Ch’ava Cafe

I like this neighborhood coffee shop. It’s not super quiet, but the ample lighting makes me feel comfortable sitting inside for a long period of time to read all my e-​mails and newsletters I subscribed.
They also brew quality coffee. I had latte and an almond croissant. I’m not sure if the pastries were made in house, but it tasted just fine. They do serve light lunch, such as sandwiches, salad, and soup, starting at 1100 hour.
The prices are competitive to the national chain coffee shops. Since I moved to Chicago, I’ve never patronized another generic, commercial cafes. I love discovering local places, and I hope you Unilocalers do the same.
The CTA 22 bus (Clark) stops near Ch’ava. The entrance of the place is located in Leland, directly across from the park.

Believe me when I say that I want to like this place more than I do! And I’ve given it more than one chance.
We moved to the neighborhood 2 months ago & were happy to learn this place was just steps from our front door. However, while the coffee & pastries we’ve had here are good, the attitude of the staff is pretty awful overall.
We’ve started calling the staff there coffee snobs. Don’t go in after 12 noon expecting drip coffee. That is only for the morning. Instead you’ll be charged $ 4.00 for some fancy pour over coffee that takes 5 minutes to make & served in a cup just slightly larger than a Dixie Cup. All of this with scowls on the faces of pretty much everyone there! A buzz kill for a place that should be buzzing on caffeine.
Seriously, I’ve never been to a coffee shop before where I am walking on eggshells as soon as I’m standing in front of the register. It’s as though my patrongage is not wanted.
And that’s fine by me. Honestly, I’d rather walk past this place and go to Baker & Nosh or Le Colombre up at Clark & Foster!

Love this place. I come here for coffee and food and to get some work done. The owner cooks the food and changed up the menu seasonally. I love trying everything on the menu.
It’s such a niche coffeeshop in such an odd place in town. But it’s perfect where it is. The folks who work here are upbeat and great.
I’ve been coming here for almost two years now and I love it.

Finally stopped in after passing this place a million times, and this will be my new favorite remote workstation when I need to get out of the apartment!
Highlights:
1. Fast, consistent, free internet. I was here for several hours and had no issues with several tabs open and streaming Spotify.
2. Delicious coffee, tea, and food! I had a latte, which had some lovely art on top and was incredibly smooth and served to my table. I also ordered an admittedly overpriced oolong (it was excellent, but $ 13 for 1 gaiwan of oolong, even with 3 steepings, is a lot), but it was super tasty and properly brewed gaiwan style. I also observed proper brewing of Japanese teas in kyusus, and glassware for other styles. Very impressed at the tea service! I had the Fig & Goat Cheese sandwich, which was very tasty on thick wheat bread and crunch chips.
3. Mostly quiet enough. Some chatter and the music isn’t too loud, it’s not raucous for sure.
4. Atmosphere is very open, trendy, and chill. It’s not oozing hipsterdom or cheap coffee. It’s people who know their product and what they’re doing, and give it to you. Lots of big windows for natural light and ample seating in a variety of tables and arrangements.
5. Service — everyone was friendly, and brought everything right to my table, including free resteeps of my fancy oolong «Song Zhong».
I sat here from 9:45am-2:41pm and never felt unwelcome or like they were trying to get rid of me.
Awesome experience, will be back!

It’s not that they don’t serve food, cause they do and it looks delicious. But it’s a coffee shop that doesn’t serve breakfast. Maybe I’m the weird one who likes coffee in the morning, oftentimes with breakfast.
Also not open early. Double fail for these coffee snobs.

At last I have finally found a coffee joint that serves both awesome drinks and food. I go back and forth between coffee and loose lea teas, and find that Chava takes both types of drinks seriously. The owners handpick their beans and teas, use Kilgus Farm dairy, and keep their attention on maintaining quality which I really appreciate. I’m willing to pay an extra 25 – 50 cents for an amazing cup of coffee and can’t understand why people would choose and pay for a sub-​par cup of joe at Starbucks when you can get a superior product for the same price and also support local business.
I like going here for lunch as they change up their selection of sandwiches, soups and salads relatively regularly. And I appreciate that they always have at least one or two vegetarian items on the menu at any given time. I’ve noticed that their pastries (one of the few things they don’t make and prepare in-​house) are delivered in the mornings and usually sell out by late morning/​early afternoon which is a bummer if you are looking for something sweet to nosh on midday.
A friend turned me on to this place and told me about one of the owners being interviewed for the Barista Report at the TED Talk 2011. I checked it out and the owner talks about his coffee philosophy and a little about how they go about pricing their brew.
Thank god for good coffee.

I love this place. It’s like the best of Logan Square – in terms of the aesthetic and quality of the coffee/​food craftsmanship – right in Ravenswood/​Uptown.
Very straightforward: open and consistent wi-​fi, good service, lots of bright and open space. It’s my favorite place to work and get coffee in the area.
Strongly recommended!

Best café ever!
A couple of things about this sweet little discovery of mine:
1) Amazing coffee; I’ve had the Vanilla Latte hot and iced… both equally amazing in their own way, the perfect harmony of espresso and milk.
2) The spring menu has the yummiest sandwiches with the freshest vegetables hand-​picked by the chef from the Farmers Market
3) Pistachio Macaroons are so scrumptious as are the Coconut macaroons-​ever so lightly crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
4) Free Wi-​Fi! Great place to study/​work if you don’t mind a little music in the background. Big open space with plenty of seating and huge windows letting the natural light in, love the ambiance.
5) FREE parking in their lot– seriously who is going to shell out $ 2/​hour if you’re going to study for 6+ hrs.
6) Eddie and the rest of the staff are wonderful! Eddie’s always letting me sample his newest creations. Such a great, friendly guy!
Overall, some of the best coffee I’ve had and I’ve tried lattes from just about everywhere in the city, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, Andersonville, Lakeview, Evanston and this by far wins!

Telling my three year old niece that she can only watch her Disney show on her iPad if she wears a headphone left us feeling pity for the establishment.
So the moral of the story…
If you enjoy sitting at a table by yourself and nursing your cup of coffee for several hours while surfing the web… this is definitely the place for you.
But if you’re an individual who enjoys having a great cup of coffee while chatting with friends and family, and feeling absolutely welcomed… this is NOT the place for you.
Too bad, we totally believe in supporting local businesses since we recently bought a new home in the area but we won’t be going here.

I always feel like there are two types of coffee shops, shops for people who love coffee and shops for people who enjoy coffee shops. I happen to enjoy both and Ch’ava fits the bill. The coffee is top notch and the staff is wonderful. If that’s not enough the treats and food are solid and the overall vibe is great. The location is perfect in an area that could stand a few more coffee shops, this is one of the few and certainly the best particularly if you detest spending time in a starbucks.

I desperately needed coffee after spending my first night in Chicago. This was a convenient walk from our airbnb location so we took a stroll on a chilly morning in the windy city.
I love the look of this coffee shop. I could come here every day and work if I happened to someday be in Chicago. The space was great though I honestly think they could have squeezed a few more tables. I was a bit surprised that the place wasn’t very crowded on a Tuesday morning mid morning.
Coffee was delicious. I got my typical Cappuccino and sat down to enjoy the morning.

How have I neglected to review Ch’ava? (I always forget where the apostrophe lives in that name)
Listen. Are you in the neighborhood and want a coffee? A really good fancy latte, or a classy sandwich? Stop in. Everything they make here is top-​notch and I’ve never been disappointed. Bonus points for boxed water, which always amuses me.

I live in the area and have been to this place about dozen times.
Coffee is spectacular. If you order a coffee, they are not gonna pour it out of a 5 gallon pot. Someone is gonna take 5 minutes on your order, and make the shit out of your coffee as if its the last cup they will ever make. If you can’t tell the difference between coffee quality, then you should probably save $ 2 bucks by getting it at starbucks. or even $ 3 if you go to a gas station.
I am yet to experience staff unfriendliness mentioned in some reviews. Since I am a clean cut guy in his mid-​thirties, wearing a North Face jacket on my way to the gym, I expect to be exactly the target for these rude hipster baristas. But so far, I only got coffee, smiles, and thank you from them.
If you appreciate a really good coffee, you will love this place.

The foam, the foam!!! Every since I’ve had Uptown Coffee in Seattle, I’ve been on a foam kick and this place comes closest in Chicago so far.
The foam is creamy and delicious.
Honestly, everything is pretty pricey but the food is good and the coffee is great too! I recently had a chai which was the first disappointing thing I’ve had there because it was too sweet and not enough spice for me.
I’ve had some great iced summer drinks there too… yum yum…
The space is perfect for bringing your laptop and doing some work, that’s what everyone else is doing. It’s more of a working café and not a hangout café.

Last year I decided that I want to checkout as many Chicago coffee shops as I could find. Ch’ava was one of my first places I’ve been to, and though I’ve only been here a couple of times, I absolutely LOVE it. I swear I will drive all the way from the burbs to get a cup of coffee/​latte at any time. Besides their awesome coffee, this particular coffee shop has an ajacent parking lot, which is a rarity on its own. I hate city parking, but Ch’ava has made it easy!
This past weekend, we were able to find an empty table and enjoy our vanilla lattes — last time I was here, it was PACKED! It’s a great café to bring your work to (they have WI-​FI)… quiet, very lit up with big windows, and the tables are nicely spaced from each other.
I am a sucker for latte art and the barista who made made my vanilla latte did a great job with a beautiful presentation. They have a very nice food selection — from bakery goods to salads to sandwiches.
It’s the perfect place to catch up on a book, study, or just to relax. I can’t wait to try some of their cold coffee drinks… summer where are you?!

Intelligentsia brews, amongst a vast variety of others.
Two espresso shots are just over $ 6. Coffee selection and preparation are excellent. Seating and space are ample. The atmosphere is rather cold, lacking color, décor, and comfortable seating.
The staff is incredibly dry. No smiles, no affable personalities, and certainly no appreciation for customers. They are eager to dismiss people here. It’s too bad the staff/​owner are so nasty, because they do know how to make a great cup of coffee/​espresso/​mixed coffee drinks.
I particularly ventured here with a buddy to see how true the other reviews are, based on horrible experiences with staff. The reviews render true.
Unless, in the future, I read the staff have decided to remove the stick from their arses, I won’t be back!

A surprising addition to the neighborhood, just across the street from the infamous Carol’s Pub. You’ll find a bright and airy (if not echoey, the major drawback) space with lots of seating, friendly barista and a tasty looking food menu.
I had a tea, which was expertly prepared and served in an insulated glass cup. The barista made sure I knew to request extra water for three steepings. I appreciated the heads up!
With good wifi, is add this to my list along with the Coffee Studio for good co-​working spots in Uptown. If the management would add some design element to deal with the bad acoustics if be here even more often.

I looove that Ch’ava is right down the street from my office; I discovered this place during one of my desperate moments of mid-​afternoon caffeine cravings. This place is adooorable. I love the décor and open layout, and every time I go, I find myself jealously eyeing the people who are sitting at the light-​up table. Grr! Someday I will manage to snag that spot!
I haven’t had any of the food, but the coffee is done quite well. Overall, a lovely little café that I will surely find myself frequenting fairly often, whether I just want a cup of java to-​go or need to settle in for an afternoon of work.

My husband and I stopped by here whilst in the neighborhood and it was pretty good! Friendly staff, yummy Intelligenstia drinks, and they even had an 8 oz. mocha for me! This was a plus for me, but the smaller sizes (only had a 12 oz. pour over) was a negative for the hubbster. It is a little odd that they had only smaller sizes, but the coffee was pretty good! However, I did ask and they are not doing a seasonal pumpkin flavoring, bummer, I really had a hankering for a Mocha Pumpkin flavored drink! It does seem they have food and/​or sandwiches here, but we were in an incredible hurry and couldn’t stop to check everything out. All we know is what we ordered and the customer service we were given, and it was pretty good! If we were down in this neighborhood again we would pop back in for a 2^nd time! Give ‘em a chance, and get a break from the S*bux.

I met my friend at Ch’ava for lunch one weekend early in the summer and it was so cute and delicious! I got to enjoy a bowl of tomato soup along with a salad of Miller Farms Chicken w/​Citrus — Ginger Dressing. (From the menu): Tossed w/​baby greens, red onion, grape tomato, carrots, celery and oven roasted chicken breast, Topped w/​parmesan cheese
The waiters were so friendly and the place was really light and airy. Perfect for a nice summer weekend afternoon!