Intelligentsia — Restaurant in Chicago

The coffee was amazing but the customer service was horrible. Out of all the coffee houses in the area I chose this one because they showed a vegan muffin in the online menu. When I arrived it wasn’t very busy, I knew what drink I wanted and proceeded to order and asked the cashier if she had the vegan muffin she seemed bothered by this and told me that only the cookies on the bottom shelf (there were many options) when I asked her for the chocolate chip one she told me that wasn’t an option so I asked her to clarify she was rude, raised her voice and continued stating only the ones in the bottom shelf at this point she was being very vague and didn’t seem to be very helpful when I asked her to tell me again which ones were vegan. I had to literally tell her to point it out only to find out it wasn’t even a cookie she was referring to it was some type of cake. I understand if you’re having a bad day but some of us have dietary restrictions that need to be followed my intention is never to make your life harder but easier I try to look at the menus ahead of time to be in and out. I thanked her regardless and paid. I noticed she wasn’t like this to any other customers. I don’t know if it was a race issue, the fact that I asked for a vegan item or you were just having a bad day but please, if don’t want to serve someone just redirect them to someone else that can help. I was really looking forward to my cup of coffee and you really ruined the mood. For the prices charged I would think the customer service would be better here. Never...

I am sharing this review because my friend who’s a regular costumer there had a horrible experience and none of the staff tried to stop it. A guy was standing there and started harassing her and talking about her in a very inappropriate manner and was shouting to the point that everyone in the shop stopped and stared. The baristas just stood there watching him talk horribly to her as if it was a show! She couldn’t say anything to him because she was very horrified and scared and she isn’t very fluent in English. And when one single customer tried to interfere the guy started shouting more obscene and terrible things about her to the whole crowd to hear. The staff just stared and did nothing to stop him or get him out of the place. Once I arrived, I found her shaking and very terrified! So the two of us went to the cashier and asked them how could they let something like that happen, the guy replied with ‘I actually was downstairs and I wasn’t up here but I did call the police. There was nothing we could do.’ How can there be nothing for you to do? You could have asked him to simply leave the place! My friend was humiliated and was very scared! They didn’t even offer her an apology or even tried to console her! And what do you mean you called the police like “please sit and wait for ten minutes while this guy just harasses the hell out of you and we’re not gonna do anything because we’ll wait for the police” They have lost a very loyal customer. Terrible terrible way to handle a situation like this. Never...

My wife is writing this review as she does not have a Google account. My daughter buys Intelligentsia Coffee at Whole Foods in Minnesota and really loves their coffee. Since we were visiting family in the Chicagoland area, she requested that we drive downtown to go to an actual Intelligentsia Coffee Bar. We stopped at this particular location the morning of December 31st. What a disappointment. For starters, the cashier was not personable or customer-service oriented whatsoever. I have been to many coffee bars and my daughter has as well. Never before have either of us had to deal with a cashier who obviously does not enjoy her job and who loathes customers. She did not even offer us a choice of milk (whole, lowfat, etc). Advice to the owner: the cashier is the first employee that the customer has to deal with. Please hire someone who wants to work and who knows that the customer is bringing the business to the establishment. I ordered a hot chocolate and the temperature of the drink was not hot at all, just warm. I drank about 1/4 of it and then threw it out. My daughter ordered a latte and it was a total disappointment. She told me that the latte tasted "watered down," only finished half of her latte and threw the rest out. As for the two pastries we purchased - they were both just average. After our experience at Intelligentsia, my daughter stated that she will not even buy the beans anymore. The owners of Intelligentsia need to think twice about...