Robust Coffee Lounge

This place is so hipster I love it. Trust me, there will be Macbooks that line their tables. There will be brick walls and random signs. There will be letters and fonts all around you that make you giddy.

My hot apple cider (with caramel) kept me warm and fuzzy in the cold Chicago weather.

Just don't get the maple cream cheese with your everything bagel.

This cafe was my first destination for the Indie Coffee Passport (ICP) and my review is solely for that experience. If you don't know what that is, check it out here: http://www.indiecoffeepassport.com/chicago/

You have 7 months (til June 2015) to try 21 different cafes throughout Chicago. You pay $25 up front and then your in-house drink will be gratis, but each cafe has their own offerings related to the #ICPChicago.

I got a 16 oz honey nut latte from the ICP menu, I was torn between the honey nut and a Diablo mocha, but the barista recommended the honey nut since it was his favorite. I'll roll with it.

It was a decent size and tasted pretty unique, exactly like honey nut Cheerios in latte form. I never knew that was possible! It was definitely on the sweet side, and if I wanted more of the coffee next time I'd ask for an extra shot of espresso or maybe less honey.

My friend got a small dark hot chocolate, which was good but couldn't really taste the difference whether it was "dark" chocolate versus anything else. Kind of like the various Swiss Miss flavor offerings that all taste the same.

I came here after work after 5pm, and it had the same ghost-town feel after people leave the city to commute home. Maybe I came at a very slow period, but the Cross Fit Gym that I passed to get here was SO packed and spilling over with energy. Perhaps the stark contrast was a bit jolting.

I usually never venture to this part of town so I'm glad that the ICP took me here. If I were to come here again I'd stick with a regular coffee, their lattes were a little too sweet for my taste.

The ambiance was quiet, the "after 5 dead-zone", and our conversation bounced off the walls for the whole cafe to hear (ie the barista). That's fine because all I did was try to convince my friend to get the ICP passport, of which its goal is to get coffee lovers to try local joints around town. With that being said though, mission accomplished.

I may not come here on purpose since its out of the way, but I think this place has great food options for breakfast and lunch. But if you're looking for that noisy background chatter and the slight challenge of finding a seat, you may have to come in the very early AM of before the close of the "normal" 9-5 work day. After that, you might see a tumble weed roll across the floor.

YAY! Finally a coffee shop that isnt a humongo chain in the area.

Cheers to serving up Brown Sugar Bakery's four-layer caramel cake...I cant wait to try it.

Cute coffee shop with booths, tables, and seating at the counter as well. I've only tried their coffee drinks but so far all were great! They serve both soy and almond milk which is awesome. I've had soy lattes here as well as vanilla lattes, and today I had a honey cinnamon latte. They don't have any specialty drinks on their menu besides the mocha diablo but if you want something else (such as the honey cinnamon) and they have the ingredients, they'll be more than happy to make it for you! Their pastries look mouthwatering but I have yet to try one (based on other people's reviews they're said to be delicious). If I were still in school or worked from home, I would definitely frequent Robust often. The atmosphere is quiet and relaxed.

I love this place. Before I moved here I would make a point to go and hang out whenever I was in the neighborhood. I actually asked myself last time I was there, "where is everyone"? This place has more space than most coffee spots. They have great food options for both breakfast and lunch. Also, they a pretty good selection of smoothies that will keep you going.

Great neighborhood joint that is perfect for a stop over or make it your home office for a morning. They have everything you need.

DON'T BLINK

Or you may miss this location. I was having a business meeting and thought we were going to the Caribou down the street. In fact, I typically only go to the Caribou down the street. The Robust Coffee Lounge is hidden directly in the middle of the block and I had no idea it even existed until today.

I really did not have much time to check out the location. We came in and ordered our coffee and when I say coffee we just got coffee. We did not have any of those fancy drinks but they do have them here. I have totally gone back to just coffee, once I realized how bad all those mocha's covered in whipped cream and pumpkin spiced lattes were for me. I kind of just want old school coffee with cream in it and I am happy.

What really impressed me was how crowded this place was for a Tuesday. We came in for a meeting at noon and did not leave until 2pm. There was a crowd the whole time we were there, in fact, all of the tables were taken when we did finally leave.

This place does have food but I did not try anything. I am not sure if I would ever come in here to eat but I will never say never. I wish I would have had more time to investigate but sometimes I have to turn my Yelpiness off, especially around new clients.

I found the waitress to be very nice and she even taught me something I had never heard of before. Darker Roast Coffee has less caffeine. Why am I just learning this now? I typically always lean towards a darker roast but not anymore. The only reason I am drinking coffee is for the kick and I do not need my coffee to be holding back on me.

So if you find yourself at 416 West Ontario and I am sure most people end up accidently on this road by missing the feeder ramp to the Kennedy Expressway, then this is the place to take a moment and grab a drink. Who knows you may need the jolt of caffeine to deal with the drive home!

Cute little new coffee shop! Originally thought it was a bad location, but the place was pretty slammed when I was there. It's cozy, with free wifi and plenty of plugins for electronics. There's even a warm fireplace to dry off near if you're coming in from the spring rain which is always a nice touch.

They've got some great custom made drinks including a cherry limeade that will knock your socks off. The tuna sandwich is really fresh and tasty and the staff is just and friendly as can be.

I'll definitely be back for lunch and to knock out a few hours of work on the old laptop.

How did I not write a review for Robust? I swear I have written a review for Robust.

Robust is this awesome little coffee shop which happens to be right across from Yoga Circle, where I do my Yoga. Which means I'd hope they are good, as if not this would mean weekly consecutive bad experiences. Fortunately, they are good.

Their loose tea is great and I highly recommend it, and additionally the choice of almond/soy/coconut milk to go with the tea is very nice. Many places only give you a choice of soy, or don't even give you that choice.

The location is definitely a bit hipster and a bit college-y, as lots of people are here to work on their papers/plug in their laptops on the power strips by the booths, sipping away teas and being generally hipstamatic. Yes, I did say hipster multiple times, but here I don't think it's a bad thing.

In addition, the food is actually genuinely pretty good and is exactly as promised. Which also means they have some vegetarian friendly options, something I always consider a plus. They have a veggie bagel that is basically veggies and hummus, stacked so high I can barely even get a bite out of it.

I like it! Everyone who works here is really friendly too, and the food choices are pretty varied.

If you need a coffee, tee, whatever? They are an everything place without the problems that you would see with a single asian restaurant in the middle of nowhere being an everything place.

This is a very interesting place. I have been here twice.

I was at a gathering of eclectic ( or however you spell that ) individuals yesterday.

The staff did not bother us no matter how loud it got. This is not your average coffee shop. If you happen to be a fan of grungy and hippy like places then you hand found your niche here.

The staff is so chilled out that if you were shouting during a break up or something like that, they would just come up to you and would be like " do you want any more coffee"?

if you like to kvetch ( complain in yiddish) that you can't find a good bagel, lox and cream cheese sandwich under $9 in the city, well kvetch no more. It's $7.50
WORD YO YOUR MOTHER.

You truly will not have to suffer for your latte but you will have a good time and a relaxing time if you are looking for this time...

The coffee was awesome. It was not this overhyped shit that you find in most coffee places

A slice of grunge Americana on W Ontario.

Very good coffee! We are coffee snobs and Robust has it going on!
They offer breakfast all day...try delish quiches & biscuits n gravy!
Ingredients are made from scratch for all their food! Their baked goods are decadent and yummy! They make some in house and others are from local bakeries. Love this spot and continue to come back. Very cozy and welcoming. They also accept LevelUP which I love! Also offers a couple bucks off by using it :)