Swim Cafe

Swim Cafe has easily become my favorite neighborhood joint since moving to the city.  They have good coffee (with unlimited refills), free wifi, and great food.  What more could I want??

Image by Chris Hynes from
http://www.swimcafe.com/about.html

All of the food that they buy is in season and bought from local farms, which makes them a sustainable business in Chicago.  The food is great and very reasonably priced, which is why I keep going back there over and over again.  They have great breakfast goodies like bagels, yogurt, and omelette panini.  They have great lunch food, mostly sandwiches and salads with plenty of vegetarian options.  They also have great french toast on Sundays that vary from week to week.  And their pastries are delicious (especially the lemon ricotta cookies- there were a few weeks were they were out of them when I went to Swim and I almost cried).  Basically, everything is great.  


One unique thing about Swim Cafe is that they cold brew their coffee (for their cold coffee drinks) and not too many places do that.  I was trying to find out what makes cold brewing cool (get it... cool...) and found that with cold brewing, it lowers the amount of acidity and caffeine that is in the coffee, leaving only the deliciousness of the drink (Bonne, 2004).  With Spring in the air, I am reminded of the delicious ice coffees that I got from Swim last year and can't wait for them again!


This seems to always be the place that my husband and I bring people who come to visit.  I feel like this place summarizes the neighborhood, so it gives people a good idea of where we are living.  It feels comfortable there, like you don't have to pretentious (a feeling that can be common at other cafes). You start to notice that there are a lot of regulars who go there over and over again because it is a neighborhood favorite.  If you want to make Swim Cafe one of your favorites, they are located at 1357 W. Chicago Ave and at http://www.swimcafe.com/.


Have you ever tried cold brewed coffee?  If so, did you like it?  Hate it?  I have seen some cold brewers that you can purchase to brew your own.  Does anyone have one of these?  If so, how does it work?


If you want to read more about cold brewed coffee check out:
Bonne, Jon. (20 August 2004).  My Coffee is Cold. Retrieved from http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/5728227/ns/today-food/