Bombastic Cafe

I paid $5.58 for a large black coffee here. This trend of gouging people in Chicago with Dark Matter/Intelligentsia/Metropolis/Big Shoulders has to stop. These bags are $17 at any grocery store, but you want us to pay 1/3rd of that price for 1/10th of the bag? You're not adding value anywhere close to what you're charging. You're just on a bougie street where you can get away with selling expensive espresso drinks to people, and for some reason the drip coffee crowd has to suffer for it. Get over yourself.

I used to really enjoy coming to this coffee shop (I live in the neighborhood and have been patronizing for years), but service has really gone downhill as of late. Often now when I walk up to the area to order, there are multiple employees engaged in personal conversation, and even if they see you standing there staring at them (should be pretty clear what I’m standing there for), they don’t discontinue their conversation or even acknowledge your presence until you’ve been standing there for a while awkwardly and they decide when to put a pause on their conversation. Also, the girl taking my order today had a salad that she was eating open next to her by the POS system, which seems a little odd. I ordered an iced drink (told her twice), and the barista made it hot (probably due to her paying more attention to their conversation than my order). When I indicated to her that it was supposed to be iced, she didn’t apologize or even acknowledge the error. She and one of the other employees just looked at me as if I was inconveniencing them and their ability to continue their conversation and then asked me to confirm what I ordered. I also stopped ordering any iced drinks here with espresso because on multiple occasions I’ve seen a barista pour hot espresso shots directly into an empty plastic cup, and I don’t want to ingest microplastics with my coffee. I was a barista for several years when I was younger, and I’d probably be more understanding if these issues were a one-off occurrence. It’s a shame because I really like the coffee and matcha here, but I would rather go somewhere else with lesser coffee than continue to experience this level of customer service.

I love their dark roast and cozy vibe. They also have a great selection of innovative syrups and drink combinations. The entire staff is super kind and friendly. Great spot!

Nice coffee cafe that transitions into doing cocktails later in the day. Atmosphere was nice with some good art on walls and other eclectic decor. Beans are roasted in house and the coffee was solid.

Thanks Ilirida! The coffee and lattes are amazing, I highly recommend the polka pistachio and mocha signature latte as well as the Turkish delight latte. A place to hang out and work, outdoor patio is amazing, and the service is so friendly and welcome it and professional. Special shout out to the team that helped us, Ilirida, Sarina, and Amanda!!!