Café Integral at the Freehand Chicago Review

Excellent coffee (which makes the high prices bearable). The cafe is super comfortable and well designed and decorated. It is a bit annoying that you can t have sugar on your table but apart from that, but apart from that it was great!

Best avocado toast I've ever eaten. Delicious Nicaraguan coffee (even just their filter coffee) with gorgeous aesthetic. Lighting is dim, which might be hard for work, but it is a cozy space and the atmosphere is wonderful. Will be returning!

The ambiance and the staff are great. The coffee, not so much.

Place is closed. Will not take my edit on Google maps. Plz advise. CLOSED.

Really high quality coffee & a really comfortable & relaxed setting...

This is a great place to grab some coffee. I met a client to discuss website changes and it was very quiet and the coffee was good.

Has a great experience just dropping by on our way from A to B.

Local favorite now that I discovered this place. Great atmosphere, and friendly staff. I recommend it to my friends daily.

Pleasant ambiance, few seats. There are more seats in the back of the coffee shop; if your aim is to chill or chat, that should work. But it does not offer an environment to study.

I loved every bit of this coffee shop. The interiors are gorgeously stepped and staged while the coffee can hold itself with the best. Fine pottery cups add so much to the experience of having coffee and is a very thoughtful touch. The location cannot be better if you are looking for a cozy spot to have excellent coffee. Totally worth the visit.

Best latte in Chicago! Smooth, rich, full bodied flavor profile.

Great little cafe with excellent coffee and a friendly staff. An excellent place to sit back, read a book, maybe grab a bit of something to eat. I got a pour over. The roast was just a touch darker than I think it should have been, but it was an interesting coffee served in an interesting way. My partner got a cold brew, which she thought was good. Only complaint about the place was that the wait was long for such a simple order.

Comfortable and eclectic furniture/seating, good food (to'boy) and drinks (mocha), and friendly service. The place had a constant stream of customers, but was never too full; there was a nice background hum without overcrowding. I stayed there a few hours with little trouble, and it was one of my most productive afternoons in a while. Kudos to them for vegetarian sandwich options!

Late late late in order just a capuchino to go and I had to wait like 25 min to get it...

Came here twice while visiting Chicago. The staff were very rude and unfriendly both times. Yes, they have nice coffee, but it s expensive and the experience of visiting wasn t pleasant.

Funky interior and good pleasant service. But we got old (darkish) avocado with out breakfast plate and that's not acceptable. So that kind of marred the entire experience.

Really good coffee and a relaxing vibe. A nice break from all of the bustle outside.

One of the best coffees I've had. If you go to Chicago and you are a coffee lover, it is impossible not to go! Coffee "really"!

Very cool space. The inside is a little dark, and no outdoor seating that I saw. There aren't any seats, minus the one at the coffee bar that I found with a window nearby. This is the perfect place to disappear into the dark with a great cup of coffee and get some work done.
The coffee side of the cafe serves strictly Nicaraguan, single origin stuff and they do it well. I got the pour over and the carafe carried the theme over, which is always a good sign for quality.
Every assembly of coffee drink is done critically and well here. I highly recommend for a good quality coffee drink and very comfortable place to study or get work done. Plenty of nooks and corners of seating.

Not enough tables for computer work but the space is cozy. The music was a little loud. Definitely a dark, trendy space.

Staff was friendly and the coffee was great. Vegan and vegetarian pastries were available. Was in walking distance from my hotel and many others as it has a pretty central location

Great service and atmosphere. Great place to study.

Very good coffee and an Ok egg sandwich. A welcome breakfast option at the Freehand.

Came for brunch and enjoyed great coffee, a relaxed vibe and excellent food. Well worth checking out.

Great coffee and delicious food. Not the best service unfortunately. I ordered at the same time as my friends and waited an extra 20 minutes for my meal. I was not given cutlery or a napkin either. They even took the number sign from our table, meaning they must have forgotten my order but still refused to say anything of the sort. By the time my food arrived my friends had long finished (I couldn't let them wait and eat it cold).

Nice place, good avocado toast. No poached eggs, though.

Great coffee and great food... might have waited a little longer than expected but it was still worth going.

Incredible coffee, unbelievably nice interior with couches, mid-century and carpets. Real gem!

Only little advice: please have sugar on the tables.

Regarding the negative reviews about slowness: This is not Starbucks, give me a break. Our coffee arrived in 5 minutes and was delivered to our table.

Good coffee and decor. However, staff was not friendly. They acted like it was an inconvenience taking my coffee order and when their sugar lid fell off into my coffee because someone had not put it on correctly, they acted like I was really putting them out to replace my coffee. Luckily, the coffee was still decent. Every day after that at this hotel I went someplace else for coffee because of their service.

The wait for some chicken caesar wraps was over 20mins and the cashier and other girl didnt seem bothered at all to check in with us and reassure us that our food was almost ready as we sat there and several other custoners received their orders before us. I had to ask about 3 times where our food was. Not once did they check on their own, offer water or anything to drink while we waited. I'm writing this as I'm still waiting. Mind you, we ordered then went to check out of this hell hole before coming back waiting on our food. Never again!
Edit: After waiting over 20mins, we got our food and there wasn't even any chicken in the CHICKEN WRAPS. I JUST GAVE IT BACK AND LEFT. So we waited 20mins for salad wrapped in a tortilla. Beyond pissed my time was wasted!!!

Cozy cafe with a great little bookcase lined fireplace nook hidden in the back. Fabulous matcha lattes!

Really nice cafe with great food. Coffee is alright. The ambience is wonderful

This is a lovely place to have coffee... terrible, terrible coffee.

The place is an absolutely gorgeous place to drink coffee but that simply can't make up for what I was served today.

Delicious fresh coffee, multiple ways! Fresh pastries, no tea! Mexican mineral water.

This place needs a Google review! Third wave coffee. Cappuccino was top notch and comparable to the best I find in San Francisco. I had the egg, ham, and aged cheddar sandwich. Not what I expected but I like different. Unfortunately it didn't excite me much. I think it would be better on baguette. Atmosphere is chill, dark and cozy. Music at a solid volume but not annoying. Staff was cool.
Has a large communal table where laptops could fit but the rest of the space is made for chilling out and socializing - like a lounge

The worst toast with butter and jam I ever had, they were salty and with tomato on top. After this I order a butter croissant and they charged 4,74, the higher price I had pay for a Croissant in America. Try somewhere else!

Delightful atmosphere, great coffee, served with a smile even tho it was a morning rush.

Strong coffee and strong hipster vibes here. Cafe Integral is conveniently located in the lobby of the Freehand Chicago hotel, in a bustling area in River North. Whenever I need an afternoon pick-me-up to re-energize from shopping, I come here.

You get basic coffee options here, and they are all strong. The cafe itself is usually packed as well (at least on weekends). It is decently quiet, but too dark to get work done imo.

I lean toward African coffees but this place serves some Nicaragua coffees that could make me a change my mind. Get the pour over.

Do NOT come here if you are in a rush... Unbelievably slow.

It takes a few minutes to make a latte I get it, ok fine. I ordered a cold brew and a dognut so that they woulnt have to make anything... I still ended up having wait in line behind 6 other latte orders and ended up here for 20 minutes waiting on a cold brew and a doughnut...

Thry have to get more than one person to handle orders. Cashier was litterally just a cashier.... At least help out. Poor a coffee, crab a doughnut... To bad. Coffee is decent.

I can say this place does it for me. Really nothing but enjoyable experiences here, I'll be back. It has a good feel to it. I see why this place has a lot of great reviews.

One of the great coffee shops in the Near North area. Their coffee and drink selection is simple and delicious, their atmosphere is really chill, and the staff is friendly. Great place to study or hang out, as long as you go before the place is turned into a bar.

This is a nice casual place. Good coffee and nice atmosphere
Highly recommend it.

The coffee is excellent I definitely recommend this place. I would only wish the place stayed open a little longer

Breakfast was great! Husband had a sandwich and I had eggs with avocado and potatoes. Great flavors and very fresh. Really good seasoned potatoes! Husband's Americano was perfect. Tea selection is interesting and unique and they brought my tea out sans tea bag and perfectly steeped - which I very much appreciated. Staff is kind, patient, and helpful :)

Very cool space. Delicious pastries. Latte was good, not fantastic.

Spacious and comfortable seating with coffee and pastries delivered to the table.

We stopped in for breakfast and lingered an hour on the comfy couches. Beautiful presentation of drinks and plates. There's more than coffees and pastries-- check the menu for items like delicious baked eggs (we substituted avocado for toast).

Menu is short and simple, staff was nice. Lots of space to sit and chit chat or work on your laptop.

Cafe Integral was our choice for breakfast on one of two mornings we spent in Chicago. We were overall disappointed. It starts with the menu. If you re a person with a special diet of any kind (vegetarian, gluten free), or maybe just someone who checks out restaurant menus to help make a choice about where to go, then you rely on online menus being up to date. (Putting aside for the moment restaurants whose menus change frequently or who at least bother to state the menu online is just a sample of what they offer.) Cafe Integral s menu in person was different than what appeared online the main difference being fewer choices. When asked about this, the staff informed us they recently had scaled back their menu. Okay, so please also scale it back online so we can make an informed choice about whether to give you a shot.

I had the Pour Over coffee (as any good brunch loving citizen of the morning should.) It wasn t bad but would have liked it bolder rather than smoother.

I also ordered the Breakfast sandwich without meat. (You have a choice of sourdough or bagel I picked sourdough. For vegetarians avocado is an option instead of meat which is nice. (Except I don t really like avocado that much so I opted to not have it. The 2-year cheddar it comes with is cooked in with the eggs which unfortunately had the effect of it not being noticeable visually or by taste. I had to ask the server if they had forgotten the cheese because it was really a non-presence. Also, the omelet eggs were over fried

My wife liked the sunny side eggs and greens she ordered. (Assembled from the Sides & Extras Menu.) She thought it was perfectly fine but nothing amazing.

We would have loved to try the Yucca Hash that was listed on the online menu and looked pretty amazing by description, but was, unfortunately a victim of the scaling back of their menu.

Our impression of the staff also wasn t so great not a particularly friendly bunch. The first person we encountered when we walked in told us in a kind of not-so-happy-to-see-us manner that we should order then sit. Later the person who brought our food seemed visibly inconvenienced by the lack of space on the table where she had to put our order. She also seemed like I was interrupting her when I later asked where the bathroom was. It just seems basic that staff at service oriented businesses should go out of their way to be friendly and welcoming especially in the morning when your interactions with other human beings can set the tone for your whole day.

Overall all of our experience here was disappointing.

Adorable "for here" coffee service. The shakshouka with avocado is super legit.

Simple, lovely, great people working and an amazing atmosphere when I visit. It's straightforward Nicaraguan coffee that tastes light no matter how you prepare it. I usually always have a mocha and their mocha is easy on the stomach, coffee flavor comes through with a hint of their own homemade chocolate. Worth trying for sure!

Tip: they don't add whip cream or even have that option on their drinks. They are true to their coffee which I appreciate greatly.

Great coffee shop to read or for a quick study. Food is good too!

Super chill cafe. Comfy seating. Mood lighting. Cool architecture. Coffee's good too!

Great ambience and great coffee. I got a flat white and it was one of the better ones I've had. Good work guys.
If you want to enjoy the unique atmosphere and delicious coffee, come here!

Decent enough food and good coffee but have to wait over 30mins from ordering, and even then order wrong.

Underwhelming. Coffee was served burnt with a several day old croissant. The barista was also not very pleasant, giving me a dirty spoon when I asked for one for my coffee. No reason to visit or go back.

I had very high expectations about this place, which were not the reality. They are doing the roasting themselves, which is usually a good sign, but the cup I had there was very mediocre. The variety is not great, it is either espresso-based drink, or filter coffee or chemex, but chemex is only available as a huge portion. The girl on the counter was anything, but friendly, could not give any information about the beans they had. And the mug I god was broken with a broken saucer. I may assume it can be a part of the ambiance in some very certain cases, but this cafe is a part of a nice historic hotel, which is not a squat or something like that. Will not go back any time soon.

Excellent espresso and americano - the food was delicious - we enjoyed the atmosphere, the background music, and the friendly staff. Will come back on our next visit to Chicago

They have vegan (not gluten free) sandwich options (Fo' Boy)--which we tried. It was the best ciabatta bread I've ever had. Crispy outside, pillowy and fluffy inside. The oyster mushrooms had just the right texture of chewy ness. And impossible burger added a "meaty" texture and flavor. The vegan remoulade added a creamy and slightly tangy flavor note (reminded me of thousand island). The quick pickles contrasted the earthy flavors and added a cooling crunch to the warm sandwich. My non-vegan husband also agreed that it was worth every penny! It's also pretty large! Great to split if you're not too hungry, or if you're feeling your stomach grumble. Shove it in your face. So good. I can't wait to be back in Chicago for another go at it!

Great chill atmosphere and nice staff. Lighting is not too soft or too bright. Good music and decent coffee.

The place is more than just a coffee shop. It has good coffee and pastries. The staff, the food, the place are all top class. Prices are reasonable as well. They offer a variety of delicious drinks on top of an already satisfying menu. The atmosphere is light and very conducive for productive tasks. Highly recommended!

Best espresso drinks we had during a recent Chicago stay. Loved that they were served in cool pottery vessels.

Nicaraguan beans and beautiful relaxing lobby and lounge

An aesthetically appealing atmosphere with a wonderful seating area. Freehand is a great place all around, but Integral sells strictly Nicaraguan coffees, making it one of the most unique and honed in coffee shops in Chicago. Try the chia seed pudding.

Great shop.

I was in town for about 36 hours and stopped by 3 times throughout my visit. Espresso based drinks were fantastic, food was killer, and I split a Chemex during one of my meetings. The ladies at the shop know their stuff and it shows.