Ex Libris

Ex libris is a pretty nice little coffee shop inside of the reg! They have pretty good desserts and coffee. My favorite thing by far about this place is the number of vegan/​vegetarian lunch options that they have. Their staff is also super nice and sweet. They are pretty speedy. They have a nice tea selection. I guess the one thing that I don’t really like is the atmosphere of this place. There are barely any electric plugs and the table for the sugar and the cream is placed in such a weird awkward spot.

Ex Libris is always a great place to hang out, drink coffee with friends, do homework, sleep, or chat. Basically a paradise for students when they have nothing better to do.
Being a barista there also enhances this experience but that aside, I’m still a loyal customer at Ex Libris for the occasional snack during studying times. Many cheers to the baristas (my co-​workers) and my managers for a job well done in always making Ex Libris functional =) Ya’ll are like family to me!

I really love Ex Lib! Perfect place to study if you need background noise, really great baristas. Anyone who feeds my caffeine addiction is okay by me. They’ll remember your order if you go often enough, and they don’t pass judgment during finals week when you look your absolute worst (or at least, they don’t show it).

This place is… okay. The coffee in and of itself is all right (nothing outstanding), but it beats a lot of the other not-​student-​run cafes on campus, like Classics. I think Ex Libris might be second only to Div School coffee, but Div School coffee still wins by a long shot.
For one, it’s menu isn’t particularly substantial. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not an issue, but the quality of the drinks it DOES have are only okay. I’ve tried all the different brews of coffee, cappuccino, latte, café au lait, and mocha. My favorite has probably been the cappuccino, which, depending on your barista, can be hit or miss. For the most part, I’ve had luck with the cappuccino, and they take around 2 – 3 minutes to make it.
Its proximity to the study areas in the Reg and Mansueto libraries is what makes Ex Libris a good place to get a cup of joe before a lengthy study session. Some people actually prefer to study in the café itself, which has a decent number of chairs and tables, and is always bustling, but usually not ever TOO noisy.

How to get there: walk into the front doors of the intimidating Regenstein library on 57^th street. Hang a left rather than heading into the library itself, and you’ll see a little sign above a door — Ex Libris. Head down one flight of creepy stairs and enter coffee shop heaven. This is my favorite campus coffee shop. When my taste for coffee matured to the point that I no longer cared to tolerate the sludge served at Cobb, and didn’t mind spending an extra 25 to 50 cents to get better coffee, I started spending long afternoons loitering here, amidst the other grad students, study groups and writing tutor meetings. Its not uncommon to hear folks chattering in poorly American accented Farsi or Italian. (Funny thing is, I think they use the same coffee as Cobb — I guess the hipster bitterness at Cobb taints the coffee they serve).
A well-​lit, calm atmosphere. The music played by the staff here is not boring in the yawn sense, but its also not boring in the drilling-​a-​hole-​in-​your-​brain-​due-​to-​pure-​hipster-​ridiculousness sense. A selection of microwaveable lunches from various catering services as well as cookies, chips and other snacks await you, along with glorious hot coffee all day long. And for you night owls, they’re open till 11:30 PM Sunday through Thursday. Ex Libris: making long afternoons and nights at the «reg» tolerable since the ‘70s.
PS: I’m marking the wifi as «paid» because you need a uchicago login to access it — at the low rate of approximately 50K a year!