Chambanamoms.com is introducing an occasional series called “Top Five,” where we’ll share our picks for the best of Chambana. Got a Top Five you want to share? Contact us!
Need a cuppa joe? Want a place to get some work done? Looking for a quick after-school snack? Look no further than chambanamoms.com’s Top Five Coffee Shops:
1. Caffe Paradiso, 81 S. Lincoln, Urbana
Free wifi and Intelligentsia Coffee make this one of our favorite haunts. We love the quirky atmosphere and, of course, it’s the birthplace of chambanamoms.com. Bonus: Highchairs and kid-friendly fare available, including fruit cups and delicious baked goods from Mirabelle Bakery. Great for vegans and vegetarians, too, with lots of veggie dishes on the lunch menu.
2. Cafe Kopi, 109 N. Walnut St., Champaign
Do you like egg salad? This is the spot for you. Recently expanded, Cafe Kopi has yummy sandwiches, free wifi and the bonus of downtown people-watching. We like it best in the summer when parking is plentiful. Bring the kiddos, they have highchairs.
Chambanamoms.com is powered by coffee. Photo by Amy L. Hatch
3. Espresso Royale, 1411 S. Neil St., Champaign
The plentiful free parking and the proximity to chambanamoms.com partner Bella Bambini makes this a frequent stop. Wifi is free and we love the cozy fireplace. Staff members are always cheerful and willing to overlook the fact that we nurse the same cup of coffee for hours at a time.
4. Aroma Cafe, 118 N. Neil St., Champaign
Two words: Cheese quesadilla. This long and narrow coffee stop is a great place to spend an afternoon, and has a menu for grown-ups that you’ll love. Kids will love it, too, and a special menu geared for little palates make it a nice place for a mommy-and-me lunch. Bonus: Highchairs are available.
5. Kaldi’s at Schnucks, 200 N. Vine St., Urbana
Need to get some work done and get a quart of milk? This is the place for you. Get a bottomless cup of coffee for $2.65 and settle in for a long afternoon of surfing Facebook or working. Grab a salad or a sandwich from the deli and get your dinner ingredients on the way out, for the win!
Dishonorable mention: You might notice that the three local Starbucks locations didn’t make our list, for one reason and one reason only: NO HIGHCHAIRS! This is a major fail. Starbucks, you’ve got awesome kids’ snacks! Get some stinkin’ highchairs, would you? Amy has gift cards she’d love to spend on your tiny donuts.
Got a favorite coffee shop? Add it in the comments!
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I love Latte Da’s coffee. I like their Urbana Free Library location best as well as the one at Carle Clinic on Curtis-the latter makes it easy to get a quick coffee while there for a pediatrician(or other) appointment. The library location is of course great whether you’ve got kids in tow or not-plus cheap parking during the week and free on nights/weekends.
I’d say Latte Da at CPL is yummy too! Also, I’m spreading the word about cold brewed coffee at Cafe Kopi. If you’ve never tried coffee this way YOU ARE MISSING OUT! Cold brewing brings out the naturally occurring chocolate flavors in coffee and removes the bitterness.
Katrina – I didn’t know any place in town made cold-brewed coffee. You’d probably like our article on cold-brewing your own iced coffee!
http://www.chambanamoms.com/2010/04/12/cooking-at-home-with-jason-iced-coffee/
Jason – I think the ER on Neil just started making Turkish cold-pressed coffee as well.
The Seattles Best Coffee inside Borders makes cold brewed coffee daily…its super yummy in their cold drinks : )
All the Espresso Royales are making cold-pressed ice coffee now. It is delicious.
The thing Starbucks has going for it is the drive through. Though I’m not a huge fan of coffee in general, and Starbucks in particular, the ability to not have to drag potentially cranky, sleeping kids out of the car for a cup is a huge draw for me!
Espresso Royale mentioned above has a drive-thru. So does the Panera by Market Place Mall.
Carrie, I confess: My Starbucks ban does not include the drive-through. I use what we call “the funny window” there for on-the-fly coffee, water and snacks. My kids think it’s an awesome treat.
Actually, Strawberry Fields has done a cold-pressed iced coffee ever since i’ve been in this town. I can’t drink iced coffee anywhere else – I didn’t know any other place offered it! and their vegan cupcakes are amazing! it’s hard to get the little one from gravitating toward the case sometimes!
Also for Intelligentsia coffee there is Art Mart in Lincoln Square Village. They also have baked good of their own and Mirabelle’s most days. I found they stock bagged Intelligentsia better than Paradiso.
We love Art Mart and those chocolate croissants are to die for. We just wish they had Wi-Fi.