Grounds of Being: The Divinity School Coffee Shop

Stopped by for a morning cup of brew, definitely one of the better cups of coffees I’ve had. I think the best part is the price, good coffee for a good price, can’t really get better than that!

One time I thought I was buying a chocolate croissant but it turned out to be spinach and feta so I just threw it out and never came back. Before the renovations they had a nice shitty aesthetic going on but now it’s just ugly.

The coffee is good and priced decent. A fun adventure if your not familiar with the area.

They serve Colectivo coffee, and the small is only one dollar. That is all you need to know.

They are vegan-​vegetarian friendly which is super nice. They definitely have the best and cheapest coffee on campus! This is definitely the best café on the UChicago café. One downside though is that they only take cash. THEY DO NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS. Besides that, they are great. They are located in the basement of the divinity school which gives it a very cool atmosphere! The workers there are such sweethearts and so amazing. One last note, their coffee is only a dollar… Perfect!

Okay so after coming here to Chicago for 2 something months now, I think I may have found my favorite coffee shop. The past coffee shops that I’ve tried have a strange milk and coffee ratio. There was way too much milk in all the other coffee shops I’ve tried. This place is different. The coffee and milk ratio for my latte is perfect. My coffee is also served with the right temperature. Other places have it somewhat lukewarm. The price is also really good.
The coop feel of this place is quite nice. I really like how the server asked me what kind of milk I prefer.
U of Chicago visitors, do visit this place if you are a coffee drinker.

For sure the best coffee shop on campus. Service is pretty decent, and there is nothing like walking downstairs into the nice warm basement on a cold dark morning before class. The food is more or less the same selection as Cobb and Harper, the only difference being that here you have to pay in cash. I give this place four out of five stars because if I could use my credit card (I only ever carry cash when I make up my mind in advance to come to the div school) I would be down there every day grabbing a cortado. Oh yeah, speaking of which. These student baristas ARE THE BEST because they actually know how to make drinks!!! It’s awesome not to have to explain the difference between a macchiato and a cortado or a latte and cappuccino. It’s great.

The best and cheapest coffee in Hyde Park! This place is a hidden gem. You can bring your own mug and get drip for $ 1. They also have a speaker series and lunch every Wednesday 12pm, open to the public. for $ 5 you get wine, coffee, and a delicious 3-​course vegetarian meal which varies each week and keeps to seasonality. I’ve had rhubarb strawberry tart and bean burgers and challah and strawberry salad and all kinds of things. I really love this place and look forward to those talks!

My favorite coffee shop on campus. I cannot say enough good things about the Div Shop — a hidden gem on campus with affordable coffee. I like the hail mary a lot and the staff is always nice and patient despite the long line.
There’s a reason why it’s called «Where God Drinks Coffee.»

Coffee: Very good
Food: Fine. The pizza is overpriced. Cheaper pizza would be nice.
Service: That girl Kylie is pretty nice I guess.
Staff Competence: Very competent
Décor: The décor would be much improved with the addition of some Sei Smith artwork. Check him out!
Downsides: Cash only.
Upsides: You might see Wendy Doniger.

I don’t know what all these haters are on about, saying it has fallen off in the past years. The divinity school has THE BEST Iced Coffee in Hyde Park. Large Iced Coffee with minimal ice (more if you ask), 2.25.
I drink iced coffee at least 5 times a week winter and summer; it does not matter. I have been to 57^th street, zh, medici, all the ones on campus, that place on 62^nd that I cannot recall, etc. Each café’s iced coffee paled in comparison to that of Grounds of Being. Not only is it delicious, flavorful, but it is brewed strong.
When I say strong I mean *strong.* I once drank half of it in the first 15 minutes of a Dr. Schweiker lecture on Christian Theological Ethics (ugh) and I was tunnel-​vision in the zone – best notes I have ever taken. I was never a regular coffee drinker (read: I never «needed» coffee to to work etc), but damn, this stuff works.
To those complaining about the Div School food, it is delivered daily in the morning from local restaurants similar to other cafes on campus. The chicken tandoori sandwich rocks, but the falafel sandwich tends to be dry in my opinion.
You can’t knock the div café from supplying the same local food as other campus cafes.

I had the best latte I’ve had in quite a while here. Really love the high quality, the low prices, and the nice folks.
I especially like that they have brightened the place up a bit with better lighting.

There is nothing more comforting than a vanilla latte from the Div School on a cold UChicago day…
Also adore their chai. Occasionally they run out of soy milk, but I love their drinks so much that I just settle for nonfat.
Prices are inexpensive and the samosas (supplied by Rajun Cajun!) are amazing and if you get two of them, they can actually serve as a quick meal in between classes for those busy pre-​finals days…
I wish they still offered the bibimbap from the Korean restaurant in HP but they seemed to stop serving it during my final year of college.
Pro-​tip: Do not, ever, by any means, sit in the lounge close to the stairs. I did this as a first year and was immediately yelled at by a divinity school graduate student, who very seriously explained to me that it was reserved for graduate students. One of the scariest moments of my undergraduate career.

my favorite coffee supply in campus, very flavorful. Nice coffee cups, too
good price. You can also bring your mug/​cup for a refill for only $ 1.
a good combination of food. from home made pastry, sandwiches, Asian style box lunch to fruit and yogurt.
just remember they are cash only!

Why go to Grounds of Being for coffee?
Alterra quad latte on the UChicago quad for under quad dollars.
Quad stars, qu (a)d erat demonstrandum.

You can get a small cup of coffee for a dollar, so this place is perfect for a little caffeine fix. And for a tiny basement coffee shop, they also have a pretty extensive selection of food from local places like Rajun Cajun, Cedar’s, Siam Thai and Medici among others; though the food is kind of over-​priced for the portion size in comparison to the actual restaurant. Also the hours are also kind of disappointing (only open until 4 on weekdays, except wednesdays open until 8).
The overall atmosphere is pretty cool though, the employees are super nice and there are tons of study areas in vicinity. It is located in the basement of an arcane building on the south-​west quad, thus the secludedness of its location gives this place a special charm.

Please, please don’t ever go here… because you’ll probably ruin it. This hard to find dungeon within the bowels of a historic religious iconic structure on the campus of the UofCHi can get hot around the lunch hours. The smells of espresso, local indian/​thai food, chai tea and college angst billow from their corridor. Delicious, cheap, hip, friendly, convenient, smart… Like I said, don’t go here, you’ll probably just ruin it

wide variety of choices
great hangout place. not so tainted by hipster culture

Yes I am cheating on you. Intelligentsia and Metropolis coffee, I still love you but Alterra coffee at the Divinity school– it’s a winner. I even prefer Alterra made here to Metropolis served at Hallowed Grounds.
Who knew this Wisconsin based coffee could be so good!!! Those div school students know their coffee! I echo other reviewers, I wish this coffee shop was open later.
One thing I like is thedungeon atmosphere of the coffee shop. Feels very secretive but a little scary. Instead of feeling close to God, I sometimes get the heebie jeebies walking down that hallway in the basement of Swift Hall. Feels like an adventure getting my coffee!
Bring your own cup and the coffee is (I think) $ 1.00?
One thing I wish they accepted was credit cards. Sucks when I don’t have cash on me and am forced to get icky coffee at Starbucks in the bookstore.
So bring cash!

YUUMMMMMM FRESH BOXED LUNCHESSS
Gotta get them fast while they’re still fresh (~10:30−11am), because the good ones disappear in a flash.