PTCi Cafe & Products — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

Let me start off this review by stating that i do not write reviews, never have and will not start to, BUTT this cafe is so underrated! I need everyone to understand how good their food and drinks are. Now just to clarify I know nothing about protein or calories but I do know a little something about GOOD FOOD. Ive been going to this location for over a year now and have had the opportunity to try their different menu items, Ive also had the pleasure to get to know one of their managers, Taylor. A very lovely woman, comfortable aura and I always have pleasant conversations with her. Moving on to their food and drinks, the first thing Ive ever tried was a regular chicken panini and my lord that first bite was immaculate. The way they stacked all the ingredients and panini pressed the sandwich bread makes eating it so much fun. ALSO they add apples...APPLESSS and guess what? its so fricking good, something about the sweet crisp taste of apple and the savory/salty meats and spice goes so well together. ugh 10/10. The next thing I got to try was their arroz caldo soup. It transported me back to 8 years old and it was one of those very unforgiving cold days, just coming back from school, opening the front door to the smell of your grandparent's or parent's caldo de res (latinos know) proceeding to have 2 and half bowls then knocking out. Yeah 9/10 good soup. Next was smoothies and Im not going into detail on the smoothies, they were very delicious and filled me up quite right, they were good size for the price and all are very different. The ones Ive tried were the power monkey (my favorite ughhh so good) the twenty 5 thirty 2 (very filling) and the super mario (somehow feels like im drinking some type of dessert and i love that). lovee 9.5/10. The last items Ive tried were the detox shots and oh boy.. Ive tried the good cocktail and the ginger shot. I didn't know that my bowels had the power to go into overdrive like that but they did. These shots for sure do what they claim to do and I love that I get exactly what I pay for. 9/10 but making sure to plan the day accordingly. The cafe is very chill and decorated nicely, clean and order to pickup time is quick (unless busy but dont be a douchebag and rush a masterpiece) I always go with my usual and its always so consistently delicious. Like I said earlier managers/employees are very welcoming and polite, even the boss will come and have a conversation with you and he is very nice and has jokes (funny guy over here). They also have another location in Wicker Park and it is also very nice, slightly bigger so there is more seating and has the same quality of food and drinks. And they do have more menu items so take a look....

I'm updating my review for two reasons. 1) The owners responded back to me and acknowledged the staffing issue and asked me to come back. 2) I went back (w/o telling the owners) and first I noticed that customers were immediately greeted and orders taken (an opportunity to know what's available before I wait); and second I noticed more signage about the prep time for the food. J, whom was very nice, even recognized me and pointed it out to me (that was funny) because she wanted me to know they LISTENED. I went back a couple of times, now, and the changes seem consistent. So it is worth it and the food is tasty. ......……..........….…............................................................. I wanted to like PTCI, but I'd like "J" to invest in customer service training instead.

One star for convenience and one star for an alternative to the other type of restaurants in the area. I would add 1/2 star because the food I previously had was tasty (too bad they seem to be out of quite a few items).

I was in the cafe on 11/6/18 @ approx. 2pm and my order wasn't taken until 2:22pm. I heard there was only one soup available from the customer order before me. I was told that a V-wich wasn't available due to an issue with the lettuce. Given that the soup and sandwich I came for wasn't available and I waited 22 minutes, I was very disappointed. I attempted to professionally and quietly share the long wait, with J, and I was going to suggest posting signage for items not available and greeting customers while we wait in line, but I was interrupted and told "they are doing the best they can".

Perhaps it was an off-day or perhaps this is consistent. However, customer service MUST be available EVERY DAY. I decided not to spend my money there. I'd rather spend my money where it is valued even if the location isn't...

I really like certain items on menu here, been going there for a few months but unfortunately I had a bad experience with the customer service attendant. Now usually she seems nice but on one occasion we had differences due to my order not being what I wanted! Now instead exchange Or charging price difference to what I would have like, the attendant kept going back and forth saying ‘ I gave you what you ordered’ being a manager myself I see this as unprofessional, because if I have a customer come in two or three times a week faithfully and it’s seem to be a issue I’ll make it right with my customer and exchange or give them what they came in for! But I’m this case not so, she did not want to exchange anything and was becoming rude, also not to mention I have seen this individual do this to another customer before. I’ll be lying if I stated I did not like the food, but I speaking truthfully when I say I hate the service that day, it make me feel less valued as a customer and I do not believe I’ll be going back! And hopefully the owner reads this be your attendant seem to be nice before that incident, but her behavior that day showed her real personality (the short young lady...