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    Café Descartes

    3.1 (11 reviews)

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    CAFÉ DESCARTES ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Dogs allowed
    Good for working

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    If I could rate it with 0 stars, I would. 2 young ladies working at 4:15pm on Tuesday, July 7th gave the worst service ever. They were talking to each other when we walked up. I had to greet her, she didn't respond, so I greeted her again. She acted as if I was bothering her by ordering. I ordered two drinks AND TIPPED. When I told her my iced coffee drink should have been a size large (that's what I ordered and paid for), she rolled her eyes, poured the drink from a regular cup into a large cup and then added 3 scoops of ice and slid it onto the counter...rolling her eyes again and walked off. Grrrrr...just rude!!! Hate coming to my hometown, only to be served by rudeness and ignorance. If you don't want to serve people, don't get a job in Customer Service!!!!

    John S.

    I promise to avoid all René Descartes puns in this review. Café Descartes has so mangled his most famous quote--and why coffee?--to use as its very own tagline that I won't do them the dignity of typing it here. This location is all about LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION, because Midway has a very large baggage-carousel area, and in addition to restrooms and vending machines, doesn't it just make oodles and broods and basketsfull of sense (and thereby cents and thereby dollars) to site a coffee place where you still have a semi-captive audience? I mean, they're outside of security, so they could technically wait until they've left airport property before paying too much for coffee, but these are people who pay too much for coffee we're talking about, so they'll fill up when they see the inviting sign at the bottom of the escalators. Did I mention the LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION? Yup, it's right in the middle, for all to see. When you're coming down from upstairs, even from the elevator, it's right in your face. I had slept through both beverage runs on my flight from SFO to Midway, so I was a-thirsty. I overpaid for my drink just like the rest of the schmucks and enjoyed it as I waited for my dad to meet me (we were on different flights). The worker who helped me was rude, and that felt like quite an ignominious accomplishment on his part since all I was doing was handing him a bottle to scan and paying with exact change. I didn't take the time to go through its prices, but I really doubt it's any cheaper than places in the airport within security. That LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION, though. You cannot beat it.

    Menu, not updated with their new prices
    Kaori L.

    Service could be much clearer and prices for this place should be more transparent. Screen is constantly "transitioning" to the same menu that it was before every 3 seconds, making it annoying to look at. $6 "omelette" ended up being $8.5 because they added buns when the cashier said that it "came with it," making it seem like there wasn't going to be an extra charge. It says $4.5 for bagel with cream cheese but on the menu screen, they added an extra 75 cents for the cream cheese, making it $5. Not the worst food but just a heads up so you know what you're getting yourself into.

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    3 months ago

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    Dulce Cafe Cubano

    Dulce Cafe Cubano

    4.5
    (11 reviews)
    2.4 mi

    This place is great! I got a jibarito steak sandwich and my bf got a Cubano. Both sandwiches were…read moreso clean tasting. The jibarito was nice and crunchy and the steak was seasoned just right. The Cubano was great! Im always afraid to order it because ive had one taste like too much pork. This one did not taste too porky at all. To drink, we had a passion fruit juice and a watermelon juice. They were both so fresh! The passion fruit juice was just as sweet as you thought it would be. The staff was so friendly and they make sure you have what you need to enjoy your food.

    I think that the term "hidden gem" is often over used. However, there are still some places where…read morethe term definitely applies. Dulce Cafe Cubano is most certainly one of them. This is a small sandwich shop on Chicago's southside making some amazing food. First, the food I excellent. I tried the jibarito, medianoche (similar to a cubano, but with an egg) and the tripleta. I liked all them, but my favorite was the tripleta. I loved that all of the flavors of the meats seemed to work together. Also do not skip out on their pastries and drinks. I especially recommend the frappe. Second their food is a great value. I believe that none of their sandwiches are more than $11, with many of their less than $10, and I think, most of, if not all, of their drinks are less than $5. You get a good bang for your buck here. Third, the staff is friendly and service is fast. You order at a window and wait for your food to be ready. I felt that my food was ready super fast and it was very fresh. In sum, this is a must visit hidden gem.

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    Interior
    Interior
    Flan Cubano
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    Buttercup

    Buttercup

    4.2
    (53 reviews)
    7.8 mi

    Walked over to Buttercup after checking into my hotel in Chicago to grab a coffee and fire up the…read moreold laptop and get some work done. Though usually one for a hot coffee, it was steamy hot out so I went for an iced vanilla latte with oat milk and was wildly impressed. I was going to sit for a bit so had the latte for there and it was icy cold and the vanilla flavoring was brilliantly paired to the really good espresso notes within the latte. I also went for a Financier, which is a gluten-free banana bread sort of loaf and this was downright silly how good it was. It had a rich banana and sort of caramel flavor to it and as a gluten-free pastry option was one of the finest that I have had. Love that the coffee shop had just about every seat full with people doing work, studying, reading and catching up and the spot was a true neighborhood gem sort of location. Awesome spot!

    I was thrilled to see a brand-new spot open up in the neighborhood! After reading glowing reviews,…read moreI was eager to check it out for a cocktail or two in a great atmosphere. We originally swung by on a Friday night, but it was far too loud and bustling. Given the nice 1940s or 50s decor, adding some acoustic art panels would make a huge difference in cutting down the noise. Every time we passed by afterward, it always looked packed. However, we finally got a chance to experience it properly last night, and it did not disappoint. The smoke tomato pizetta, nuts and olives, daiquiri, cafe martino, and service were all fantastic!

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    Buttercup - shaved iced on top.
    Buttercup - shaved iced on top.
    Welcome to Buttercup.

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    Welcome to Buttercup.

    Café Descartes - coffee - Updated August 2026

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