Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea
3123 N Broadway
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 348-8058
Intelligentsia is a chain, n’est pas?
A couple things I’ve noted while visiting the Windy City of Chicago (as a side note, it’s not that windy. In fact, if it were up to me, it’d be called the humid, sticky, rainy City of Chicago).
One: this city is NOT a coffee city. Other than wretched Starbucks and the erstwhile Caribou, I’ve had trouble finding decent cafes to hang out at. Intelligentsia had a lot of seating and comfortable couches, but this was not a neighborhood-feel type of cafe. And the coffee was mild, at best (I had to order an extra shot of espresso to even taste the latte).
Two: god damn, there are a lot of families here. Chicago has accomplished what a lot of cities are struggling to do - be appealing to families with children of all ages. New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, these cities have all effectively kicked most of their middle class residents out to the suburbs. But nay Chicago. And in Intelligentsia, not only did I notice super-fem gay bois, stylish fashionistas, and disaffected hipsters, but parents changing diapers, elementary school kids reading the funnies while their parents were reading the business section, and old-hen grandmas gossiping in a sewing circle.
