Two Hearted Queen — Restaurant in Lake View Township

Two Hearted Queen is, in theory, the perfect coffee shop. It's the only coffee shop in the entire Lakeview area that has truly comfortable and cozy places to sit and a designated seating area that feels secluded, peaceful, and easy to focus. It also serves the BEST breakfast bagels I've ever had and it's great that you can go there for a true meal versus just a couple pastries.

HOWEVER, the ordering system is so confusing. They don't have a designated person to just stand at the register and take orders, so often you have to call out your order to someone across the bar which results in a lot of confusion and incorrect items. This also makes the line feel so unnecessarily long and tedious. Certain employees go out of their way to make you welcomed, but often it can feel hectic and chaotic.

Additionally, this place is so deeply overpriced, it feels like I can only go there once a month because I feel genuinely guilty to be spending this absurd amount of money on coffee and a breakfast bagel. The bagel, sure, I can justify, but the coffee absolutely not.

Finally, it makes me genuinely angry the way they rush you out of the place. They close at 3pm, but they will stack all the chairs in the sitting area around you at 1:30 PM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I understand prepping before officially closing, but to have the chairs all stacked and tables off limits around you for an hour and a half before they close is just so excessive and does not create a positive atmosphere.

It's so unfortunate to me that the only coffee shop in Lakeview with a truly ideal cozy sitting area and good, substantial food is so expensive, chaotic, and oftentimes hostile, that I regret spending my money there...

I am not a native to Chicago, so take my review with a grain of Deep Dish salt. Two Hearted Queen is very unassuming from the outside, and very delicious on the inside. Quietly placed on the corner lot off of Roscoe street, the cafe is surprisingly large on the inside, with flavors and personality to match. Along the usual list of classic coffee menu items, Two Hearted Queen also has a list of specialty drinks that are sure to blow your socks off. Concoctions of what I can only imagine the late night ingenuity of the staff, their specialty drinks are well worth the money, as they pay back in flavor. All of the drinks I tried at Two Hearted Queen were bold, strong, low acidity, and extremely smooth. Its not often you can find a cup of the stuff that is so aggressively aromatic and yet so delicately subtle in flavors. Think of the chain that rhymes with FarDucks for example; their coffee almost exudes a presence of coffee in a five mile radius of a freshly brewed cup. But one sip and you know you're going to be digging for the Priolesec in a few hours to tame the acid reflux heartburn beast. And while it might smell bold, and look bold, it tastes...burnt. Two Hearted Queen, to me, was everything you could ever want in a cup. Smooth, robust, and complex in a way that only good coffee can be. Inside there is tons of room to lounge, work, watch a game, eat an Italian beef, whatever it is you Chicagoans do. WiFi is fast, and music is on point. I couldn't be more please with my experience at Two Hearted Queen, and will certainly be back before I leave, and will relish the opportunity to visit later...

On one of many trips to the Windy City, I looked for a new coffee house. Being in the northside of Chicago, I was reccomemded this particular coffee house. Upon arrival, the ambience of the seperated 'drink preparation area/small kitchen' was a blessing to find that I could enjoy a definitively quieter conversation level by NOT having the espresso machine blast at 90db. And when how I discovered the history of the Two Hearted Queen cafe, I was touched. Having two moms for well more than 25 years, it was a wonderful thing to find this cafe. Great coffee, food, service, wonderful fellow cafe mates, comfortable seating, (love the typewriters) and a group of people, both staff and customers that are hard to find at the to oft-found chains. While Chicago does have many local cafes (having tried upwards of 40 local cafes, including the one where the making of coffee is more watching a science experiment - ever hear of a carafe? - the one that starts with an I, most often for irritating) this cafe should be on everyone's 'must visit list'. It is on mine everytime I visit and it should be on yours too. Definitely worth the trip. Near the El (forgot the station), but most accessible. Hope to run onto the owners at some time!! Cheers and enjoy...