Linz and Vail on Central

A nice little coffee shop which maintains pleasant service even on crowded home football game days. Good cappuccino, comfortable set up for work or chatting with a friend. Big front facing window makes half the place sunny. They’ve got a good selection of sweet snacks.

Coffee is good. But what happened to the amazing gelato? Used to look and taste amazing. I have been in a few times in the last few months and the gelato looks like it was just leftovers from last week. Please don’t change what worked before.

Finally given them a few more tries since strange service was my only issue. No complaints with the gelato, but the only flavor we really like is lemon. Great atmosphere inside, and tasty coffee.

The Argentinean gelato place Frio Gelato on Dempster is WAY better. First of all, Linz and Vail only gives you half a scoop for a cone when you order one scoop. So for myself and 2 friends, they filled up the one friend’s cup while skimping out on the gelato for the cones. Seriously, have never seen half a scoop before especially when I paid for a full scoop at any ice cream or gelato place, and I’ve been to MANY. I was hoping that they made an error with mine and watched attentively as they put gelato on my friend’s cone. Nope, he also received a skimpy half-​scoop. Second, all of us thought that this gelato didn’t have much flavor. As for the best gelato in Evanston? People who wrote this in the reviews have not been out much I guess.

Came in for some gelato — first class quality and the flavors were really excellent. The coffee shop is great and they have a lot of options available — i think I could go there any time of the day and find something that would be delicious and unique.

That’s got to be the oddest gelato I have ever tasted. It’s like refrigerated cake frosting. Very spreadable, somewhat light and not particularly reminiscent of gelato. The chocolate is only fair. The coffee flavor tastes like used Hills Brothers grounds.

Best gelato in Evanston. Great coffee too. Watch out for the meter maids on the street though — those people are ninjas and will ticket you even if you’re 30 seconds over.

We tried a bit of everything on their menu and loved everything. We’re from Minnesota and will be sure to stop here the next time we are in town.

I wanted to write this review for the young gentleman who worked there that was so sweet and friendly. I came in with my sister and two little ones who were a little indecisive but he made it so easy for us and gave us great recommendations. He made a new flavor, pomegranate/​blueberry, that was delicious! Park is across the street, nice area to walk around, and great place to stop by and get some gelato.

Found this place on Unilocal after me and my mom were craving a cappuccino. Cute little coffee shop on central with pretty good coffee. Friendly staff and a nice environment to just chill and get some work done. Didn’t try their ice cream/​gelato but it looked pretty tasty.

Great location, free wi-​fi, tasty espresso drinks, and crazy good gelato. I’d LIVE here if I could. :-)

Stopped by on a whim. Cute place, tasty chai, okay cranberry scone. Can’t wait to come back for gelato!

Give me a winter weather warm up, and you might just find me craving a bit of gelato (not to mention cookies next door at Tags). Before a meeting in town, I happened to find myself on Central Avenue, and I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity for gelato. I always meant to stop in, and the empty parking spot right out front was calling out to me today, so I took advantage of the opportunity and found myself pleasantly surprised.
There were only about six gelato flavors in the case, so I opted to try the pistachio and the chocolate (yep, two smalls). I’ll do my best to describe my delightful afternoon treat.
The chocolate: I expected it to be regrettably much too rich. I love chocolate, but have you ever had a craving for something chocolatey and then wished you tried something else because it made you feel sick and thirsty from its richness? Well, to my surprise it wasn’t anything like I expected. It was light and fluffy. Not rich. Chocolatey in a good way. A hint of fruit flavor in there, or at least so it seemed.
The pistachio: A burst of nutty flavor with an after taste that was robust and smooth. So nutty I expected to find crushed up pistachios in the mix, but they were all smoothed over. A great pairing to go with the chocolate.
Down side: There weren’t a bunch of flavors to choose from, but maybe that’s actually a good thing. Next time I’m trying the cupcake-​flavored gelato.
The staff was friendly, helpful and passionate about their homemade recipes. They serve a good house brew coffee, the environment is cute, and it’s right next door to one of Evanston’s finest traditional bakeries.

One does not simply step into Linz and Vail. One must prepare themselves for stepping into Linz and Vail. What does this mean? This means gelato. Lots of gelato. Lots of good flavors, and lots of people.
It also means that even in the middle of winter — as weird as it may sound, you are likely going to see people wanting their gelato. I’m a bit mixed on if this is because their gelato is so good or because people are crazy or because people simply want gelato at all times.
All in all though, this place is basically excellent. I haven’t really gotten a bad gelato here, and it’s definitely one of the closest to what I had in Italy on a variety of accounts. Having been here a few times, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be here a few more for certain.

My family and I have been coming to Linz and Vail for years. Usually we just get gelato, which is decent, but we were a little bit hungry today so decided to order two 12 oz cappuccinos and two bowls of vegetarian chili.
Of the five soup options hand written on a cardboard sign, they only had one (the lentil). We decided to split the ham and Swiss panini instead. My first time here several years ago I ordered a panini and it was wonderful. Today’s panini was terrible. It was a thin slice of ham and cheese with a mustard spread smooshed between two sad pieces of bread I wouldn’t call much better than wonderbread. I took about 3 min from the point we ordered it to when it was served. The cappuccinos were over-​frothed and the espresso was a sad, watery consistency.
It is ultimately disheartening to see a place that I’ve always enjoyed going to throughout the years fall into a void of culinary and service disarray. After we consumed what we could of the food and coffee we wrote this review and left. The sign for the soup was still up, enticing orders for product they’d long since deplete.

Dropped in on a slow, dreary Sunday – they were close to closing time.
I ordered a latte. The young server was genial and careful in making the latte.
I looked around and saw what is surely a comfortable local spot. Everything looked worth a sample and another stop-​in.
The latte was comparable to Starbucks, probably slightly better – which is goodish. Three stars for that, but I get the feeling that other reviews, focusing on the rest with more stars, are accurate.

This place has the atmosphere I’m looking for in a coffee house, and also makes some excellent coffee. The Macchiato is perfect, not a trace of bitterness. Also some great gelato. Ignore that Starbucks down the street; this is the real deal.

I only come here for gelato so can’t rate anything else, but gelato here is good. I had the salted caramel and very tasty.
I tried a taste of the Turkish coffee and it tasted more watery and not as much coffee flavor to it.
My husband loves the grapefruit gelato
I didn’t know they offered free Wi-​Fi but that is a plus and service is friendly.

Mmm, Pink Grapefruit sorbetto. My coworker loves their Intelligentsia Earl Grey tea — the employee was overly generous in putting an ample amount in the tea bag, so the tea was kicking with flavor. No more soup during the summer time, but the gelato is still there for samples/​scoops. This place is known for their housemade gelato. I had three scoops in a cup, and it was actually good — cold, slushie-​like texture, and refreshing. I’ve also tried their lemon (which was very tart and had a kick). You can find a metered parking lot across the street, and roam around up and down the Noyes street for other little stores and such.
+Pink Grapefruit sorbetto

It was a cold day and I had some time to spare before my train arrived at nearby Central Street Station.
Service was quick and friendly– just what I needed since I hadn’t hadn’t yet become fully unfrozen.
It was a pleasant surprise that Linz and Vail brews Chicago’s very own Intelligentsia coffee! A big plus in my book… they also have the beans available for purchase, including their very own Linz and Vail blend.
The gelato looked tempting, but I will have to try it another time when the temperature outside is above freezing.