Food: I had been wanting to try Philz for years due to the mint mojito, and this certainly did not…read moredisappoint! It was super refreshing., Service: Super nice and fast. Ambiance: The store is lovely. So spacious, clean, working spaces with natural lighting. So glad I made a spot while visiting.

Looking for fun, creative coffee creations? Come by Philz in Evanston. It's worth the wait as they…read morecraft your beverage. Enjoyed the Philtered Soul iced coffee. Lots of cozy couches and spacious bright seating area.

It's located in the bottom floor of an apartment building. Limited paid parking is available in…read morefront o the the store. It's a small place. Felt somewhat crowed with what seemed to be left over items for sale by the entrance. There's around 4 tables for 4 inside. No outside seating available. I ordered the usual, Taro Milk Tea. The drink was a little grainy. Like if it wasn't mixed properly if they used a power. I don't know if they used power. I am using the example for the explanation. It was a quick in and out. No line. I've had better Taro Teas.

I visited this boba spot with my husband. There was only one employee working both the cashier and…read moremaking the drinks. When I asked what the most popular drink was, the employee struggled with English and ended up responding with something unrelated. Despite the language barrier, he was friendly, tried his best, and was quick in preparing the drinks. We ordered a small KF Milk Tea with boba, 30% sugar, and less ice. Unfortunately, the flavor just wasn't what I expected--it lacked the creamy milk tea taste I was hoping for. This wasn't our first time here, and I remember the drink tasting better on our previous visit, which makes me unsure if I'll return again. It seems like most customers order their drinks to-go, though they do have seating available if you prefer to stay.

I would give Matari 4.5 out of 5 stars, so I'm rounding to 5 based on service and ambiance! I heard…read moreabout their fruit mousse cakes online, so we knew we had to stop by to check it out. The cafe is immaculate and service was very friendly. The person who took our order was patient as he explained the different pastries in the case. I wish they had signs explaining what each pastry was so I could have decided while waiting in line. We ended up sharing an iced pistachio latte (delicious and 10/10!), the pistachio cheesecake (10/10!), and the strawberry mousse cake (7/10 - a subtle sweetness, great texture, but needed more cake or crust inside as it was mostly whipped cream and the shell). The mousse cake was $12.00, which felt steep considering it was mostly whipped cream, even though it was obviously beautiful. We would definitely come back for the coffee and to try more menu items! Check this place out!

I wanted to like it. I did. But after a few visits, it's just not for me…read more The first trip, I tried the Matari Tea: Green tea, Himalayan pink salt, milk, and spices, topped with roasted pistachios. Sounds good, right? Alas, it could not have been blander. I couldn't taste any "spices" or even the hint of salt. The profile was that of very watered-down tea mixed with milk, and a ton of pistachios floating on top. Like, barely crushed pistachios. Huge pieces, covering the top of the drink, bobbed around like tiny icebergs, and even they somehow had a toned-down flavor. The drink was definitely a swing and a miss. Fast forward two weeks, and I tried Matari again. This time with a simple cortado. I sat at the table right by the door, and the espresso was pretty good. Solid body, not too bitter. It was on the pricy side ($7+), but I was ok with that. But then, I'm hanging out, sipping my coffee, and I catch a burst of perfume-like scent. I'm shocked, but whatever, I figured someone in heavy perfume walked by, no big deal. A few minutes later, wham, I'm hit in the nose with another burst of perfume. Then, I see it. A slight haze around me. So, not a heavily perfumed woman after all, but an automated air-freshener. After further inspection, I see the unit plugged in on the ground right behind my chair, which sprays up and out on a timer. That's right, an air freshener right next to a table where people consume food and beverages, shooting a mist into the air that slowly rains down onto my head and table, and into my coffee. I ended up tossing the last few sips of my cortado, as I could taste the scented whatever-it-was in my cup. I'd have gone to the counter and asked for a new one, but I was so over my visit by then, I just opted to get out. The staff aren't very friendly. Not rude, but they don't give off a welcoming aura, and I didn't feel like trying to explain the issue. Lastly, can we talk about their little "your order is up" beepers? We've all seen them. The little electronic things that blink and make a noise when your order is ready, so you can go snag it from the counter. When I think of a coffee shop, I think quiet and peaceful, or perhaps a bit louder, with bustling people and well-paired music. At Matari, it's an insane BEEP BEEP BEEP that goes off every few minutes when an order is up. I get it, you don't want to bring the food out to your customers. But does it really need to feel like an airport Chili's? It's a bummer, because Matari is beautiful inside. It's clean, it's chic, and its location is at a notable crossroads in Skokie with plenty of parking, leaving it extremely convenient. They've even got an easy-to-use website, which so many coffee shops simply do not have. There aren't a lot of coffee shops in this particular part of town, which is why I so, so very much wanted to love Matari. But subpar drinks? Air freshener spray intrusions? Frequent and obnoxious beeping? I tried. I'm sorry. I just can't.

We stopped in here while driving through Evanston…read more It's a small store , so we almost missed it. Service was great and our drinks were delicious! This time we tried their razzmatazz. So refreshing!

Stopped in today for a snack for lunch. $10 for a large strawberry surf rider. The associate help…read moreme was very sweet.

Is it the best boba in the world? Nah. Is it the best boba if you so happen to be driving by and…read morehaving a last minute late night boba craving? Heck yeah! Everything was decent as far as the actual tapioca itself. 99.9% sure it's microwaved. Their boba balls are chewy and weren't undercooked, so that was key! The fruit they used tasted pretty fresh! This place has been here for a many moons so I knew it had to be at least okay. Glad I got to try it. However it was pretty pricey for one original size and large size were around 22.00. Chill vibes, friendly & prompt service and a good late night spot if you so happen to be in the area.

Chill Bubble Tea is bright, clean, but empty. I thought that this location had closed? In any case,…read moreit's been given a makeover since I was last here. I ordered a toasted coconut truffle tea with boba. It was pretty bland, did not taste the truffle. The boba was chewy but tasted old. The staff was friendly and made my drink quickly. The drink was quite reasonably priced and I was surprised that the card reader did not prompt for a tip (this is quite unusual).

A new place for me that I accidentally found on Google Maps. It looked interesting in the photos,…read morebut in real life it's even more beautiful. A very nicely decorated place with great taste and attention to detail. I went with my friends for an afternoon coffee. We all ordered different types of coffee, and every single one was excellent. Unlike chain coffee shops where everything comes in paper cups, here you actually get a real cup, which I really appreciated. My friends also ordered spinach pie and said they hadn't had such a good one in a long time. The guys who work there are very kind and pleasant. Overall, everything was truly wonderful. I would definitely recommend everyone to visit this place!

Nice opening store with Middle Eastern flavors. Love the…read morecoffee roasting machine sitting in the entrance of the store. Will be fun if we came in a time when they roasting the coffee. The air in the store fills with the really nice Chia aroma. The pastry is a little bit on the sweeter side. We came in around 3:30, and there were no lines. So we got our coffee quickly.

I was craving cardamom coffee and we decided to stopped by Haraz to try it out. Very spacious and a…read morelot of parking spot. They even had a quiet room with door for coworking/studying. Went with their all spice mofawar, and a cleaner palate one Qishr since hubby wanted something tea-like. After ordering all that, we noticed there's a separate tea option that had a citrusy flavor so we got the sunlit tangerine also. The drinks were very strong in a whole mix of spice flavors, which I actually really liked, but it is a little too watery, not dense or creamy enough, and the coffee flavor lean a bit more too acidic/sour. It's not bad, but I think it's just not exactly to my liking. What I didn't realize was that a lot of the spices sunk to the bottom so when I remixed the thic layer of spices with oatmilk at home, it tasted pretty good with the right consistency. All of the drinks were pretty diluted in our opinion, and I think it's too much spice for my husband although I liked it. I also ordered some pastries, but the server packed the wrong one. If I didn't look closely enough I might've missed that. There was one last Dubai pistachio cookie which I asked for, but they gave me the Biscoff cookie instead which was a less expensive one. Anyway, they were fine switching it out after I pointed out, but no apologies or anything. While we weren't impressed with the drinks at first, the medovik mouse/honey layered cake was really good-- it was pretty dense where the buttery parts were, and it was pretty sweet so it balanced well with the acidic coffee. We didn't know the cookie had more fillings on the inside until we got home. The fillings had crunchy flakes which adds a really nice texture, and the filling is not too sweet. Really good. We liked the pastries a lot more than the coffee. Perhaps we just aren't used to the flavor and taste profile of the coffee. I'd be willing to try more here.

3.5 stars because the price is ridiculously high…read more Seen this place on Yelp a lot but never went. It was beautiful inside. Space is pretty big and nicely spread out so you're not sitting on top of one another. Just super expensive, especially for the bakery items! Like almost $15 a slice, which is crazy to me. Drinks are also pricey. XL Dubai chocolate cheesecake - Just ok. Bland and we didn't like the cheesecake texture. It was pretty flavorless overall. Chocolate baklava - Now this was the winner! It had cream inside which we didn't expect. Delicious! Harazi Mufawar (Coffee, cardamom & cream) - Delicious! They recommended adding sugar because it's too strong otherwise. It was still strong w regular sugar, so glad we did. Haraz Latte (Double shot espresso, honey, milk, haraz spice) - Very good! Didn't really come hot though, it was lukewarm Coffee Beans - $30 for a small sized bag. Pricey! Price - Expensive!! 0/5 for price, crazy expensive

As a nespresso owner, I'd never seen a boutique in the wild so I was stoked to see this at the…read moremall. It was quite busy but we were quickly checked in and could browse. I got a cup of the holiday limited edition coffee at the "tasting bar"- it was a full cup, not just a taste! Staff quickly greeted me- I had my own dedicated staff person which felt very nice and high end. I was just grabbing some sleeves of pods, nothing crazy- but she was able to make suggestions and provide flavor profiles on everything. She clearly knew her stuff, from experience not just reading it off the box or something. I was very pleased overall and ended up getting a better deal than online as I got 2 free sleeves!

If you're looking to pick up some pods or try out some new flavors, this is a good place to start…read more They also have coffee machines on display and usually have free samples. The staff is very friendly and it has a fun coffee vibe.