Cipollina

I knew there must have been some reason I always steered away from this spot. Intuition was spot on. Rude girl behind the counter couldn’t be bothered with our order. A little eye contact goes a long way. And update… they closed. Not surprised.

Stopped in here with a friend today and we both left confused. They advertise gelato outside, but inside there is no gelato! Not like they ran out, like they don’t sell it at all. Huh?
Instead, we ordered Italian sodas with pretty interesting sounding flavors (eg. tangerine lavender and honey) and were psyched to try them. What we received was ice with flat San Pellegrino and maybe like half a spoonful of some kind of flavoring. Nether of us could taste much in there.
I’m giving this place two stars because the staff is very friendly. Hopefully the food is good, because the drinks were so sub-​par it was confusing and they do not sell what they say they do.

The sign on the window says ‘gelato and sorbet’, among other things. I went in, and asked about the sorbet (there wasn’t a display), and I got, twice, while looking at me like I was crazy «sor-​WHAT?»
Yep, that happened.

A place I frequented for their delicious bagels with cream cheese on my way to work. Their rotating breakfast sandwiches are also really good. It’s a cute little place worth checking out.

Finally stopped in here after living literally around the corner for over a year now and I gotto say I enjoyed it. The coffee was good and my veggie sandwich was good and the service was fast, although not the most friendly. The place was pretty dead though, and it’s really small. I don’t know that it has the warm cozy café vibe but it’s definitely a nice alternative to the Starbucks down the street, especially when it comes to the food. I definitely want to come back and try out another sammie!

Such a cute little italian sandwich shop right under the Damen blue line.
I stopped in on a whim and ordered the proscuitto panini with fresh arugula and fig jam. Such an incredible sammie!!! The flavors were explosive. You have to fall in love with restaurants that take great care in curating the best sandwich they can make, never settling for sub-​par ingredients. Their cured meats are divine.
I definitely want to go back and try some of their other sammies. The vegetarian one with the white bean hummus/​spread looked appealing.
Can’t wait to come back.

I usually like Cipollina because I live close by and some of their sandwiches are really great.
HOWEVER, I walked in this morning to get a cup of yogurt, I detoured for about 3 seconds to the case to see what salads they had inside, said ‘Hi’ to the guy behind the counter there and he immediately shut it down, cutting me off and saying, «you have to order over there.» and turning around. Thanks, ass, I know how a sandwich counter works, I was trying to be polite in the morning. Sorry to ruin your hectic schedule of standing behind a counter. The register girl wasn’t much better. It was a brief interaction, but left such a sour taste in my mouth that I’m writing about it 8 hrs. later.
Managers, friendliness goes a long way, your staff could use an attitude tweak.

IF the short little southern manager Jodi/​Jody is still working there, I would recommend you do not patronize this place. She is not only racist, she doesn’t know proper food sanitation. I once saw her put her sock foot up on a metal counter where food gets prepared when climbing up to put something on a high shelf, and on more than one occasion I heard her refer to customers as Jews and N-​words. She is a terrible person. I would never go back in there after knowing of these things and I suggest that while this review is allowed to be up (I know they get taken down when «sensitive matters» are discussed, as it has happened before) as many people as possible keep what this here review has said in mind.
The even sadder fact is that the original owner, when told about these things, didn’t fire Jodi/​Jody immediately upon hearing the inflammatory speech she felt comfortable saying around the pure white staff. Sickening.

They serve amaze Metropolis Coffee which is only 2^nd to Intelligentsia imho. Food and pastry are all mom and pop homey homes metaphorically speaking.
Do it.

I wanted to love this place, but based on my first impression I just can’t.
I stopped by here yesterday with my boyfriend and Mom for an after lunch pick-​me-​up. The prices are slightly above average for what it is, but that didn’t stop me from ordering. The girl behind the counter seemed like she had had a long Saturday night and didn’t want to be working on a Sunday or something. She only got 1 out of 3 orders right, and correcting them seemed to be a bit too complicated for her. We just settled for whatever she gave us because we didn’t feel like going through the ordering process again. She offered us free pastries, but at that point it was too late and we just wanted to get out of there.
The espresso drinks were good. Nothing spectacular, but good. This isn’t the kind of place I would go out of my way for but I’ve been to worse.

I had the Italian sandwich, it is soooo good. The bread is the crunch kind that cuts your mouth, there is some kind of oil/​chutney on the sandwich, the meats and cheeses have great flavors and combine well.
Inside is very small with only 3 tables. No restroom. Good luck finding somewhere to wash the oil off your hands.
This is somewhere I insist on returning to whenever I go to Chicago.

Pickled beet panini every damn time. Blows my mind.
Good coffee.

Is there such a thing as being overcaffeinated? Cipollina helps contribute to my jittery state through reasonably priced Intelligentsia coffee.
What makes Cipollina unique is that it is not just another Wicker Park coffee shop. The paninis (both for breakfast and lunch) are incredible. I could eat the almond butter/​raspberry jam combo for any meal, any day. It’s messy, but the gooey almond butter, sweet jam, and perfectly toasted bread is SO worth a trip to the dry cleaners.
There are a few tables to sit down, which I find perfect for catching up with a friend, bringing a book, or just allowing my mind to drift as I watch all sorts of people ambling towards the CTA.
I would give 5 stars, but the last time I was here, one of the employees came off as a bit haughty when I placed my order. I ordered my coffee and panini together and she gestured to the adjacent counter and said, «You can order your coffee over THERE.» Just wait till I bring the Caffeine Crawl Squad over, homegirl, just wait…

A nice nutty and earthy drip coffee and a beautiful breakfast panini were served to us here.
The panini was especially beautiful and tasty. The onion frittata on it was just wonderful.
Friendly faces served us as well.

Here’s a friendly suggestion to the folks that run Cipollina: It might be a good idea to have more than 2 people working during the middle of the day on a Saturday. Your product is impressive and your location is a miracle but it sucks to have to wait 10+ minutes for a pair of lattés. It doesn’t help that there’s only one person on drawer who is also making drinks and a «cook» wearing a hat that says «No Cervesa, No Trabajo» (No Beer, No Work) fussing with a loaf of bread pretending to be busy.
Much like its’ sister restaurant Milk & Honey, Cipollina’s pastries here are through the roof and the sandwiches are both traditional and inventive. I have to press the time issue, though. The framework for who is supposed to be doing what needs to be improved drastically. It’s embarrassing to just stand there waiting for something that could be out in a couple moments by having just one extra person.

I’ll admit, I have only been here once and I have instantly fallen in love! The people who work here, the atmosphere, the coffee, it was simply delicious.
When you are in Bucktown, there are probably a dozen coffee shops, if not more so you are allowed to be choosy, so why not choose here.
Reasons to go here:
1. Well made, takes time and truly tasty Intelligentsia coffee
2. Food, they have some, what look to be truly appetizing options to pick from and can be made while your coffee is pressed out
3. Support local. not everything should come from Starbucks. I know you can literally eat 3-​meals a day there, so try something new!
Things to think about:
1. This is not quick service, high-​pressure, in and out coffee
2. You should relax, don’t be in a rush when you come here
3. Get a coffee card and enjoy

Orange Lavender cookies sandwiched together by cream? Any diet is tossed out of the window the minute your eyes set up shop on these goods.
I was wandering around WP diving in and out of shops when the mini caffeine withdrawals started to kick into not so high gear, so I popped into Cipollina for a quick brew and just happened to notice the jars filled with bite sized cookies by the sandwich prep area.
Hello temptation, lavender is a secret obsession so to see it like it’s an oreo cookie made me pause. I love it. In teas, infused oils and of course the ever diet damaging baked goods. I was eyeing the cookies when a guy behind the counter asked if I wanted anything to eat. Oh god, here it goes a date with the devil dressed up in sugar appeal.
I couldn’t pass on a rare cookie such as that. So I picked up a couple and ordered my coffee to go. Delicious, the cookies were divine little crumbly snacks. I am particular about my coffee and I should have asked for an additional shot of espresso but all in all the blend was tasty. The service was just as spot on as everything else.
There’s also a bunch of other pastries for the morning crowd and cold salads apart from the sandwich bar for later in the day. A cute little coffee/​specialty food store all rolled up into a definite neighborhood favorite. Cheapo prices, for my three items it came out to a little over $ 5. Score.

We needed a place to meet up and Cipollina was convenient and easy to get to. I was amazed for this to be a café and have so little seating. Nevermind that you freeze the entire time because the place is so small. I have to admit, that started to color my opinion a bit, but of course I had to try it.
We got drinks and a cookie. I got the mint chocolate and it was tasty. I ordered a Chai latte and well it was nothing special. Something just seemed a bit off. Maybe they didn’t make it with skim milk per order, but something was off. The service was okay. It was really slow considering that no one else was here. They just didn’t seem to get their act together.
Supposedly their sandwiches are good (friend was raving) but I wouldn’t go out of my way here. I wasn’t impressed. Instead of paying the prices here for what I go, I’d suck it up and do the «chain-​thing.»

Brought to you by the ladies behind Milk & Honey this is an interesting concept. As said by other reviewers it does have a bit of an identity crisis.
That being said, it is a great place to grab a sandwich in the PM or a coffee before errands on the weekend. With a limited menu they can do all the sandwiches well, thank you for not overdoing it like other places in the hood.
Staff is friendly and helpful too.

Meh, this barely gets 3 stars. I really miss the bake shop. What happened? I don’t know why the bake shop closed, seemed like it did pretty good business. Every time I went in on the weekend there was a line. Today I tried Ciplollina for the first time — there were people sitting down eating but no one was waiting in line and I walked right up to place my order. My sandwich was good, not great. Just nothing special about it — or particularly Italian for an Italian Deli. What pushed them to three stars was they had a good amount of vegetarian options. I would rather get on my bike or get in the car and take a ride to Bari for a better and bigger sandwich for the same price.
Over all I just don’t get it. The bake shop seemed so busy and it was soooo good. Now that its a sandwich shop, I’m just not as impressed. If there ever was a line to get a sandwich, the place isn’t big enough to have people standing around for there food (sandwiches take longer to make then just putting a baked good in a bag), there is only like 5 tables so you are most likely going to have to take it to go cause theres not many places to eat it…