The Sorta-Annual “Proof that Evolution Exists” Award | Eat Out Awards 2011

Caffé Streets

In 2009, TOC presented the Coffee Studio with the inaugural edition of this award, in acknowledgement of the Andersonville shop’s giant leap past the grungy salvaged furniture, life-hating baristas and other miserable aspects of coffee-shop culture. Jelena and Darko Arandjelovic’s Wicker Park café once again affirms our faith in humanity—er, coffee shops—with a sleek but still inviting aesthetic that had us thinking we’d walked into a Dwell spread. Best of all, the people who work here are among the nicest on the planet, and their attentive brewing (primarily via pour-over) of beans from cult roasters (such as Santa Cruz’s Verve) yields some of the city’s most distinctive cups of coffee. 1750 W Division St (773-278-2739).