Robust Coffee Lounge

I meet the owners when they were building this café. I knew then it would bring new life into a neighborhood with very few social spots to hand out. Robust is a great place to meet with friends and family or to do a quick meeting. They since than have opened a new lounge on 416 W Ontario St. They both are the perfect mix of great coffee, social atmosphere and goooood food. :)

Hands down one of the best coffee shops in the city, right up there with Dollop. The coffee is great, the food smells delicious, though I’ve yet to taste any of the cuisine. The atmosphere is very trendy, but manages to still feel very south side. There are plenty of outlets and seats, although the few times I went, the available seating was limited to the area by the door, because the lounge area was pretty packed. When I was growing up down the street, I would never have imagined a place this cool and diverse venturing outside of the Hyde Park/​U of C area, but I’m glad they did.

Nice place! Had the BBQ Betty. It was suppose to be on a pretzel bun, they were out of them so I was offered an onion roll. I must say it was tasty but every bite I wished I had that pretzel bun. Also Got a piece of Carmel cake that was huge, tasted average and was $ 5, ugh. Seems like a great place to escape and get some work done, or study. Nothing else really around it in walking distance.

This place beats the pants out of Starbucks. Staff is very friendly and the décor is old school with industrial qualities. I would definitely suggest having a taste of the honey nut latte. This drink is an amazing warm, smooth, and just the right amount of love in a cup to brighten any day.

The Good:
— the people behind the counter are fantastic and friendly. Love them all!
— great brand of coffee.
— cool atmosphere
— good location
— comfortable
— non-​dairy milks available
— nice selection of baked goods from a local bakery
— coffee by-​the-​pound that they will grind for you
— nice selection of smoothies
— homemade «diablo» syrup is a sweet and spicy coffee flavour they make in house for the Mocha Diablo.
— usually quiet, FREE WIFI! Great to get some work done.
— Kid friendly, with a book shelf for reading in your down time
The Bad:
— non-​dairy milks are all sweetened, which makes any fancy non-​dairy latte TOO sweet after the flavouring is added.
— a lot of the food is low quality pre-​made mixes and packaged products (pancakes aren’t fresh made batter, hummus is pre-​packaged, the «cheese» is orange american style single slices, breakfast condiments are just Smucker’s jams and pancake syrup
etc. Skip the food.)
— blended cold drinks are made with a packet of pre-​mixed artificially flavoured powders (YUCK. Just skip these entirely)
— flavoured coffee syrups are cheap, teeth shatteringly sweet and give your latte a chemical taste. Avoid the flavored coffees (with the exception of the homemade Diablo syrup).
I want to love Robust, but I can’t give 5 stars because they are lacking in quality and attention to detail. I’ll keep going back though, because small local business support is important, and they’re still miles better than DD or Starbucks!

The staff is personable and they gladly accommodate my culinary eccentricities such as the everything bagel with a hard fried egg, lettuce, onion and tomato with light basil cream cheese. The «half-​priced-​after 5,» freshly-​made smoothies are a delight.
As they expand their offerings and space, they have assured me that they shall even better accommodate vegetarians. We shall see. In the meantime, I shall order my usual.

Once, a long time ago and in a suburb far, far away, I accidentally put in about a teaspoon of honey in my newly-​purchased dark roast coffee. I chalked this up to an «oops» and quickly grabbed the simple syrup bottle instead.
So when Robust Coffee Lounge comes along and intentionally sells me a «honey nut latte», you’ve caught my attention. And I wasn’t sure if it was in a good way, or a bad way.
Short answer: in a good way. The honey and rich coffee work together really well, actually, with the flavors complementing each other and not conflicting. The «nut» part of the drink (probably almond syrup) was a nice touch, and I think that was what made the whole thing quite sweet.
It’s an excellent iced coffee, with a rich sweetness. And it was perfect for a post-​run drink. It’s a nice place to hang out in, to boot. Woodlawn has a fine coffee shop in its borders.

Great place for studying. Lots of room and everyone is super nice.
Their mocha is amazing. Plus, the breakfast sandwich I ordered was made fresh. It was so good!
My friend didn’t love the mocha because she said it was too sweet, but I think a little sweetness it deserved with chocolate. She did love the apple donut though!
I can’t wait to return!

Nice little coffee spot but I wasn’t a fan of the London Fog. Honestly just tasted like warm milk and tea… Their sandwiches look really great though.

Today was the worst experience I’ve had in coming here (been a loyal customer for over a year)! Up until 3 days ago, I hadn’t tried the pancakes but they were DELICIOUS! The best I’d had in a long time — light in color and in texture, flavorful, golden and the size of the entire plate, almost.
Today, however, after 2 attempts I received smaller cakes that were black/​dark brown (crisp on the edges) and not flavorful — along with an irritated look at the employee that had to take them back. I didn’t even eat the second batch because I was so irritated that I drove all the way from the South Loop just to have these either those delicious golden pancakes again OR a golden waffle. I was sooooo upset about leaving there hungry — having to stop somewhere else after passing up the Pancake House and Chicken and Waffles. Total waste of money, gas and time today.

I have always been wondering if there was any good coffee shop around the University of Chicago. Back in January this year, my Unilocal Elite friends, Eva. S and Jen B. (Hi, girls) showed me this Indie coffee shop passport. Robust Coffee Lounge in Woodlawn was on the list.
I finally made it here with Daddy J. RCL technically isn’t «on» campus, but it’s south of UC border on the southwest corner of Woodlawn and 63^rd.
Their coffee is reasonably-​priced. For $ 8 and some change, we had a large, bold, and wake-​me-​up Americano and a large, mildly-​spiced, calm-​me-​down Diablo mocha.
I actually like this place a lot for these following reasons:
1) free working wifi
2) bright lighting through large windows
3) plenty of seating for solo and group travelers
4) friendly service
5) good selections of books, magazines, and newspapers
They accept major credit cards (not sure about the minimum purchase). It’s also accessible via #63 bus (with a seasonal service east to the 63^rd. St. Beach).
Ok, now I’m done with the review. It’s time for me to space out at RCL…

Despite having lived within walking distance to Robust for the past year, I never made the short trek there to try it out before now. What a mistake! This spot has delicious food, plenty of seating, and fantastic music playing to liven up the atmosphere. This is a very sunny spot that is perfect for grabbing lunch with a friend or for studying.
They have a great selection of sandwiches for lunch– I had the roast beef, which came on an onion roll and was very tasty! I can’t wait to come back here again and try out the many yummy-​looking pastries and cakes they have on display!

Looks like it could be a nice place but I wasn’t pleased with the service… or lack thereof. We walked in to get drinks and ice cream and when I saw the menu I told my kids maybe we’d come in one day for breakfast. We stood at the counter and there was a girl making a drink. Her hair was awesome but she glanced at us and said nothing. We stood around. A guy came from the back and made eye contact, but said nothing. We stood around.
The girl came over and stood there silently. No, «hello, may I help you?» Nothing. My son wants to know if they have ice cream. «Floats.» He asks again. I try to explain that from her response I assume they only have vanilla ice cream and some sort of flavors of soda. She remains silent. He asks if they have cookies and cream. She shakes her head. Ok, he’ll take a cookie.
I ask what the shaken lemonade is. It’s lemonade with flavors. Ok. We order a lemonade. I ask how much the boxed water is (because it’s fancy and people like to charge ridiculous prices for fancy stuff) She doesn’t answer. Ok. «So you want a cookie, a lemonade and a boxed water?» No, I wanted to know how much the water is. $ 2. No thanks. She fresh squeezed (awesome!) the lemonade for my daughter and hands it to me. We walk out and my daughter spits the lemonade out. It’s bitter. Unsweetened. Why not mention that? We go back in for sugar.
Maybe I asked too many questions. Maybe I wanted more because I’d just run 3 miles or maybe it was because I kept seeing this place and saying I was going to stop in. Whatever it was, I wasn’t pleased with the service. I’ve had a bad week dealing with UPS and Comcast, I want a smile and a hello at the local coffee shop, I guess.

Everything here is good and made the way I like my food to taste! The grits aren’t bland, the sandwiches are well balanced and the smoothies are delicious. The service is cool, I mean you don’t feel like you are a part of the family lol but the prices are so reasonable for the great quality!
Also, the wifi is strong so it is a great place to work or study.

A very solid neighborhood coffee shop with friendly staff and tasty food. Good prices all the way around. I’m definitely sad that I don’t live around the corner from them anymore.
My only issue is that they are fairly slow with getting food out, which isn’t great if you’re on your way to work. They also don’t use the highest quality ingredients in their breakfast items – very processed mixes, etc. But their sandwiches are great and reasonably priced.

Great stop for quick coffee an sandwich I will be a frequent customer sandwich was fresh an coffee was good on top of all of that great setting

Nice small place to get some coffee and baked goods. Their sandwiches aren’t bad either! Definitely worth a try.

I’ve been an avid fan of Robust for years now. The drinks are cheap (or at least cheaper than Starbucks) and I’ve never had a problem with my order. The sandwiches are great — my go to’s are the sausage biscuit and the BBQ Betty. They run a variety of promotions ($ 5 sandwiches after a certain time, half price coffee at certain times) so check their fb page before you drop by.

I come here a LOT because of its proximity to my workplace – sometimes on the clock and sometimes not, depending. In the 25 or so times that I’ve been to Robust, I’ve tried a LOT of the menu and I have also had a lot of different interactions with different staff. I have not had a particularly consistent experience here, which is why I have held off on a review. I’ve had some five-​star customer service experiences and some two-​star customer dr vide experiences. I’ve had some five-​star food and some two-​star food. I’m going to focus instead on my overall experience, including the sum of 25 visits to Robust.
Overall, Robust is an excellent addition to the Woodlawn community. It’s located conveniently right on the corner and it’s a meeting place for lifelong residents of the community, as well as University of Chicago staff and students who want to venture a little off the beaten path off campus. Uniform-​clad school children can frequently be found here enjoying a snack or beverage after school hours. The diversity of customers at Robust is great and adds to the welcoming atmosphere.
The service can be hit or miss. Some of the staff are incredibly kind, patient, and friendly, while others are fairly negligent and inattenive. My orders are messed up maybe 35% of the time, which is not the best. I have had my order forgotten more than a few times. Sometimes, the staff are really apologetic and offer to give me extra flavor or a bigger size to compensate. Sometimes, they barely bat an eyelash. I’ve tried maybe half of the menu items, including blended drinks like the oreo madness, smoothies like the almond milk, banana, chai, food items like the grilled cheese and hummus platter, the mocha diablo, pumpkin spice latte, gingerbread latte, etc.
So, why the four-​star rating? At the end of the day, I know I can count on Robust to be a cozy haven – a true gem in Woodlawn. Robust has a great atmosphere, acceptable drinks/​food/​prices, and (most importantly, for me) seating, outlets, and wifi. Seriously, I have never not been able to find a seat or outlet here and that is the most important thing! I will continue to be a happy customer at Robust as long as I work in Woodlawn.

For someone who studies so close, it’s a shame that I hadn’t visited Robust more often. This café is thankfully relatively not crowded and mostly devoid of students so it’s a lovely escape from academia.
It’s a relatively small place but that adds to it’s charm. Numerous tables near outlets and free wifi make this an excellent place to do work beyond the confines of a library. It’s a lot quieter than a Starbucks, even with music playing,
Their coffee is excellent and decently priced. But lemme tell you about their Rueben: A+. Just the right amount of corned need and cabbage. So delicious. I’m actually sad that I have been living so long without it.
If you’re in the area, come on by. You won’t regret it.