J Bean Coffee & Cafe

Ever since new owners took over this place is no good! I’m feeling a bit sick and id like to think its not because of the burnt microwaved bacon and stale croissant and mushy egg sandwich… Ugh sorry I wouldn’t normally speak bad of a place but … Yeah
I would recommend not eating the breakfast sandwiches. If you need coffee it’s ok don’t know about rest of the food there and will never go back to find out.
Good luck if you go and hope they get better… Miss the way it was run in the past, oh well!

I discovered this coffee shop in search of a median place to work from the burbs go downtown. It’s such a cute coffee shop on the inside and the small business café owners/​managers are adorable. She has this big welcoming smile. I told her I was vegetarian/​vegan. As I ordered my almond milk chai latte, She told me she makes the best falafels. I’d have to agree– it ties with my moms. I also liked the chai– as it seemed of good quality and it was compatible with my body– with not being overtly adrenalized. The tables are small, but I love it because it reminds me of Paris. Paris keeps the tables smaller to bring people closer together.

Caution: do not read this review if you have a weak stomach.
Since becoming a member of Elite 16 I been trying to eat only at restaurants that are fun and worth writing reviews about. When I walked into J Bean Café in the north west side of the city I had no intention of writing a review. I wanted to grab a quick sandwich and figured it would probably be below average due to the location and aesthetic, but I truly didn’t mind because I was waiting for a store in the mall to open up.
My sandwich was ready in roughly 5 minutes and got plopped down on the counter by a lady who was clearly the cook, wearing no gloves and no hair wrap at all — I mean her hair was down and all over the place it was quite disturbing. I pretended like I didn’t realize her lack of sanitation and quickly hurried back to my table.
First off, I asked for bacon, egg and cheese. When I got to my table I saw that they had used turkey slices. I brought it to the cooks attention and she yelled «NO NO NO THAT IS BACON — IT IS SPECIALTY BACON». I literally laughed. Specialty bacon? this looks like Aldi brand turkey! LOL. Whatever, I was hungry and it was too early to argue, I thought to myself.
I then lifted what kinda appeared to be a croissant (it was smooshed so badly the bread was literally unrecognizable) to examine the interior of the sandwich only to reveal a super curly piece of hair. Nice and calm I walked back up to register and told the lady. «excuse me, there’s actually a piece of your hair in the sandwich» She looks at me… her face turns super red and takes the sandwich and starts grabbing the alleged «bacon» and wipes it with her hands and says «THERES NO HAIR! YOU SEE, NO HAIR HERE» — as she’s wiping it down with her hands! I was literally dying, this was both the funniest and most disgusting situations I had ever been in. After sifting through my whole sandwich with her bare hands she then reassembles the sandwich and hands it back to me.
I took it back to my table, I had been laughing so much I was almost entirely out of breath. I had never been treated to poorly in my life, I could do nothing but laugh. I decided to take another look at the sandwich before I walked out and of course… I found ANOTHER hair. This time I decided to take a pic to legitimize my review. This lady was truly trying to convince me I was delusional and seeing mirage hairs.
To be fair I was never going to come back even if this hadn’t happened to me, but I strongly suggest not patronizing this business. It’s sad, but very obvious the folks that own J Bean are not happy with their lives.
=(

if you’re a fan of star… or dunk … you will not be disappointed here having a look. The more quality does not differ from the price, eateth large menu and drinks and snaks. I would recommend to anyone check this place.

Coffee was plain and they were very unprofessional. Worker had trouble swiping my credit card and acted so confused and asked for cash. Seemed a little shady for me. Then when I said that I have a gift card, she said they don’t honor their own gift cards anymore! WHAT?! They said they changed owners too many times and will not honor them. Again — so shady. Won’t be back.

coffee culture is not one big mono-​culture. you have your hipster spots, your chains like starbux and peets and in chicago, you have your more ethnic spots. j bean would qualify as the latter.
now i know eastern european folks are not the most cheerful but to be waited on by a scowling middle aged woman who makes me feel as welcome as a bosnian in belgrade, is not what i look for in a coffeehouse. i realize i was perhaps the only square peg here as everyone else seemed to be speaking another language.
as for the rest of the experience i enjoyed the strong cup of java. it tasted like intelligentsia which is a good thing. the chairs were standard uncomfortable, there was a tv on in the back and periodical music which fit the space. there looks to be a patio in back. the front view is ugly because its the side of a mall. they sold cool looking pastries and panini was on the menu board. the room was a little dark for reading, at least for middle age eyes.
hey its norridge. i will not likely go back since i don’t live near but coffee culture is always a good thing, even in this age of disconnection. and this place, being a little old world, was lively with conversation. in other words, a-​ok

Nice place, friendly and clean. Had a coffee and sandwich while I waited for tires next door.

J Bean has been my favorite coffee place for years. In my opinion it is better than most of its competitors. The coffee and tea always tastes great. It is the perfect spot to meet up with a friend. I love the outdoor seating area when the weather is accommodating.

Passed some time here while wondering how my car managed to collect so many nails and require new tires. The place was pretty standard, free WiFi, tables, couches, a TV, but what is interesting is the people here.
In my 40 minutes stay I saw a:
Man have a loud conversation on speaker phone
Man practice playing a wooden recorder
Woman paint her nails.
All strange things to be doing in public, right? I was so baffled I and sipped my $ 4, straight from the carton chi tea.
Go for the people watching!

Honestly, if I could rate this 0 stars, I ABSOLUTELY would! Wow, what an experience!
I walked in to find a very unhappy woman at the counter. She looked simply miserable and like there were 30,000 other places she would rather be. I later discovered she was one of the owners — what a great way to represent your business! Surely enough, her disgusting attitude mirrored the offerings of J Bean.
I figured I’d go with something simple for my first time there, so I ordered an Italian Panini and Vanilla latte with an extra shot of espresso. Before I could even finish my order, the woman cut me off and said, «The ‘expresso’ machine isn’t working. What else do you want instead?» It kind of caught me off guard, especially since the person before me ordered a latte and it seemed to be working just fine a minute ago. Anyway, I took a moment to decide and noticed her glaring at me. Honestly, I’m not sure what I did to deserve such a nasty look, but anyway I decided I’d just try a normal old coffee. Without a response she just turned around and started pouring the coffee into a cup.
The coffee was barely warm, and tasted pretty gross. I’m not even a coffee snob either, trust me, I could drink coffee from pretty much anywhere and this was like… bad. It was clearly the bottom of the barrel, so I asked if I could please have a fresher cup, and she said it was just made. I didn’t bother arguing. I decided to just wait for my panini.
The panini, despite being toasted, was somehow soggy. HOW is that even possible? I reluctantly brought it back up to her and said, «I think this panini is a little soggy, is that normal?» and she literally laughed and said, «It’s not.» Okay.
Also I should mention that while I was in there I overheard one of their employees asking about getting paid, but couldn’t hear their response. Curiosity got the best of me so I asked this young person about it (this is also when I found that the woman there was the owner), and they told me they’re all paid cash under the table and they often withhold payment.
****** Something very illegal is going on at J Bean, and everyone should know that and know how they treat their employees! *******
I, for one, will not return to J Bean and urge others to do the same.

Great place! The owner is one of the last true Barista artists. If you want a heart, or olive branch or teddy bear drawn on the top of your perfectly crafted espresso drink, this is the place. They even have soy milk. A gem in the commercialized corner of Harlem and Irving. good food. Good coffee. Good gelato. And about 30 different flavors of syrup.

Ordered an iced chai and café latte. Not sure if they didn’t understand or just weren’t paying attention but I ended up with a hot chai. The café latte was tasty. Probably not going to go back because the service was subpar. Nice ambiance inside and seemed clean.

I find Brian’s review kind of funny. Because I know who he is and when we worked there, and I find it ironic that he left when Amir was there, didn’t post a review because he was his friend, and now that Amir sold it, he put a bad review up.
Ultimately, he’s right, in that the place isn’t too great, the items I get are pretty decent still; although sometimes now they don’t come out the same with the new staff, but they might learn overtime. They are in fact, remodeling some stuff on the inside, and I’m curious to see what they’ll do.

I went in to jbean coffee today to get two cups of tea. I order, pay and I’m waiting on my tea to be made. As I’m waiting I’m watching the lady owner make my tea. As she’s making it she coughs into her hand and carries on with what she’s doing. I told her to redo it and she did. She hands me one cup and she’s just looking at me… I told her I ordered two.
These new owners are terrible and disgusting, I’m definitely not going back there again.

New owners have now made many improvements and it is much better. New machines, new staff and service is good.

J Bean Coffee is my favorite place for Coffee,
As a Chicago Local I never understood why someone would go to a franchise for coffee when we have places like «J Bean» in Chicago that provide better coffee.
Free wifi and a great place to talk, relax, or study for my exams!
After a cup from J Bean I’m immediately thrusted into energy and ready to tackle my busy lifestyle! The staff here are friendly and always welcome me with a greeting!
Danny D.

What can I say?
Free Wifi and great coffee! It’s a place where I can hang out and get some work done or just chat with friends. They can seriously make you any flavor of latte or coffee. Their pastries are always fresh and the staff is friendly.

This place is located directly across the HIP (Harlem Irving Plaza). Thus, if you try to avoid the rip-​off Gloria Jean Coffee inside of the food court, I would say the J Bean Coffee is a great alternative.
From we I saw today, this place is more of a coffee shop than anything else. For food options, all I noticed were some light bakery items and gelato. Perhaps they serve light lunch/​brunch items on the weekdays; however, I’m not 100-​percent sure.
We ordered the large red eye coffee and a medium American-​style espresso. I honestly have to say that the red eye in Baker & Nosh is just so much better (see my B&N review if interested). Nevertheless, red eye here in J Bean was quite decent; I just have my personal preference.
On the other hand, I thought hubby’s espresso was good. They also have the Italian-​style espresso in a small ceramic shot cup, if you like that style.
Overall, it’s a cozy neighborhood coffee place, off the Harlem Ave. in Norridge. Those neighborhood coffee shops are really life-​savers, and you have no excuses now to visit the SB, DD, or the super-​expensive GJ.

It’s been a while since I logged on and when I did, I was greeted by a private message from a very loyal fan of this establishment who disagreed with my review and felt compelled to sling barbs. Oh, did I offend you (customer who shall remain nameless) by sharing my opinion? Sorry, let me rephrase. This is the WORST coffee I have had in my ENTIRE life, which includes diner, gas station, fast food, and instant coffee (or any underperforming brew we drink out of necessity). These are gourmet by comparison to J Bean coffee. I can’t in good conscience defend a product of such low quality that mediocrity is the best thing that could happen to it.
A year ago my boyfriend and I were here for an emissions test and being the junkies that we are, decided to give J Bean a try. It was a weekday, the crowd was thin and the energy was low. The woman who took our order wasn’t exactly a walking ray of sunshine, but that’s not the point. I ordered a latte and my boyfriend got the raspberry iced mocha latte, which was actually on the menu; he was not trying to be obnoxious.
The mocha latte was cloyingly sweet (and I have a sweet tooth). It tasted like half of it was raspberry syrup. Completely undrinkable unless you wanted a migraine and a stomachache. The latte was no better. We go to coffee shops in the city at least three times a week. I know what a latte is supposed to taste like, and this was a far cry. It was watered down, lukewarm, and what faint hint of coffee was there, tasted stale. No richness of espresso or creaminess of steamed milk, just flat with a chalky aftertaste. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Jackalope, Wormhole, and Metropolis. I try not to be a coffee snob, but if you want your coffee to taste like coffee, and not tepid diabetes in a cup, you probably won’t like it here. I honestly think the barista was new or just made the wrong drinks… I’m from one of those generations that never throws food away, and we tossed both as soon as we left.
On another note, while waiting I saw whole beans for sale, stamped with roast dates that were 3, 4, 5+ months old. I’ve never advertised myself as a coffee storage expert, but the person who messaged me seemed to think it was imperative to educate me on the magic of valve-​sealed technology and how it extends shelf life up to a year. I didn’t remember what kind of bags they used, so I thanked him for teaching me something new and updated the review. HOWEVER I assume because I stood by my original rating, he felt that merited several choice words.
Stay classy, Unilocalers.

Good coffee and amazing tea selection! Ever since my first visit iv been going there on a weekly basis.