Spinning J Bakery and Soda Fountain — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

Cute aesthetic for photos, but the food was not good in my opinion. Also, definitely a majority white hipster customer establishment. As far as accessibility: It is generally wheelchair accessible (no steps), however I wouldn’t say it’s super wheelchair friendly, as the space and seating are pretty tight and crowded. Also, nobody in the restaurant was wearing a mask. I did not use the bathroom, so I cannot speak to bathroom accessibility. I ordered the Blueberry rose pie and buttermilk biscuit— the pie was really jelly gelatinous and the crust didn’t cut through without a knife. Despite being gelatinous, I couldn’t get a clean sticky bite from the pie, as the jelly-ness kept making it fall apart and not stab through easily. It really required a spoon for eating, instead of a fork. The crust wasn’t soggy though, and there were tons of blueberries — Just really not much flavor at all. The biscuit was dry and desperately needed butter. I was expecting a warm, buttery and fluffy biscuit. This was room temperature, dry, and hard. And I had to ask for jam (which also really wasn’t good). There are a few signs on the restaurant signaling that they are “social and racial justice allies”, but it feels performative considering the total lack of diversity (of both the customers as well as the distribution of FOH/BOH staff), the prices for the neighborhood, and the location. I didn’t have to wait to be seated as others had warned — But I went around 1:15 pm on a Saturday by myself (sat at the bar) right after it had...

If you have small children, Spinning J is not family-friendly. I brought my two children there today for lunch. We've been doing that often for the past couple months. One of my children wanted soup. It was busy, so I tried to secure a table before we ordered, because I did not want to be standing around the crowded counter with two wiggly children and no table, waiting on some soup. I tried to put our coats down on a bench at the back table. A woman who works there told me I could not do that because people who already ordered were going to sit there. I said, "OK" and apologized to customers she was leading to the table. Then some customers got up from another table. I tried to put my coat down there and the same woman very snidely told me that I needed to order before I could take a table. I've been to Spinning J countless times and this policy was news to me. I don't think it makes any sense. I need to know if I can get a table before I decide what to order. If there's going to be a 20-minute wait for three seats, I won't order soup. I'll just get something to go. But if there is a table, then I will order the soup. This woman was incredibly rude to me and treated me as if I was being unreasonable and rude for wanting...a table. I think instead of chiding your customer for trying to find a table on their own, just have a host will seat you" policy. I will not go back to...

Spinning J Should be at least 3.5 stars since the food was decent and the wait was short and the people working there seemed nice… but for $37, the passion fruit Palmer should taste like passion fruit, not like the celery soda, and the chips that go with the beet reuben shouldn’t be forgotten. Honestly I was really hoping to eat a nice salty chip, didnt realize it was missing from the bag until I got home.

Upon further reflection, I cannot believe how little the breakfast sandwich was for $8. I understand times have changed and we’re lucky we don’t have to pay to breathe air yet, maybe I’d feel differently if I had carbs/chips in my stomach.

Again, let me caution you against ordering the passion fruit Palmer. Just disgusting really, not sure if they were dispensing all of the drinks from the same nozzle or what but, it kinda tasted like root beer flavored Dum Dums… let me tell you something. Go to a Tony’s or any store they sell “indian summer passion fruit dragonfruit flavored apple juice” for $3, get some of that, mix it with whatever you’d like — maybe a ‘pamplemousse’ lacroix, plenty of ice cubes, and you’ve got yourself a nice beverage for a 90 degree chicago day. Mix in a little ‘towicz’ strawberry syrup you’ll find at a nearby Ukrainian grocery store for bonus points. And you can make like 7 or 8 of these for like 10 bucks....