Intelligentsia - Chicago, IL Reviews

There's a ton of places to get coffee in my neighborhood, but I usually come to Intelligensia because the coffee is great, and the service is wonderful. The people who work there are so kind. My only cons are that 1) this place can get packed! some of the customers are the snobby type, and I don't like standing around with them. And 2) you can't leave a tip on a credit card! I hardly ever have cash, and it makes me feel like a jerk when I can't tip!
My favorite though, is that they pour their lattes carefully so it leaves a little design on top. It's little touches like this that make me not want...

Love their coffee so much that my friends and I do the mile long hike to Intelligentsia once a week. I can't decide which one item on their list is my favorite. I enjoy em all... Even their teas are fantastic - Iron Godess of Mercy is my fav among the tea they carry. In the summer, Admiral Byrd's freeze is the best way to chill out.

I am also very partial to the zucchini bread they serve and the Black Cat Brownies... yummm!!!

Black Cat is tough to beat (though I do love Metropolis' Red Line), and a free shot with a pound of beans is tougher. Intelly, you encourage my bad habit!

I frequent the location near Division/Paulina that is part of Alliance Bakery. Walking by you wouldn't even know Intelligensia is served here if you miss the small logo on the window. You buy the coffee in Alliance Bakery and can go next door to a huge room with comfy sofas and chairs. I work from home, and this place is my office away from home.

In the summer months I work away in the outdoor seating area on my Macbook, provided it isn't too sunny. The seats are intentionally close together, so you may run into interesting people wanting to borrow your pen. People love to bring their dogs...

Intelligentsia has the best coffee in the city - I am not a huge espresso fan as I don't think there is much difference in flavor between the various chains.  However, as far as regular coffees go, Intelligentsia has the most flavorful and broadest selection I have ever seen.  YUM!!

BTW - expect to wait a little for regular coffee because of the fact they make it with 'clover' machines - these are $12,000 machines that simulate a french press but get the coffee made in something less than a minute.  I'll take totally fresh coffee and wait a little for it rather than drip coffee that has been...

I first started going to Intelligentsia when they were on Broadway in Lakeview. I had tasted their coffee at Hackney's in Printer's Row. I went to the Intelligentsia store and told them that I loved the coffee I had at Hackney's. They looked up the blend they make for that restaurant and mixed a bag of beans for me according to that exact recipe. Brilliant. I continued to buy that recipe for myself and as gifts for out of towners.

Don't get me wrong- the coffee here is as decent as anywhere; but the bakery items are far superior to any of the other chain coffee shops. starbucks, ok; Caribou: awful; but Intelligentsia has food items that seperate it from the pack. And since we in chicago are socially concious: the employees actually LIKE working there and get great benefits- unlike some of the others which are smoke and mirror'ed.