Heritage Bicycles General Store {Review}

Food-ie (noun): A person having an avid interest in the latest food fads. - 2014 Merriam-Webster

I'm not sure that I'm a foodie according to Merriam-Webster as I'd have to know the latest food fads in order to have an avid interest in them.  However, I am just an ordinary girl who has been lucky enough to find herself living in one of the greatest "food cities" in America...my beloved Chicago.  And I happen to love good food...it'd be safe to say that I have an "avid interest" in food and restuarants. :)  So, whatever the untrained version of a foodie is...that's what I'd be!

I've made it a point to continually discover new places to eat at...and with that, I also get asked by friends visiting the city for recommendations.  So, as a new feature to my blog this year, I've decided to start giving my review to places I visit here in the city...that way, you can decide for yourself if it's a place you'd like to visit or not!

I need good name suggestions for this feature!! So if you have a name, you can leave a comment and I'll be picking a winning name next Monday.  Of course, there will be a prize (not sure what yet!)!!!  Maybe dinner out?! ;)

With that, you can always give me suggestions on places to try and I'll do my best to go and review it!  Don't you like how I'm acting like I'm doing you a service?! The honest truth is, I'm giving myself an excuse to eat good food and try new places! :)

I'll be rating on location, cost, taste, ambiance, service, and would I return again.

Okay!! Whew...so much to explain. ;)

So, as I'm sitting here at my favorite coffee shop, I thought I'd begin right here, at 

The 
Heritage Bicycle 
General Store

I was introduced to this Bicycle Shop that is also a coffee shop by my friend Ben Elsass, and fell in love with it immediately!! The front of the shop is a coffee house and in the back is where they build and fix bikes that are soooo incredibly cute.  The shop has the perfect match of minimalism and cozy.  It's bright ambiance of white with accents of black, reclaimed wood, and stainless steel makes me seriously want to dance a jig and high-five the workers...every. time.  They serve their iced drinks in mason jars, and just when you think it couldn't get more awesome, the milk and sugar are kept inside an old icebox that you pour yourself.  The coffee tastes really great (in my opinion) and I find myself working on my computer here a lot.  

The only negatives I'd say is that it's not necessarily the best place to meet a friend to pour out your lifestory, as it's not very private.  The seating is not extremly comfortable, so I come to Heritage to get work done, drink good coffee, or for client meetings.   If I want to cozy up with a good book or like I said, bare my soul to someone (yeeeahh, you girls know what I'm talking about!), I wouldn't pick Heritage. The other "negative" is location...at least for me.  I have to drive to Heritage and it is Pay to Park...it's about $2 an hour with a 2 hr. max, so I'm always having to re-feed the meter.  A little annoying...but it's also nice that it's a little out of the way, as there's almost always seating and kind of a fun recommendation for meeting friends.

Like I said, I've had their coffee (yum!), Cauliflower soup, Chili, and muffin.  It's all been DE-lish!! I would HIGHLY recommend checking out this adorable little shop in Lakeview.  I've been to 7 coffee shops in Chicago, and with the tie to a place called The Worm Hole, this would definitely be my favorite!

Rating Scale: 1-awful 2-bad 3-average 4-good 5-dance a jig
location: 4
cost: 3
taste: 5
ambiance: 5
service: 4
would I return again: Absolutely...all the time...dancing a jig. :)

4.2/5