Happy New Year! A new year brings a new post of a new restaurant or a cafe in this case, First Slice Cafe.
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163 E Pearson
Chicago, IL 60611
4401 N. Ravenswood
Chicago, Illinois 60640
Quick Review: Stopped in at the Downtown location of First Slice and now I have a favorite cafe for pie and coffee.
Long Review: After a quick tip from a friend I decided to check out the downtown location of First Slice inside the Old Water Filtration Building (across the street from the Water Tower) on Michigan Avenue. The entrance was a bit hidden as it's in the middle of the building on Pearson, removed from the hustle and bustle of Michigan Avenue.
I walked in and saw the cafe laid out inside the entrance. The interior space is very nice, quite and calming. Couches and chairs are off to the for patrons to sit and read a book while sipping their coffee. There's also a couple of large tables near the counter so finding a seat shouldn't be a problem. Though, when I stopped by it was around 5pm a couple of days before Christmas and wasn't very crowded to my surprise.
Said friend and I walked up to the counter and wondered what to order. Since I wasn't in the mood for coffee I just grabbed a Pelligrino from their case that offers cold beverages; a Chai latte for her. I noticed the case with pies in it turning around- so many different pies to choose from. I grabbed a mint pie and my friend got a slice of Pumpkin Cinnamon. We then noticed the large lemon bars stacked up on a cake platter. We couldn't resist and picked one of those up to.
Since it was around dinnertime (and we didn't want to just get sweets) we looked over their other food items they had to offer. I got a spinach quiche and my friend an arugula and spinach leaf salad tossed with walnuts and cranberries. The total came to around $17 dollar for everything.
The Spinach Quiche was delivered to the table once it was heated up. Tasty and not too eggy or runny. Well made, as was the salad. I took a sip of the Chai latte, it was alright. The pies were the highlight of the whole meal though. Both of them were delicious and I would come back just for a slice of pie (or two slices).
All in all a nice cafe Downtown to stop and relax. They are a vegan cafe (which I didn't even notice being a non-vegan) and donate a portion of their profits to local charities. They also have two other locations in the city so be sure to check them out.
Overall Rating: 4 out 5 stars
* I've recently moved to New York so for NYer's and visitors alike be on the lookout for New York Restaurant Review soon*
