Ashbary Coffee House — Restaurant in Lyons Township

Review Date: May 3rd, 2021

A literal house converted to a coffee house.

After an 8-hour meeting for work (with a lunch break), I needed some coffee to revitalize me. I resorted to Yelp to point me in a direction that wasn’t Starbucks or Dunkin’. As much as I love those places, when I am out of town, I want a taste of what the locals offer. I was losing hope as my search was bringing up nothing that wasn’t a restaurant that happened to serve coffee until I saw Ashbary. I didn’t bother looking at the reviews and picked the place since it looked cool in the one photo I saw and it was coffee first.

As I sat at the lights, I was looking at Ashbary and thought to myself that this place had to be unique on the inside as it is on the outside. Boy, was I in for a surprise. I parked my card and made my way in. Upon entering, I was greeted by the cashier and the punk music pouring out from the speakers. Not only that, but the place screamed punk does coffee. Not only coffee but they had a plethora of ice creams to choose from. Not only that but they seemingly had a sandwich/panini menu to order from. Not only that but there were slot machines to play on. Not only that but the menu seemed to offer coffee mixed with ice cream.

I was too awestruck by everything to properly ask the guy behind the counter what half the menu is and settled on a large hot Americano with a chocolate biscotti stick and a gluten-free cookie. The coffee didn’t take long to make and once I had it, I sat down to enjoy my biscotti stick while I continued to take in the… everything. That’s when I notice the panini menu and regretted not ordering something off there as I was hungry (but still had my leftover Chinese back in my hotel room).

When the biscotti stick was gone, I gathered up my things and left. I had a gym reservation at the hotel that I needed to make and my coffee had to wait to be properly tasted until my gym visit was over. You bet the second I walked in to my room, the coffee was in my hand and I was taking big swigs from it. With americanos, they tend to be bitter as they are just espresso and water. Sounds disgusting on paper but it’s my current favorite way to drink coffee if it’s available. This was surprisingly smooth and might be the best one I’ve ever had. It’s hard to say since it cooled down a bit due to my gym excursion but even taking that in, it was super delicious and hit the spot and then some. As I tried to not chug my coffee, I tried the gluten-free cookie. I bought it on a whim to help support local businesses and it complimented the coffee in a great way as it was just a little bit dry and that was rectified by taking a sip of coffee.

I can’t help but feel that my one visit to Ashbary is not enough to really take in the place. Between the punk music playing, the creative food offerings, and the general odd decor… you just don’t get a good feel for place like this on one visit.

My time in Burr Ridge ends tomorrow (for now) but should I need to come back for work reasons, re-visiting Ashbary will be a high priority on my list. Between the potential ice cream/coffee combos they seem to offer on the menu and the paninis on the other menu, I feel a second visit is warranted when the opportunity arises.

Oh, they also offer beer. This place...

It's an interesting place that locals enjoy but the staff is "too hip" to pay attention to their customers needs. It has an early to mid 1990s flair that is charming and the food is decent for what it is, a bit high priced if you ask me. They should pay attention to what customers need though a lot more...

1. Many people come here to work and study due to its comfort and atmosphere but they blare loud music. Which is not only too loud but even with earplugs or noise canceling earbuds its still very audible. They should take requests and even turn off the music.

They should be more customer service oriented in how they interact with patrons. They are very staunch in their approach to customers and not overly kind or hospitable. I made a request for turning the music down since I have earplugs and an injury and they curtly said "no we always have it on" I had to ask someone else and they said they would would turn it down but they didn't do so" I asked to use the upstairs area since it was quieter, "I was told harshly again "No, you cant do that, it's for shows". I asked If there was going to be a show there today, I was told "No but you cant". Someone else asked to turn the music down and were met with a similarly rude response. I understand you have shows and are truing to be a hip local venue, but honestly, the early 90s coffee house beatnik scene is over. No one likes surley quirky personalities anymore like Gunther from Friends. There is also no need to blare stereo music when people are asking you not to and at the very least allow people to sit in the quiet space. I doubt anyone is interested in destroying the space while unmanned especially since there isnt much more damage they can do to a space that is already dingy, with peeled paint, old garage sale thrift store furniture that smells, and concrete floors. Its only understandable that during shows music will be loud because live music is and it's in a separate area.

The rudeness needs to stop. Period. The music needs to be off period. And you need hire a upholstery cleaner to clean the couches and cleaners to do a thorough deep clean of the entire space so it doesnt smell or feel you might contract tetanus from...

I went in today, ordered a panini for there and coffee. I’m told to stick around for the coffee and that the food will be brought to me. Coffee came out and was yummy. After I ordered a huge group came in ordering food and drinks as well. It was iabout 25 minutes before the woman (only person making the food, working very hard!) brought out 2 sandwiches one was the same one I ordered and one wasn’t. I speak up and I say I ordered one of those. She explains that’s its not mine and mine is coming up. Okay period, I wait even longer and then 2 more of the same sandwiches I ordered are called out and brought to the large group that came in after me. So I go up to ask about the status of my order, one worker goes to check and another lady behind the counter tells me to be patient? Okay word I have been the whole time😭 the worker who went to check on my food comes back with a sandwich wrapped to go? I ask why and he tells me they called it out and no one said anything so they wrapped it up. I’ve worked in multiple restaurants and know how annoying it is so I just left without saying anything because I get it I guess. I open the box in the car and it’s a cold sandwich no chips that I paid for and 2 cookies? Okay this definitely isn’t mine. I go back in and left with a refund and no food. (He still tried to insinuate it’s my fault) Thank god for the refund but they were really gonna give me cold food that wasn’t mine and blame me for not saying anything but when I did they told me just to keep waiting? Was hoping to chill there eat lunch and get some work done but that was soo weird. Its really funny because thy have multiple signs about how “they are always right”. Will definitely never go back and would warn others against...