Places to write (and eat) in Chicago

On another board I posted something that mentioned I had written much of my novel (well what I have so far at least) late nights at the 3rd Coast. In response to a question about that novel, I came up with the list below of places around Chicago that are great places to write. Some are, gasp, even chains, but most are great independent places. I'm sure there are many places I have missed - please add to this list!

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To keep this on Chow subjects.. some places throughout the city I have found that are good to write in (and/or were).

3rd Coast Cafe - not as great as when they were open 24hrs but still a good place to work if you go off prime hours, are polite to your waiterstaff, order food and tip well. You can sit along the sides on a comfortable booth (or nice wooden chairs by the windows) for a writer the buzz of activity, yet presense of others studying (with good food and coffee) is a combination I enjoy

Bouergois Pig - cafe on Fullerton, just east of Halstead. While the space can get packed and the service intermitant, once you place your order, head upstairs to their inner room (upstairs has two rooms) grab a free table, by the windows, plug in your laptop and get to work. I've written a great deal at the Pig, occasionally meeting other authors in the process.

Michigan Ave Starbucks - the one just north of the Terra Museum. They are always busy, but just past where you order, they have a back room, it is a large, yet often fairly quiet space where I have happily sat for many hours working.

Seatle's Best on Chicago Ave - One of the only Seatle's Bests left in Chicago. Yes they are Starbucks now under a different name (though they serve ice cream drinks) but the attraction here is two fold - nice bay windows with very comfortable seats if you want to read and very comfortable chairs and a large back space where you can plug in and work.

Wolf & Kettle - cafe for Layola University downtown (one block north of Chicago ave on Rush). They don't stay open very late, but their large tables and booths are ideal to sit in and work all afternoon, the location, just a few blocks away from the bustle of Michigan Ave is another attraction.

Chicago has dozens of other cafes (hundreds if you include Starbucks and other chains) many of them, including many Starbucks locations) are good spaces to work in as a writer. My preference goes, however for those spaces that have large tables, comfortable atmospheres (so unlike one cafe on the north side which will remain nameless, AC on muggy summer's days), good coffee & at least snacks, and free or very inexpensive WIFI access. Space that is laid out for laptops to plug in and power up is also greatly appreciated - it is surprising how many cafes today make it hard to plug in - making the ones that made an effort to make it easy stand out all the more.

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Shannon

The backyard garden at Sip on Grand (1300, 1400ish) has been a common place for my associates and I to meet and concept brilliant marketing plans, a completely unexpected little garden respite on one of the busier and grimier major streets.

No idea what its wifi situation is, though a friends of ours read somewhere about a way to boost your Airport signal using an old satellite dish and some wire strung around a can, and was thinking for a while of just aiming the thing from his apartment at Sip's backyard.

The garden behind Letizia's on Division west of Damen.

I know this might make me sound so uncool, but more often than not, if I am out and about and want to pluck down the laptop to work, I choose Borders. The State Street Borders has an especially ample supply of outlets.

It's not comfy and the coffee is OK, but you can stay there pretty much forever with no expectations of buying anything, and if you get bored working, there are a fair amount of magazines to look at.

On the other hand, I find Barnes and Noble (which as long as we are comparing corporate bookstores, has a better selection generally) to be very non-accomodating to working, with no access to outlets, very tiny tables, and predatory staff who prowl their cafes like lions.

Rob

I read some statistic recently in a Borders press release that stated that less than 10% of people that set foot in a Borders ever buy a book on that visit.
Isn't that depressing? Well, i guess if you can support an independent bookstore, then really not that depressing.

Let's be blunt about it.

Public libraries USED to be the repository of books. Now they are more interested in being the multimedia centers and you are lucky to find a book that has been published recently, especially one that doesn't meet the political ideology of the librarian.

Large bookstores have taken the place of the libraries. People go in them, find a wide variety of books, and spend the day reading them.

On-line retailers have taken the place of the bookstores. They offer the same books as the bookstores but at 20-40% off the list price and if you pick right, do not charge sales tax.

People go into the large bookstores, get their coffee and review the books that they would like to buy. When they have determined what they need, they go home, log on and have it shipped out from Amazon.

Ubi lapsus? Quid feci?

Writing in coffee-houses? Real Bohemians write in bars.


A

Antonius!

I have looked on the internet for a Latin translator without success. I don't mean an actual warm body to interpret. I want someplace where I can cut and paste all your Latin references and get them translated. Or you could put a direct translation next to it!! I do this when I am referring to foreign menu items.

Antonius wrote:Ubi lapsus? Quid feci?

Writing in coffee-houses? Real Bohemians write in bars.


A

Perhaps but a few things:

- smoke really bothers me (and my asthma which is allergan induced)

- most bars, at least that I have found, tend to be dark

- The most I have ever drunk in my entire life was a second glass of wine (and that's just on two occasions)

So, in short, bars and I rarely mix... hence my search for great cafes or other spaces - with good enough lighting to read and write by, with enough people around not to be a library, and with drink and perhaps some food so I can stay there a long time and work.

A few places that I need to add to my list:

- Uncommon Ground - wrigleville, great food, crowded on the weekends especially but if you go during a quieter time a great place to sit in the window and get some work done

- Cafe Avanti on Southport - wifi for free and they have a back room that is rarely full, I have been productive there but also not at times - it varies.

Shannon

I've only sat down in here once, but the Kopi Cafe in Andersonville seems like a great place to write. When I was there there were a couple of people spread out with their laptops. They have little tables that you sit on the floor in front of. (These are in the front window, and I felt like I was in a playroom for kids, in a good way.) The coffee is excellent, and the mostly-veggie menu had great salads with fresh goat cheese as well as good sandwiches.

Antonius wrote:Ubi lapsus? Quid feci?*

Writing in coffee-houses? Real Bohemians write in bars.

Cathy2:

* Literally: 'Where the falling? What did I do?'
More natural translation: 'Where have I fallen (/erred)? What have I done?'

Writing in bars has its risks.

A

As a believer that wi-fi should be free, I do lots of writing at Panera Bread, which is surprisingly writer-friendly if you bring earphones to drown out what is often an annoying choice of background music. Unlimited coffee and soft drink refills throughout the day, and they serve coffee in china mugs if you ask. And plenty of tables and chairs. The Evanston Panera, my haunt of choice, is filled throughout the day with writers, students and others who, like me, will hog their space all day for the cost of breakfast and/or lunch and staff absolutely doesn't mind. Wi-fi signal is usually rock solid, but you have to re-login from time to time.

However, some of the Panera locations are electrical-outlet challenged, if you want to plug in your laptop. The locations I prefer are Evanston, Niles, Park Ridge and Elmwood Park, with LaGrange Park and Glen Ellyn runners-up. Diversey Avenue and Clybourn in Chicago both have multiple outlet locations, but are often crowded. Skokie/Old Orchard and Winnetka only have outlets in the very front and very back. Wilmette and Downers Grove each have just one hidden outlet -- avoid these two.

>>Brent

I'm writing and eating at a new coffee shop that just opened in Avondale. It has a nice, well-lit seating area, comfy chairs, and free wifi. Can't speak to the coffee, but I have a nice cuppa tea and a crumbly cranberry-apricot scone, which are making me quite happy. This neighborhood doesn't even have a Starbucks, so I'm glad to see this place...

Brew Brew Coffee Lounge
3832 W. Diversey Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
773.687.9498