Civilization

I go out of my way to get their mocha — it’s the best blend of cinnamon and chocolate. Just perfect.
Delicious croissants and pastries, as well as sandwiches and soups.
Great spot for a lunch meeting with friends or for business.
Friendly staff.

Tried a single mocha and it was awesome. Really flavorful, not overly sweet. Warm and perfect on a rainy day

OK, Civilization, you’re a little pretentious for me, but I like you anyway. It doesn’t hurt that you’re a whopping 20 steps away from my front door & that your large iced coffee is a meager $ 1.85.
Civilization’s coffee is pretty darn good, though I find that they don’t often mix it as well as, say, my favorite Starbucks usually does (sorry, sorry, I know nobody wants to hear about Starbucks). They have a lot of drink options, plus soy & almond milk, & they have a bevy of great pastries, soups, & sandwiches to keep you fully satiated in the food department, too. I’m partial to their sundried tomato bagels.
I don’t always feel comfortable working here for periods of time longer than, say, an hour, especially after the time I heard one of their baristas ranting that «all people of our generation ever do is stare at their computers.» But it’s a nice, cozy space for working if you feel like you can look past that one barista’s judgments — because the rest are all really nice. They’ve also got a nice outdoor patio that’s often filled with crotchety but kind regulars & a lot of cute dogs, perfect for reading a book on a sunny summer day.
Overall, I like Civilization but am not sure it would be my first choice if I didn’t live so close — but I do, so it is. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area.

Great neighborhood coffee shop. Welcoming atmosphere and delicious coffee. Rotating flavor coffee offered daily and beans available to take home.

Love the staff. Great soup and croissants.
Cool atmosphere and old ceilings.
They also have coconut milk for drinks!

I stopped in for a cup of coffee to go and took a chance on some of the baked goods. The raspberry and cheese croissant was delicious! This is definitely a neat little spot with it’s own character and unique charm. A great place to go back and relax or do some work on a laptop.

Great location right across from Lincoln Park in Tremont. Small and intimate. Great iced coffee.

I stop in here a few times a week for coffee to go. First of all, it’s DELICIOUS and second if you bring in your own travel mug it’s only $ 1!
The location and atmosphere are both very cool and the staff is friendly in their own way. Never rude but not overly warm and friendly either. Some mornings I’ll come in to do some work and they leave me alone, which is fine by me.
At first I felt guilty for only paying $ 1 for my coffee, so I’d leave another dollar in the tip jar ($ 2 for an excellent cup of coffee seemed fair). But I’ve never heard a «thank you» for the tip. Not once. So I stopped tipping and learned to live with a truly great cup of coffee for which I only paid a buck.
I’ve had a few of their other coffee drinks which are expertly made and the pastries and cookies are insanely good.
So GREAT coffee and treats, VERY well priced, free wi-​fi and they don’t seem to care about tips. 5 stars!

A great coffee house and environment to meet a friend and just chat. I also like to plug-​in to work here every once in a while. The place just has a great feel to it.

Love the atmosphere! The old school bar that is still in the building and tin ceiling was neat. The Choco Malt Espress and chocolate cheesecake were perfect on a cold, rainy night.

Wonderful, cute coffee shop in hip area! The staff are all very friendly & nice. Good selection of drinks including soy, almond & coconut milk. Their coffee drinks are consistently good. Also nice selection of baked goods but in my experience have been hit or miss. The muffins are very good. Scones are a bit on the dry side. Don’t recommend the apple bar either– was very plain & bland. I had the breakfast egg & cheese sandwich which was sub par also. Definitely recommend the coffee– not the biggest fan of their food!

Following dinner at Ligalis, and a cold night walk around Tremont, we stopped for coffee and cookies. The old-​fashioned Iced Christmas cookies were the best we’d had in a long time. Looked like a nice neighborhood hangout with lots of chairs.

Coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk oh my.
Finally! Yippee for coconut milk for this Paleo nerd.

Periodically get up to Cleveland, and this is the favorite place for an early Americano and a pastry.
A wonderful setting in what was a pharmacy. It’s You see a lot of the old woodwork remaining with huge store windows in front. It’s as if you’re a turn of the 20^th century dry goods store, but this serves coffee drinks.
Well made beverage and the pastries are a cut above without the precious $ 6 desserts. Inviting service and customers all seem to know one another. Sunday paper put out for anyone to read. Tremont institution for good reason. Local realtors can use this place and Lincoln Park across the street as big selling points for living here if all the trendy joints aren’t enough.

Updates!
They take credit now – no minimums, no B.S. I love everything about it.
My straight up, black coffee was smooth and delicious. I can hang with my pup outside, have a meeting, enjoy a breakfast sammie and soak in what’s left of our non-​snowy-​frigid-​tundra weather.
Thanks for accepting cards now, Civilization! I’ll be back!

So they got card access… :D

I’d like to comment about how nice the place looked however…
There are a lot of photos of this place on Unilocal.The guy saw me with a camera and he was like, «you are not allowed to take pictures here!!». Five minutes later, a lady walked in, and the guy at the counter acted like a completely different person. There shouldn’t be a 180 degree change from customer to customer…

Great local (read: not a bit corporate) coffee shop. I’d really love to give it a 5, but…
In my memory, this place was super cute and the coffee was delicious and I could have sat here forever. But… I drove like an hour to see two friends, so my positivity is possibly spilling over into my review.
So the coffee was great (cash only!). The place was really cute and decorated with a ton of small antique Christmas trees around. The bar and tables and such were also cute, and there was the lamp from «The Christmas Story» in the window!!! (Its in the same neighborhood as where the movie was filmed.)
It got a little weird towards the end. When we got there the place was almost empty. By the time we left, the tables were filling up, mostly with friends and family meeting up for Christmas (so cute!). Just as we were leaving we asked the barista to take our photo… and he said no photos were allowed inside (???). I had just taken a picture right in front of him, another girl was taking a photo, a mom took a picture of her kid??? Really?

I have been frequenting businesses in Tremont since high school before it was even trendy, so I suggested meeting some out of town friends for coffee at Civilization. I remembered it being really cool because it’s housed inside of an old pharmacy, so all of the drawers and the original counter are still intact.
My friend and i arrived earlier than our other friend and ordered drinks right away. When I asked the barista for a recommendation, he told me that he didn’t drink coffee, so he really couldn’t offer a suggestion. Weird, but ok… Then we discovered they were cash only. Luckily my friend had some cash on her.
Our other friend arrived, and we were able to sit and catch up for a while. At the end of our visit, we asked the same guy to take our photo because we hadn’t all seen each other in seven years. He declined to take our photo and said that we weren’t even allowed to take photos inside per owner’s rules. We all found that really strange and left us with a bad taste in our mouths about the place.

Love Civilization. Great little hub to get your Cup o’ Joe, grab a little breafast item or sweet treat, or just hang out and relax.
Coffee sizes are different here than other places. The «small» is in fact a small, not a starbucks large-​coffee-​chain supersized «small.» Some may see this as a negative, but I think it’s a good thing. We need to right-​size our portions!
Coffee itself is good, and I have never had a bad one here yet. I used to stop in for a breakfast sandwich or croissant in the mornings when I was on the way to work, so it was convenient for me.
They also have some delectable chocolate treats, one of which is the chocolate macaroon. YUM and oh my what a splurge that is. This coffee shop, unlike many others stands out to me because they serve some actual tasty food items.
So, my recommendation? Go.