I am going for customer of the month. This place has a customer of the month plaque that I have been trying to get on, but I guess that I don't go enough. If you are local than this is a good... More

I am going for customer of the month. This place has a customer of the month plaque that I have been trying to get on, but I guess that I don't go enough. If you are local than this is a good place to get that breakfast snack on the go, because it is cheap.
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I avoided this place for maybe a year because it seemed (from the outside) like just another uncomfortably sterile café. I finally gave it a shot a couple of months ago when I needed a place to go... More

I avoided this place for maybe a year because it seemed (from the outside) like just another uncomfortably sterile café. I finally gave it a shot a couple of months ago when I needed a place to go study, and I was pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere is not at all sterile once you're inside. It reminds me, oddly, of something you'd find in Portland, Oregon. The walls are painted with home-grown murals of 50s-retro space stuff, but it manages to be relaxing rather than imposing or hokey. The atmosphere is great for going for to talk with a friend, do some reading, or just stare out the windows facing Chicago Ave. There's some amount of a hipster scene going on, but unlike so many other places in the neighborhood I don't feel judged when I go there. Overall, Atomix pulls off a relaxed, do-what-you-will atmosphere rare in a city like Chicago. The coffee is good, too. I only ever get straight coffee there, so I can't speak for the espresso drinks or food. They use excellent beans, but the standard roast is a bit dark for me, and on one occasion it was pretty old and needed to be rebrewed. I've never been over-the-top excited about their coffee, but I've also never been disappointed. So: four stars for you Atomix, for being a pleasant place to spend a couple of hours.
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Atomix is one of those places I would rather not go into, but sometimes I just need a fix, and I happen to be walking by...it always seems like a good idea at the time. But I am just never really... More

Atomix is one of those places I would rather not go into, but sometimes I just need a fix, and I happen to be walking by...it always seems like a good idea at the time. But I am just never really that happy walking out with my latte, that isn't the flavour I really want. And you don't get much flavour in the first place, but the coffee is good, I mean, decent. It doesn't suck. The staff always look at me crazy when i ask for "white chocolate, and not that crazy look I get at Starbucks, when I don't say "white mocha", but a "how racist" look. Okay, not really, but they do always seem confused that someone would ask for white chocolate, so maybe I am just lame. And that is how I feel after walking into Atomix...just not as cool as the cool kids that hang out there, with their laptops, constantly clicking away at something cooler than I do clicking away in a faux-cool coffee house...aw, now I am just being mean, it's pretty cool, not faux-cool, but isn't it all kind of the same. I recommend Atomix if you are walking by, and need that fix.
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Take a friend and split a pitcher of coffee (three bucks!) and maybe a cookie. Atomix is unimpressively painted/decorated- almost run down/grubby in nature, but feels good, for some reason. ... More

Take a friend and split a pitcher of coffee (three bucks!) and maybe a cookie. Atomix is unimpressively painted/decorated- almost run down/grubby in nature, but feels good, for some reason. Unpretentious. Reasonable. Pleaceful. If you don't have any friends, go alone and dig through the newspaper bins, find yourself a Lumpen or a reader, and sit yourself down (the chairs, reminiscent of middle school art class) and go nuts.
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