Thrd Coffee

Bucktown, Chicago

Best coffee quality-to-price ratio in the city, plus good vibes and free cereal. Great sense of dedication towards community, and right off the 606 on a good stretch of Milwaukee Ave.

Thrd Coffee header photo
Super cute. Appreciate the barista giving me permission for this photo!

Coffee

Insanely good all around. Espresso is always an interesting single-origin roast, consistently dialed-in perfectly. Get a 6oz Americano or smaller (Cortado, Macchiato, espresso) to really taste its quality. Can’t go wrong.
Pour-overs feature rotating selection of single-origin coffees, often very cool funky anaerobic and fruit-forward roasts.
Drip coffee is fantastic too, just hard to choose over espresso or pour-overs haha.

Overall just unbelievable quality.

Update (9/24/25): Tried a Maple & Rose latte today off of their new Autumn menu and it was delightful! In-house syrups continue rock triumph emoji

Cute ceramic cup with a latte next to a plate with a poppyseed muffin I’m really not a latte guy but this was a nice follow-up to my Americano!

Cafe

It’s a pretty unremarkable building space that they’ve done an amazing job rehabbing with local artist wall murals, plants, good seating variety, and overall nice vibes. Good for productive work, but I wouldn’t call it at all cozy.

Outdoor space is limited (sidewalk) but often available. Previously had some pretty flimsy folding chair seating, but when I alerted them to the poor repair of the seating (screws came loose), they replaced them the next day with more solid furniture.

Front of cafe, showing menu, merch, and the now-disused patio furniture Their menu is very cute, and they change out the merch often!

Price

You literally cannot get a better price for this quality of coffee. I asked the owner about it, and the philosophy amounts to a genuine hope of offering high-quality coffee to the community at accessible prices. I always tip the max here! smirk emoji

Productivity

Top-tier productivity here. Good volume, solid wifi, and plentiful outlet access. Tables are huge, and seats are solid and comfy for long-sittings. I’ve gotten a lot of work and art done here.

Vibes

Not the kind of place you’ll immediately fall in love with, but give it a chance. The coffee is obviously a stand-out, but the unconventional cafe space will grow on you once you’ve visited a time or two.
They do community events, and source food and books/merch from community members, and clearly want you to feel welcome here.

Plus they take really good care of their customer restroom, and that feels like a bellwether for how much the cafe cares about making you comfortable, in my experience.

CHISTARCHISTARCHISTARCHISTAR

Hi, I'm Regal!

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I'm a communist cobra obsessed with coffee, weightlifting, and Chicago! sunset_city.B7o5Qv9S.png This is my personal site where I blog about coffee shops and other things. smile emoji
Thanks for stopping by! Hit me up on the socials if you have any comments or want to say hi, or if you've got any cool coffee shop suggestions here in Chicago thinking emoji