Address: 1223 W Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60642
Coffee roaster: Intelligentsia Coffee
B's brew: small latte w/ whole milk & cinnamon
C's brew: medium latte w/ whole milk & cinnamon
Sweet: slice of banana bread - owner's mother!
Tunes played: Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Band, Cat Stevens, Steve Miller Band, Pink Floyd
Website: sipcoffeehouse.com
Every time Charlie goes to Isaac at Handcrafted Barbershop, he notices Sip only a few doors down. For some reason, though, we always pass it up when considering our weekly coffee shop. Finally, we decided it was time to head in!
From the second we walked inside, we knew we were going to have a unique experience. Before ordering our lattes, we asked what sizes they offered. Since this was our first time at the shop, the very friendly baristas pointed out a shelf with a variety of mugs and told us to pick one out. I loved this idea! After picking out our mugs, we then noticed a glass case full of baked goods. We couldn't pass up the banana bread, especially after we found out it was homemade by the owner's mother.
Once we had our coffee in hand, we walked through a hallway to a large space with cathedral ceilings and floor to ceiling windows. This was so unexpected. We grabbed a seat up on the loft and spent a few minutes looking at all of the people working hard on their laptops. Every single table was filled, but it was strangely quiet for the size of the space.
We ended up having to move downstairs because someone had reserved the loft space for a meeting. Once downstairs, we had the coziest seat in the house - a vintage leather chair tucked away next to a smaller chair and end table. It was as if we were the only ones in the shop.
