The Chicago Coffee Club
The idea for the Chicago Coffee Club started with a summer bucket list. Despite having lived in Chicago for 3 years, there were so many places and activities I had yet to do, and the summer of 2026 was when I determined that would change. Among the bucket list items was a point to visit at least 3 new coffee shop, and life is best shared, so why not bring some friends along for the ride!
The only real goal of the Chicago Coffee Club is to spend time with friends, but I thought I would use it as an excuse to practice some writing as well. After each visit I plan on crafting a short summary of the location and experience and including a mandated selfie from the trip. Consider this blog post a living document that gets updated after each meeting!
Ludlow Charlingtons
- 2425 N Clark Street
- 06/07/2026
A cosy shop located in the heart of Lincoln Park, Ludlow Charlingtons is a dog themed, and dog friendly, neighborhood coffee shop. Ludlow, a white pit bull, is the face of the coffee shop and stays fresh dressed in a Sherlock Holmes-esque outfit with a monocle and bow tie. In fact, the shop has multiple portraits of dogs dressed in victorian style outfits, and for good reason, the dogs featured are inspired by shelter dogs from Chicago Animal Care and Control. The coffee shop’s mission is “to help the sheltered Chicago dog population find their homes”. A portion of all branded merchandise is donated to Friends of Chicago Animal Care and Control.
A panicked at the register and ordered a black coffee and Jenna ordered an iced coffee with a pump of caramel and vanilla. Both were great, but not as delicious as Elaine’s seasonal strawberry latte. This spurred a new resolution, to get the fun flavors at future coffee shops.
The Wormhole Coffee
- 1462 N Milwaukee Ave
- 05/10/2026
The Wormhole Coffee, do I dare say, was a blast from the past. The shop is littered with retro video games, movie posters, and prominently features a DeLorean mounted at the back of the shop. I had one of there Honey Bear lattes which was overall good but the honey notes were light. Jenna had a vanilla late and our founding member Elaine enjoyed a Black Sesame latte.
Being one of the first nice weekends of the year, The Wormhole was packed with patrons ringing in the start of the summer season. Being only steps away from Wicker Park, we took our coffees to go and walked to the farmers market. The farmers market was equally as busy but equally as fantastic, the highlight being my cheese and onion danish 😋. If you’ve never been to the Wicker Park farmers market I highly recommend, it might even be better than Lincoln Park …
