Big Shoulders Coffee — Restaurant in Chicago

Visiting from out of state. One of us is from Sydney, one is from Texas. It was about 8:30am. Happy to get our day started! Ordered 2 lattes. Tipped ahead of time. Sat down at the bar, infront of the espresso machine since it was empty. The only 2 other people there were already sitting down. I let the Barista making our drinks know we were right in front of her and then went on to enjoy my company. She was speaking non stop about mark ruffalo and cinematography so I am just going to assume she didn’t see me past her sunglasses, inside, in the morning, and couldn’t hear me over herself. She walked our lattes to the end of the bar- didn’t announce them. So after a few minutes I asked about them? She pointed and said yeah they’re at the end of the bar. My face was frozen in shock, she went right back to talking to herself. The other 2 guests made the same flabbergasted eye contact with me. Good thing we tipped, right? The coffee beans were good but I’ve never been more humiliated and mistreated over a simple cup of Joe first thing in the morning. She had a bullring and some hair color in case management reads this and would like to teach her about basic human decency. Her hatred for others really wasn’t our problem and definitely wasn’t the holiday kick off we were anticipating. Good thing Chicago is full of the...

Love this Big Shoulders location for (pick any category & I'll respond with) all of the above.

I come regularly and while I'm not the kind of customer to enjoy a dolled up latte with the seasonal this'n'that, I'd recommend it all to friends having watched the lovely baristas toast marshmallows for these drinks. I come for a cortado w/oat or a straight espresso and I'm a semi-stickler for a decent order of things of the like. They've never done me wrong & my cortado comes with properly textured oat milk every time. I get my beans here for espresso & you get a free drink when u get ur beans! I get Bold Slugger!

The baristas are the gem of my regular visits. They're all great people, with whom I share a chat here n there. Annie, Andrew, Sai, Alex, & others have been great! I don't expect folks to call me by name as one in the masses of Chicago, but it does warm my heart a bit when I see my name written on my cup or a simple Hey, Austin!

Haven't tried other Big Shoulders locations, but I do quite enjoy the bit of neighborhood charm in this smaller spot. Would recommend especially for a solo visit or a pair, seating is possible for 4 or more in the warmer months in their outdoor seating and can work on occasion...

| TLDR | Lavender latte is AMAZING, compact yet pro-study space, and full of outlets. Now here's the inside scoop:

| Pros | ☕ Coffee: do really well at making syrup-specific lattes, as well as your run-of-the-mill coffee bevs (caf & decaf options). Average prices are decent but typical of downtown, with a hot 8oz latte coming out to $5.50 w/o tax) 🏠 Seating: ample seating (ports abound basically everywhere you sit, and are located in space between couch seat and backrest) 📶 Suprisingly Great WiFi: although speeds clocked in at an avg. of 13.7 Mbps. Password can be found on top of counter

| Things to Consider | 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Downtown Hustle: could get pretty packed and loud at times but some good noise-cancelling headphones/earbuds should do the trick

Overall, really neat place to get some work done or meet with a friend. If you ever wondered which Chicago Downtown coffeeshop to stop by, check out Big Shoulders (where small shoulders are also allowed...