Cosi

This place is close to my office and they do a great breakfast sandwich. That being said, I find the service poor. They tend to be very slow and unorganized… even though there are like 10 people behind the counter. Also, consistency isn’t a strong point here, They are constantly changing the way they do things. One week they will get your coffee for you behind the counter. The next, it’s serve yourself. Ditto with the oatmeal. For a time, they had a set of shelves at the front of the restaurant where they placed to go orders that were called in. Now, those are no where to be seen. It seems management can’t make up its mind. Staff turnover seems high also. Finally, the place always seems disheveled and not exactly the cleanest.
For the most part, the food is good but the experience of getting it can be frustrating.

I have worked in the loop for 2 years and surprisingly have never gone to Cosi before. It was an overall great experience. We ordered and sat down. Within 10 minutes we had, what I believe to be a manager, coming up and apologizing for the slow service. He in turn gave us each a free cookie for the wait. What a nice guy! We had a greek salad, the tbm melt, and the thai curry bowl. All were amazing and the cookies are great as well.

Really sloppy and dishonest service!
I asked for thai curry with tofu but they made it with chicken. No problem — everyone makes a mistake. They said they will make it again. I got my bag within five minutes. However, When I reached my office and opened the box, it had tofu but with pieces of chicken still in there. So basically they did not make my meal again but simply removed the large chicken pieces and replaced them with tofu while not caring about left over chicken pieces. Being a vegetarian, this is important for me. When I went back, they showed no regret, no apologies! They couldn’t find my order number so I could not even get a refund despite waiting for 10 minutes. This is the worst customer service I have seen in years — not because they made a mistake but because they lied that they will redo my order!

Hours on Unilocal are wrong. They changed close time to 8pm. Not much else to add to other reviews. It’s a standard cosi.

I am a vegetarian, and this place has very nice vegetarian options. I especially love the TBM melt. Its just fantastic. I’ve also tried the hummus sandwich, the pizzas are just mouthwatering.
I love it the food is brought to your table and they pick up your trays after we’re done. I love the service. The fresh baked breads are sumptuous.
I’m a regular at this place.

Very good! Healthy burrito bowls. Try the Brazilian bowl. Clean and friendly service.

Employees confused and indifferent, order wrong. Replacement took forever. Last time here.

This is a healthy alternative to many places around here. I sat with friends while they ate breakfast. I had a yogurt parfait and it was good.
Everyone really enjoyed the food and atmosphere. It was a block from the Palmer House Hotel.

The manager is on top of it and has a great memory with previous orders & always makes an effort to make things right if an item isn’t available. Very impressed and the reason i stop in time to time

This place used to be good! I ordered many things from them in the last few months. THEY always screw things up! I’m going to take my money somewhere-​else. not to mention, I go to the toilet every-​time I eat there!
It ruined my rainbow and sunshine

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. In fact, I think there should be an option to give negative stars.
I want to start off by saying that I gave this place a shot nine times. Seven times I tried to get coffee, and twice I tried to get food. Of the seven times I went for coffee, six of those times they messed it up, and of the two times I went to get food, they messed it up both times.
Coffee:
I am lactose intolerant. Flat out. I am also NOT want of those people that customizes every single aspect of a coffee drink (so no half caff grande ½ pump vanilla ½ pump chocolate 180 degree ¾ whole ¼ soy 1 sugar caramel mocha garbage). I do mochas with soy… sometimes hot sometimes iced. That’s it. Four of the times, they had to remake because they didn’t do it with soy, one time they forgot the espresso, and one time they forgot the syrup. Half of the time if I asked for iced, they made it hot and vice versa. The only time they made it correctly is when I WROTE IT OUT ON PAPER… but this only worked once because the SECOND time I went in with my order WRITTEN OUT (one iced mocha, one iced mocha with soy), he ALMOST made it hot even AFTER READING the order and his coworker said «OH NO ICED!» AND THEN he couldn’t tell which was whole milk and which was soy when he handed it to us. I’m sorry, but if you READ an order that a customer had to write out because you guys messed it up so many times AND STILL MESS IT UP, that’s pretty bad. I worked at Starbucks for 2 years making the most unholy ridiculous drinks known to man (¹⁄₃ eggnog, ¹⁄₃ heavy whipping cream, ¹⁄₃ soy milk 140 degree latte anyone?), and these guys can’t even take one simple mod to a drink. I tried cutting them slack because yeah they’re not Starbucks, but if you can’t make WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU, THEN DON’T SELL IT. Au Bön Pain ALSO doesn’t specialize in coffee (and they’re also less than ½ the cost), but I’ve never had an issue with them. It’s really just absurd.
Food:
Trip 1: I ordered soup and got mac and cheese. The Mac and Cheese was slimy and flavorless.
Trip 2: We ordered bagels that we wanted EXTRA TOASTED (even told the cashier TWICE to toast them) because their bagels are obnoxiously raw and doughy on the inside according to my friend, and they wrapped up our bagels untoasted. We had to go back and say «we wanted these toasted» and the line person literally had no clue that we wanted them toasted. When I took a bite of the bagel, it was one of the worst things I’ve put in my mouth. Very little flavor and the inside, despite being double toasted, was almost like raw dough. Very gooey and quite disgusting.
I don’t think this is an issue of communication between co-​workers because honestly I’ve had the cashier take my order, try to make it, and STILL mess it up. I only come here because of the proximity to where I work and it’s cheaper than ROM across the street, but now it’s boiling down to just spending that extra $ 1.50 to go ROM because at least they can take a simple mod like ADDING SOY to coffee. As far as food, the two times of them messing it up was enough for me. I think the only reason this place is so busy is because of its location. A lot of people who work in the building will go there. I gave it my nine tries and I’m over it. I’ve thrown almost $ 100 at these people (it’s usually myself and a friend) and pretty much $ 90 was a total waste.

I used to love Cosi Cobb salads, but this was years ago. Got one the other day, and it was way too oily, and not chunky like a Cobb salad ought to be.
And expensive. Meh.

An afternoon flight means missing lunch hour and finding closed restaurants on a Saturday afternoon. Cosi was the only thing open nearby and was enough to curb hunger before dinner time. I munched on a turkey and Brie sandwich. It was bland. Obviously when starving, it suffices. It’s like a panera but organic and not as rich in taste.
The interior was beautiful and spacious and the staff were all ladies that were nice and polite.

I come here for their parfait every morning before I go to work. They put a lot of strawberries in their parfait! They even have some granola, strawberries and all kinds of nuts by the counter in case you want to add more! Sometimes I would come here for lunch as well. I love their Korean pulled bbq pork bowl! It taste so good and they make it so healthy by not drowning it with a ton of sauce!

In a nutshell, if you like burnt bagels, mediocre over priced food, and wallet theft… then this is the place for you. As a previous reviewer posted, my friend also had her wallet stolen out of her purse during lunch. Also DO NOT use your credit or debit card there because I’ve had several charges appear from Cosi and I hadn’t been there on that day! Over the past few years, this place has had several different managers and crews so I know it was/​is a problematic location. I will say that the staff is friendly but the food really is not that good and they have thieves working there. I only go there when it’s raining or snowing outside because I work in the same building it’s located.

This Cosi is around the corner from my office, so on soup-​and-​salad days, especially in winter, I find myself there a lot. It’s a suitable location but not one of the better Cosis I’ve been too.
If you’ve never been to Cosi, there’s no lack of choices or distinctive and original sandwiches, salads and more compared to most order and sit down sandwich cafes. The brick-​oven flatbread also helps it stand out
The biggest pro of this location is it’s large. Great for coffee or lunch dates. I’ve never had an issue with the service here or any problems with my food, which I can’t say of all my lunch rush places.
On the con side, I find the flatbread sandwiches here to always feel a bit more thrown-​together than other Cosi experiences I’ve had. The bread on my melts never crisps up the way I’ve had it at other locations. Also, it gets chaotic waiting for your food to go. There’s no great location so everyone gathers around the workers there like a pack of hungry dogs.
I don’t love going here, but it meets my immediate needs and expectations.

Wallet theft at Cosi. DO NOT go to this Cosi and do NOT dine in. I am now one of five people I know who have had their wallet stolen out of their zipped purse while having lunch at this location. My co-​worker and I both had our wallets taken out of our bags which were zipped and hanging on our chairs. I am sure there are more victims out there. The manager (Fabiola Hernandez) specifically told us they are aware of the reoccurring wallet theft, think they know who it is and that the security cameras do not cover the tables by the wall we were sitting. Yet they have done nothing to address the issue? Seems very odd to me, is it an inside job? We have filed a police report and called Cosi to give them the information but they have not returned our calls. Just wanted to warn others if you’re thinking about sitting down for lunch don’t do it at this location.

My buddy and I went here for a quick bite. As per any restaurant in the loop, this place was packed. I’m not sure if it was because of the delicious aroma of fresh bread or the the torrential downpour that was causing the masses inside Cosi.
I like to think of this place as a fancier Panera. The menu is vast and has a great variety of healthy options. I decided to go with the Chicken Pesto Melt. It was delicious. The bread is melt in your mouth gold. This starchy god held together grilled chicken covered in pesto, cheese, and tomato. It was on point. I will absolutely be back… and get fat.

Cosi is still pretty dependable when it comes to salads and sandwiches. Nice staff always at this location around lunch time as well. Salads are sizeable and squished into little plastic bowls which are sometimes a little fully/​tough to eat from. Bread is delicious.

Cosi is a chain that offers sandwiches, melts, salads, soups, and other coffee beverages. I am a fan of their S’mores dessert experience iwhere it comes with a tabletop fire pit, a chocolate bar, graham crackers, and big marshmallows to make your own s’mores! You can share it between 2 people, or even up to 4 for just a light snack. No need to start a bonfire, looking for sticks, and purchasing all the ingredients — they do that all for you! Not all Cosi locations have these as it depends on their fire code, but if you do get a chance to try it, it’s a cute and fun experience! :D
+S’mores dessert