Cafe Bocacho?

I was in Little India today, and passed Café Bocacho as I always do, the little joint with the faded sign and blackened windows. They appeared to be open - I thought I saw a little neon sign blinking from inside - but the place is a bit unnerving. Anybody been in here? What's it like?

3018 W. Devon
Chicago

How funny, I googled my favorite neighborhood mystery joint and an LTH thread from 2008 popped up!

My husband and I have been here on many occasions. We'd been passing it for years, until one day we decided the mystery needed to be solved, and went in. It's still a mystery. It's a "cafe" that does not serve food, or drinks really aside from a few random ones in a small cooler, and an actually very good cappuccino. The furnishings and wallpaper murals appear to be from the 70s. The lady (always very good-looking, and ever-changing) behind the counter speaks little to no English, and looks frankly astonished that we want to order something. And we have never seen another customer in there, ever. In five years.

So there you go.

The title of this thread caught my attention. Why? My parents live about a block from this place. I used to walk pass it for years wondering what the heck it was. I think they are owned by people from Eastern Europe, possibly the former Yugoslavia. My father actually did go here once with some family as well as one of my cousins and they described it as a place to get coffee. My dad was not all that enamored by it and I think only went once or twice several years ago when he first moved into the neighborhood. Occasionally I used to see folks in there smoking during the summer with the door widely ajar when you were still allowed to do so in a restaurant but that ceased.

Funny thing is I have a cousin who lives in New York. One year he came to visit and we walked around the neighborhood and he pointed out something that I had either never noticed before or just plain ignored: the fact that on the window the word latte is spelled as "LATE." Since then it has always been our little inside joke because upon seeing this he blatantly asked "What's a late? Can I actually drink that?"

You saw customers in there? I am amazed.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:You saw customers in there? I am amazed.

Ya know, but they were always customers who were smoking not actually drinking any coffee. But that 70s decor you mention really intrigues me. I guess I never paid attention to how the place looked aside from how dark it is.