Small Coffee from Mercury Cafe
Item Purchased: Small Coffee from Mercury Cafe
Location Purchased: Mercury Cafe / 1505 W. Chicago Ave. / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.65 + tax
Review: Mercury Cafe’s owner, Alexandria Kalika is the type of small business owner others should aspire to be. The budget-conscious, serious businesswoman is inside of her, and has to be to pull of a project like Chicago Avenue’s newest cafe. The other side of Kalika is an idealistic realist who wants to provide you and I with a comfortable and welcoming space that nuzzles you just enough to make you stay a while. At over 4000 sq. ft, Mercury Cafe is more than just another coffee shop. It is an establishment that begs to be frequented, used and transformed endlessly. Sparsely furnished with a patchwork of stray tables and chairs, area hipsters, professionals and professional hipsters alike can make a space for themselves and finish whatever posturing or work they need to. With wall space for gallery displays (they rotate, so check the website or just drop in on a regular basis), bookshelves scattered throughout and free Wi-Fi, Mercury Cafe is somewhat of an ideal in my mind when I think of a coffee shop. Despite the open space and high ceilings, sound doesen’t seem to travel much farther than personal bubble distance.
Though I didn’t do the research I am supposed to (like pay attention to what I am purchasing enough to tell you a few specifics), Mercury Cafe offers only organic fair trade coffee. For sale by the bag are several blends of Intelligentsia Coffee and Cafe Transparencia. The unknown blend I tried today was a medium roast with a smooth and rich earthiness that left very little aftertaste.
Mercury Cafe’s reflects more of Kalika’s idealism than her business savvy by not only keeping the array of her products natural and fair, but also by keeping the prices reasonable. This place is a quiet revolution waiting to happen and Kalika deserves your support.
Rating: 4.5 / 5
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