistance.

I would add Ear Wax to the list. Its location, on Milwaukee, near Damen and North, is ever more horrible, and at first glance some of the anarchopunkdredlockmetalfacevegetarian clientele/staff can seem a bit intimidating. But it's actually pretty friendly and has good enough coffee and milkshakes. (I don't vouch for the food). A pleasant place to sit awhile with whatever you bought from Myopic or Quimby's.

Giallo wrote:On a related side-note, I noticed that Letizia's in Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village is applying for an incidental liquor license. What other coffeehouse/cafe-type places have liquor licenses? This is a cafe sub-category that Chicago has a shortage of.

Hotti Biscotti on Fullerton is a cafe that is now morphing into more of a bar, at least at night. However, they are still primarily a coffeehouse. They get a lot of country music in there (one good thing they have going there is that on Thursday evenings they have a sort of "happy hour house band" that plays from 6:00 to 9:00). http://www.hottibiscotti.com/home.htm

I go to Caffe de Luca 4-5 times per week. They use Torrefazionne, which comes in right after Intelligentsia to me. They also serve wine and beer, but I like their atmosphere and the relaxing nature of this place so I can get some reading or work done.

Just thought I'd add some things to this oldie but goodie:

Cafe Descarte has opened a new spot in the Illinois Center (233 N Mich pedway)

I don't think the "other" Intelligentsia store was mentioned:
53 West Jackson Boulevard.

Alas, still no Intelligentsia convenient to me on my walk from the train to my building. Tho there are 4 starbucks

Humboldt Pie serves Intelligentsia (I think they have their own blend), a welcome addition to the neighborhood:
1001 N. California

Also, check out the
Starbucks Delocator

http://www.delocator.net

and add your favorites!

The West Loop Gate (Sangamon and Madison) should be mentioned here, as well as the Morgan Street Cafe (on Morgan and Adams). Though I prefer the atmosphere of the West Loop Gate; Morgan Street makes a really great soy latte!

. . . and let's not forget Wrigleyville's candidate for most authentic kaffeehaus:

Julius Meinl
3601 N. Southport Ave

jbw wrote:. . . and let's not forget Wrigleyville's candidate for most authentic kaffeehaus:

Julius Meinl
3601 N. Southport Ave

We were there earlyish on Saturday (14 May) and the coffee was quite good, as was the woman playing violin. The apple strudel, however, was sorely lacking, the pastry tasting as if it had been made days before.

Julius Meinl is the first café in America of an Austrian firm, so while good it does also have some characteristics of a corporate café (most negatively in my opinion no wifi at least none the last time I was there) and somewhat more of a restaurant than working café atmosphere.

Up the street from Julius Meinl on Southport is Café Avanti which is pretty good (and does have wifi and even less common, wired connectivity). And not too far away is the very good café Uncommon Ground - with their recent expansion they are as much as bar as a café, but the food, coffee, beverages, and atmosphere is great - often full and with food that good I tend to eat while there, but one of my favorite cafes in the city.

Shannon

j3s wrote:
Also Kopi, in Andersonville, bills itself as a "Traveler's cafe," and is very cozy and much cheaper than the Starbucks down the block. They've had soy milk as an option forever, and the daily pastry offerings never fail to please.


Kopi
5317 N. Clark St., Chicago

Not a big fan of Kopi for several reasons. First, I think they are outrageously expensive. Second, I have found the servers to be very rude and the food to be generally poor. I'd rather go across the street to Cafe Boost.

STARBUCKS: I have so many conflicting feelings about the mega-corporate coffee hegemon. On one hand, I find the coffee to be poor and the atmosphere to be sterile. However, most coffee shops tend to be too pretentions so I never seem to get what i want out of the atmosphere. But where Starbucks gets my support is in the way they treat their employees. With the job market being as poor as it is, Starbucks offers decent wages and great health benefits for full time employees, something that the small, local coffee shops just can't do.

flourgirl wrote:The West Loop Gate (Sangamon and Madison) should be mentioned here

West Loop Gate also offers free wi-fi...it's also across the street from a Starbucks....

Letizia's Bakery (actually more of a cafe/coffee shop) is one of my favorite places too... I don't get there much anymore, since now I live nowhere near there...

Its just a few blocks west of Damen on Division... 2144 W Division



web site is http://www.superyummy.com/

I am very fond of Metropolis (mentioned somewhere above) - on Granville, just a block of so east of the red line. I believe it's a father and son team - relaxed,spacious. They are very serious and knowledgeable about their coffee.

I don't get in enough to comment on the consistency of shot pulling there. Also the snack component seems a bit bare bones.

But at the core is a very nice place to buy or drink or discuss very good beans.

Also, there was a fairly ecstatic post a while ago about a marvelous sounding and authentic viennese pastry shop w/ coffee on Clark, a bit north of Diversey as I recall.

I haven't searched for it yet, but my wife did and was very happy with it.

As I recall it was described as being very near both a barber and a Starbucks, if that helps anyone.

As usual, names escape me, but on Kedzie right off the Brown Line there is a new place that serves Intelligentsia. I've only been there a few times but I've been pretty satisfied and the people who work there are very nice. I'm not sure what they serve besides coffee because it seems like they are still in the process of figuring that out themselves.

On Rockwell off the Brown Line is a really nice place that I went to for the first time the other day. They use Metropolis. A little artsier than the place on Kedzie but not pretenitious at all. Lots of sandwhich/bagel options along with a variety of salads. They also offer home-made ice cream.

Again, sorry about the names, I'll edit my post when I have them.

The place off the Kedzie stop is something non-descript like Chicago Coffee Shop. The place off the Rockwell stop is Beans & Bagels. They have another location somewhere on Montrose, and I believe they serve Village Creamery ice cream.

To complete this little stretch of brown line, there are two coffee shops on either side of the Francisco tracks, both keeping odd hours.

Merle's (serving Casteel Coffee), on the south, is open in the mornings but closes around 2. I think they will keep longer hours for the summer, though maybe not because of

Kitchen Chicago, on the north, which mainly serves as a commercial kitchen for rent for those interested in starting food-related businesses. This is in the former home cafe spot. The owner has done a great job with the front space--it's really quite charming. It's only been open a couple days. I stopped in this morning, and they sell coffee and tea (Coffee and Tea Exchange, I think), as well as the various concoctions renters create in the kitchen. Including some Blue Cat chocolates by former North Pond pastry chef Sarah Steele, which I plan to sample this evening. Hours are still being worked out, though the proprietor said she'd like to keep some evening hours to encourage people to come by, hang out, read, study, or whatever.

I'm a longtime fan of the Montrose Beans & Bagels (which is close enough to the Montrose Brown Line stop that they have to move) -- they get their bagels from New York Bialys if I recall right, and for a while did things like informal movie showings on DVD and whatnot. Their "gallery" showings were always good, too; I bought a Joe Meno oil painting for about $30. Always a good crew behind the counter, too.

FYI - for the Caffe De Luca fans - there is another one that also serves food and liquor in Forest Park. It's on Madison a few blocks west of Harlem (7000ish...).

Also, one more for the list - Sip Coffeehouse on Grand Ave just South of Ogden. Great coffee drinks! But they have their hands full with the new Starbucks that recently opened kitty corner from them...

re Sip coffeehouse - as of a month or so ago they were in the midst of a massive expansion which should just about be ready. Once completed they will have one of the largest spaces in Chicago for a pure café - multiple levels, multiple rooms plus an interior courtyard. The new expanded space will have two levels. Should be a great addition to the local café scene and assuming they keep the free wifi and friendly food policy (i.e. you can walk down to Bari and pick up a great lunch, order drinks and dessert at Sip) they should prosper. If I lived nearer to them and/or they were more easily reached by CTA from Old Town, I would be there much more often.

Shannon

Wow, glad to see Sip doing so well. I used to live near Grand/Ashland and would go there often. I haven't been to Sip in over a year or two -- I drive by it every so often and recently noticed there is a Starbucks almost right across the street. (The neighborhood must have 'arrived')

The thing with Letizia's in Wicker Park is that they seperate out the wine bar from the bakery/coffee shop portion. (The seperation is thin, but it might be a legal issue)

Add Local Grind in Wicker Park to this list. It's what you'd expect for a Wicker Park coffee shop -- very trendy people, good coffee, sandwiches, and caters well to the smokers.

As a non-smoker I'm not a fan of Local Grind in many respects - the airflow (or rather lack there of) means that the non-smoking and smoking sections alike are very smokey.

Plus the wifi is fee not free.

Other cafes to add to the list (for smokers at least):

Jinx on Division - nice smaller café with a very relaxed attitude.

However I personally prefer Alliance Bakery's new café a bit further east on Division - huge space, large comfortable chairs and large tables (though I have had problems in the past getting onto their wifi, though it is free if it is working) and most importantly they have two rooms - with the large back room for the smokers, leaving a large front space for the non-smokers. A great cafe, especially if you need to meet with a large group (or perhaps reserve a whole space for an event - they can accommodate a lot of people).

And though I haven't been there for a while you may want to check out Atomix Café on Chicago Ave between Damen and Western. Nice space and atmosphere, though too smokey for a non-smoker like myself (at least it was a few years ago).

There is also a good café whose name escapes me at the moment (perhaps Ritz Café?) on Ashland a bit south of Division, perhaps 1000 N Ashland? Free wifi, decent selection of café food and drinks.

Shannon

Strong agreement on the atmosphere of Local Grind (or is it called Filter, I remember it being called Local Grind, but now the logo of Filter is seeping into my head. Anyway, it's the indie coffeeshop at the North/Damen/Milwaukee intersection).

Speaking of the Wicker Park coffeeshops, does anybody know what happened to the internet coffeeshop that was right on North Avenue next to that bike shop? I remember going in there a LOT in 2001 time frame, and all of a sudden the guy packed up and closed shop. The owner was a former trader at the Merc and he had just sold his west loop condo to move into Wicker Park -- he was living right above Club Lucky at the time.