Backlot Coffee — Restaurant in Jefferson Township

I grew up with a love for cardamom through my great grandmother's Swedish coffee bread. To my surprise of walking up to the counter, I saw cardamom sweet rolls and cardamom rose latte which with your choice of milk. Their special which is called The Bloom, I don't remember exactly what type of coffee drink it was but it was made with rose and cardamom. My husband and I got bother drinks mine was the bloom with oat milk and his was the cardamom rose latte with whole milk. His drink was sweet and savory at the same time. It was more overly savory with the sweet rose flavor coming in the end. It was a nice change from overly sweetened coffee drinks from a well known chain that will not be named. The bloom was refreshing and light. I forgot to mentioned both were iced as the day was working it's way to the mid-80's. As for pastries, the cardamom roll did not disappoint. We also got a glazed donut & ham & cheese croissant for the kid, an apple friter and two of the cardamom rolls. They do over a cinnamon sugar coated donut that is gluten free. I meant to ask if there were other gluten free items available but didn't get the chance or if the one item alternates with another. The place is near Irving Park road by the metra station, a Lou Malnati's and a Potbelly...

Really disappointed as this used to be my fave coffee shop. I’ll admit I was a bit rushed and didn’t have much time and wanted to place my order asap and was the next customer in line but I feel like from the moment we walked in, the baristas didn’t bother greeting us which at first it was obvious that they were busy so this was understandable but one of them that was taking the orders was having a personal convo which fine that’s normal but after a few minutes of us grabbing stuff from the fridge and standing in line waiting to order another item , the one barista continued carrying on his personal conversation with a customer without ever once acknowledging our presence. Kept asking follow up questions to a point where I thought the slight was intentional. We returned the items back to the fridge and left pretty swiftly as clearly their convo was much too important to acknowledge us and clearly our business is not needed. They have enough foot traffic I totally understand that and want to build relationships with their special customers but guess what, we were customers too and a little respect goes a long way. this used to be my fave spot and today’s treatment was borderline disrespectful and just...

I have been in every day since opening, and this is a fine, charming place. The quality of the espresso is consistently excellent, and the staff is helpful and knowledgeable, as well as sincerely friendly. They clearly know their stuff, yet this place is completely unpretentious about it. For example, I overheard them talking about whether to give a customer who orders "cappuccino" a traditional cappuccino or a more general sort.

It's a lovely place, with an excellent selection of coffees (by Stumptown Roasters) and food items: pies and hot, fresh biscuits from Bang Bang, doughnuts from Do-Rite, Argentinian-style gelato from Frio of Evanston, and more. I've already tried quite a few offerings and have not once been disappointed.

It has been a joy to see the place grow in their first week, with striking artwork now adorning the walls, and to see friendly faces from the neighborhood pop in. Although new, this coffee shop already ranks among my very favorites in the city, and I expect it will quickly become known as a fixture in...