Café Descartes

closed

Coffee overflowing in my cup. Wifi works sparingly. And Christian «rock» blaring. Never again

I have tried many times to like this place – I work in the building adjacent to Café Descartes and have always thought to myself: «support local business – don’t go to Starbucks.»
The problem with that logic is that it supports an establishment that serves subpar coffee (seriously. it just tastes like dirty water), in an environment that is rarely clean (I have NEVER seen the staff even try to clean off a table) and served by the most DISINTERESTED and rude baristas I have ever encountered.
To top it all off, this place has a HISTORY of discriminating against blind individuals and their service dogs (and then LYING to the police about it afterwards). That was my last straw. Just go to the twenty other coffee establishments in the area instead – I guarantee you’ll get a cheaper, better-​tasting cup of coffee.

I very much enjoyed the place. Everyone was generally nice. The problem. It is CLOSED! Not sure if they plan to return but the building is undergoing extensive renovations.

The good: Good service, friendly and fast. Good atmosphere of the Café. Mix options were solid.
The bad: I didn’t think 3 stars for a coffee shop was possible, but here are the big factors: No bathroom, limited seating, so-​so treat (chocolate scone was meh).
Overall: Might as well go to a Starbucks with a bathroom and way more seating.

Unpleasant experience all around
There is loud radio music blaring. This included 10 minutes of commercials. Add to that a whistling barista and weak coffee and I left with a head ache.

Got a diet coke for the hubby and a chai latte for me. Their chai was on the watered down side… not creamy enough like I’ve had at most places.
If in the area might stop, probably keep walking. It is the Loop, if I walk a little farther I’ll find another café or ten.

The worst tomato flatbread ever

I’ve worked close to this location for nearly 10 years. I finally ventured in to try the oatmeal latte. It’s A-​OK in book and nothing I’d rave home about. It’s pretty pricey at over $ 6 with tax.
The service was great and an awesome spot for people watching on Michigan Ave.

A great view and a great place to people watch, that’s about it!
The pizza came out cold, the coffee was watery and the service indifferent, a shame as it’s a great location.

To follow up on this: Not only does Café Descartes violate federal law and deny entrance to service animals, but they LIE about it! They had some yahoo customer who wasn’t even there sign his name to a dumb letter that they wrote themselves… YEAH RIGHT.
Keep digging, you jerks. I hope the customer you discriminated against sues the shit out of you and you go out of business. You have no integrity and no class, and there are WAY better coffee shops in the area that anyone can spend money at instead of Café Descartes.

This establishment refused service to a disabled individual with a service dog. When confronted with the information included in the Adults with Disabilities Act, instead of apologizing for the mistake, the employee and/​or manager «allowed» the dog and the individual to stay for no more than 30 minutes. After law enforcement became involved, the employees told police that a chemical was used on the floor and they were concerned for the safety of the dog. This explanation was not given until after police arrived and according to the law, the handler of the service animal (that has hours and hours of training) make the decisions concerning safety.
I find the treatment of the individual and her dog to be appalling. No one deserves to be treated like less of a human being. Shame on you Café Descartes.

Bad food. Even worse service.
I had seen Café Descartes many times on Michigan, but didn’t stop in because of the horrible Unilocal reviews. I came in on the way to a Dr’s appt to do some work and found out why the reviews are so atrocious. I spent over $ 3 on a scone that was hard and stale. I sat down to do work and the barista behind the bar came up and asked me «how many tabs do you have open?» while I was working. He then proceeded to tell me that I’m only allowed to have two open so that «other people can use it». I said okay and turned around — there was ONE other guy in the place with a computer open…
Bizarre.
I hear that something other than Starbucks is great — but that doesn’t mean its better. I won’t be back.

I came here on my last day of vacation as it was right across the street from my hotel.
The barista had an attitude, didn’t ask us if it was to go or not, and then the coffee was unbearably hot. I had to stir the coffee for about 5 minutes before it was cool enough to drink. On the up side, the vanilla caramel latte was very good. I also really love the décor and whole theme of the café, very clever.

A nice alternative to Starbucks, with some awesome people watching! Located right on Michigan Ave near Wacker, decided to hit this place up instead of my usual Starbucks. I had an espresso and a brewed coffee. Baristas know what they’re doing with the espresso as it had a nice amount of crema on top and was very smooth. Likewise, the brewed coffee was great too.
I love the location– I sat at the front window and watched people walk by on a Saturday morning. Definitely a nice change from Starbucks and the Burbs… I’ll come back for sure next time I am in the city.

I was looking for somewhere to grab some coffee while my daughter got a facial at the G Skin Institute and decided on this place. I loved the décor (the mirror needed to be cleaned though), loved the coffee but I didn’t like the oily, lump presented to me as lemon cheesecake. It looked so pretty in the display case. I’m thinking maybe they gave me the display instead of the actual cake. It really wasn’t good-​AT ALL. It had to be old but I ate it because I bought it and it was like $ 4 bucks for a small slice. That’s what I get for being so damn greedy! The server was nice enough though. If I’m in the area and choose to stop by again (extremely unlikely), Ill just stick to the coffee.

I remember noticing this place as I walked by because the logo kind of reminds me of Burt’s Bees hand salve. I can’t say that it was as magical as Burt’s Bees products though. A group of us came in on St. Patty’s Day to get out from the heat. There was only one table large enough for our group of four but it was taken. Luckily the man was nice enough to give us the table since one of us had a stroller and a 6 week old with us. Turns out that man was the owner and later he came over to talk to us. He was nice enough, but it was kind of funny when he totally started going off about his home country and then had my friend follow him so that he could talk about the décor. (Apparently he’s big on his country’s philosophers, so he was talking about all of them who’s photos are on the wall – my friend was not from the same country, so I’m not too sure why he chose him to be enlightened).
ANYWAY. the coffee. I give it two stars based on the description: «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» Nothing really stood out to me. All the names make it sound like the best thing you’re ever going to taste and then it’ just… eh. The turtle mocha was okay but tasted like chocolate milk kind of. Once I tossed in my Con Panna (shot with whip cream) it was much better. Too much work. I think I’ll stick with other, more reliably good coffee shops for now.
Service: Not that they were RUDE perse, but you could definitely sense that they didn’t want to be there…

Unlike most of the other reviews, I didn’t have any problem with the service. They weren’t super friendly, but they weren’t rude by any means.
I got a gelatte made with burnt caramel gelato. It was awesome. I don’t think I realized what it was going to be. I was thinking along the lines of affogato, I guess, and it was more along the lines of a shake meets a frappuccino.
It was near where we were walking, so we stopped in. If I was around would I go again? Maybe. It’s just a really cramped space.

I think part of the reason for the not so good reviews of this place is because it’s very touristy. By that I mean it’s the closest coffee joint to the Chicago River so anyone waiting around for a cruise of any kind or for some event to begin on the river invariably end up here.
This means the place is packed and the poor 2 – 3 servers definitely don’t cut it as far as the crowd it gets especially on weekends. They have a great selection of pastries, snacks and other drinks that are not coffee which are quite good. I know I thoroughly enjoyed my Thomas Kemper (sp?) root beers here quite a few times while waiting around for friends and/​or a cruise.
However, the coffee… definitely leaves something to be desired. I agree with Stan M that it’s probably still a grade above Starbuck’s bitter vinegar juice they serve you, but it’s not the best coffee in town by a long stretch. Great stop if you’re just looking for a quick snack and some non-​coffee drinks.

Service here was slow, but friendly. Prices were reasonable. This coffee tastes so smooth and creamy and delicious. I prefer this place more than Starbucks! I ordered a caramel frap with soy milk. It wasnt on the menu but they were able to mix something up for me. Thanks Café Descartes!