Logan Square's Ritziest New Coffee Shop

Logan Square is not short on coffee shops. Nowadays you can't swing a pair of skinny jeans without hitting a cup of pourover coffee. Coffee shops are about as prevalent in the northwest side neighborhood as flannel, PBR, and PBR-drenched flannel. A friend of mine recently referred to certain Logan Square baristas as "coffeeologists," which I think is a brilliantly apropos description, since the handlebar mustaches on some of these coffee shop staffers rival those of the hippest cocktail-slingers in the area. With so many independent coffee shops in the 'hood, there's something for everyone, and thanks to the opening of a new Intelligentsia on Milwaukee Ave., that includes the type who like their pourover coffee with a side of art magazines and buttoned up baristas.


Intelligentsia on Milwaukee Ave.,


Intelligentsia, one of Chicago's preeminent local coffee companies, is in the midst of an ambitious city expansion. Having recently overhauled their original coffee shop on Broadway Ave., they've announced plans to open new shops in Old Town and Wicker Park. But first: Logan Square. The space is incredibly sleek and polished, with the feel of a chic doctor's office thanks to the all-white walls and decor (they even have a rack of magazines, albeit mostly fancy art magazines). The only doctors here, though, are coffee doctors, dutifully nursing pourover contraptions to concoct perfect cups of coffee. Seating consists of a handful of booths by the large front windows, plus a series of barstools lined up on either side of the central coffee island. The center of the space is where coffeeologists take coffee orders (it's like a restaurant — if you're sitting down, you get a coffee menu and order), pour your coffee, deliver you pastries, and so forth. Suspended in the air is a massive railing containing a myriad of shiny glass equipment, which I'm sure have legit purposes, but still kind of look like devices out of a Saw movie. Coffeeologists tend to your coffee like a mixologist to a craft cocktail, tinkering with precise equipment, allowing the pourover to take its time, and serving it in a mug and an adjoining glass carafe. The menu is sparse, consisting of two pourover coffee options, a cold brew, and a few espresso drinks. There's also a small tea selection. Of course, they also have drip coffee available, which is ideal for grab 'n' go patrons who don't have the time to jump through hoops on their way to the train in the morning.


Floriole Cafe & Bakery.


I like that Intelligentsia is putting more effort into their food selection now too. When they remodeled their original coffee shop, they brought in pastries from Floriole Cafe & Bakery. The same is true at the Logan Square location. There's a nice selection of pastries, too, making the coffee shop sort of like a mini Floriole in Logan Square (alleluia!). You can get many of Floriole's fan favorites, such as cookies, fruit galettes, croissants, scones, poundcakes, coffee cake, and more.


newangst-laden New Wave


For a while now, Logan Square has been feeling very Portlandia-like, i.e. saturated with hipsters, irony, and bits of pretention. Logan Square's new Intelligentsia, thanks to its diligent coffeeologists, full-service coffee bar, and fancy, squeeky clean decor, have "hipster television show" written all over it. It's a drastic departure from the rest of the coffee shops in the neighborhood, like the grungy and angst-laden New Wave, the taxidermy-emblazoned Gaslight, and the lodge-y Reno across the square. Regardless of how you feel about the new coffee shop, it's another big step for the continuously burgeoning neighborhood, and an exciting leap for the Chicago coffee scene at large.


he lodge-y Reno

 

 

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