Milli by Metric

Milli by Metric is the all-day café and bakery of Metric Coffee, a Chicago roaster established in 2013. It occupies the company's site on North Kedzie Avenue in Avondale, on the North West Side, and its main distinction is that the dining room looks onto the roasting and production floor, so you can see where the coffee in your cup is made.

The menu combines specialty coffee with house-made pastries and seasonal food, and there is a curated wine list for later in the day. Metric emphasises quality, transparency and paying producers a fair price, and it currently works with coffee from eight countries, so the single-origin and blended coffees are a good reason to come for anyone interested in how coffee is sourced. Beans, brewing equipment and merchandise are available to buy, and the company also runs coffee education courses.

The café is open from 7am to 5pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and from 8am to 5pm on Sunday. It is closed on Wednesday, which is unusual, so check before you travel. Weekday mornings are a good time for a quiet coffee and pastry, while weekend brunch hours are busier.

Milli suits coffee enthusiasts, remote workers looking for a relaxed setting, couples and anyone exploring the neighbourhoods of the North West Side. The combination of a proper food menu and a working roastery makes it more than a quick coffee stop. Prices are moderate. Allow 45 minutes to an hour if you eat in.

Metric also runs a smaller walk-up café and training centre at 2021 West Fulton Street in West Town, open daily from 7am to 4pm, which is more convenient if you are staying near the West Loop. For enquiries, Metric lists the phone number +1 773-904-2900 and the email address [email protected]. If you want to understand the roasting side, ask staff about the coffees being served that day and which origins they come from; given Metric's stated focus on transparency, sourcing is a fair question to ask.

Avondale is away from the main tourist areas, and getting here is easiest by taxi, ride-share or bus. Combine a visit with an afternoon in Logan Square, where Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits makes a second sweet stop, or with a walk along The 606 trail.