Found: The Best Coffee Shops in Chicago, Period
We’ll admit we have a slight obsession with coffee shops, especially when detail is paid not only to the perfect latte but also to the . We could spend all day at a café that checks all three of these boxes. (Okay, this editor does spend all day at a coffee shop that does this, but who wouldn’t?) Also, scouring for the best ones is what we’d like to call research.
If you have an appreciation for a in a café and your standards are pretty high, then you’ll want to bookmark the list ahead. From a Military Latte taking over Instagram to a Top Chef’s coffee shop, these are the eight best cafés in Chicago you need to go to ASAP. Trust us, you won’t want to leave.
3 Arts Club
We’re swooning over Restoration Hardware’s garden courtyard café (picture RH décor, brick walls, and indoor trees). Enjoy daily Doughnut Vault donuts or pastries from the pantry with your pour-over or chai latte.
1300 N. Dearborn Pkwy., Chicago,
Sawada Coffee
Scroll through Instagram and you’ll find Sawada Coffee’s Military Latte all over it. The blend of matcha, espresso, vanilla syrup, and cocoa powder is a favorite among influencers setting up the perfect shot. The coffee shop—which currently has only one location in the world—celebrated its first anniversary in December.
112 N. Green St., Chicago,
Floriole Café & Bakery
This farmers market–driven café and bakery serves Intelligentsia Coffee and a selection of beer and wine. The menu offers some of the best pastries in the city, soups, and sandwiches. Try the avocado toast and chia seed pudding, and opt for almond milk in your coffee because they make it in-house!
1220 W. Webster Ave., Chicago,
Dollop Coffee
Dollop Coffee bakes all of its own pastries and delivers them fresh every morning to the café, shares Dollop Coffee owner Dan Weiss with MyDomaine. He suggests trying their cookies and croissants, which “are to die for,” along with their perennial favorite honey cinnamon latte.
9 locations throughout Chicago,
Little Goat Bread
Across the street from Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard’s popular spot Girl & the Goat is Little Goat Bread, which serves double-shot drinks and baked goods, including scones, muffins, mini pies, and cinnamon buns (we’re partial to this!). The best part is that unlike Girl & the Goat, no reservation is required.
820 W. Randolph St., Chicago,
La Colombe
We’re obsessed with the organic blends of carefully sourced and roasted coffee at La Colombe. The ethically conscious coffee shop has four locations throughout Chicago and three drinks on draft. Psst… a fifth La Colombe is opening soon on Elm Street.
Four locations throughout Chicago,
Heritage Bikes
Heritage Bikes is part bicycle store, part coffee shop, and total perfection. The concept has three locations throughout Chicago serving coffees, teas, and pastries/savories from local spots like West Town Bakery.
Three locations throughout Chicago,
Intelligenstia
Intelligentsia’s iced dirty chai latte with almond milk is our favorite (and we’ve tried a lot!). The coffeebar—which also brews peak-season coffees—has locations throughout the country with six in Chicago.
Six locations throughout Chicago,
Essentials for the Coffee Aficionado
What are you favorite Chicago coffee shops? Share your tips in the comment section below.