Icosium Kafé

Totally heartbroken this placed is now CLOSED. This was a Saturday morning ritual for me and my son. I’m a savory crepes person, while my son is a sweet crepes lover. My favorite was the crêpe filed with goat cheese, sun-​dried tomatoes, spinach, almonds and raisins, with a cup of mint tea! OMG, my mouth is watering as speak! Oh, well, if anyone can suggest another crepes spot remotely close to Icosium Kafe, please post.

I am living out west and I am heartbroken to see wanna my absolute favorite restaurants in Chicago is closed. I took every person who came to visit me while I was living in Chicago to this restaurant and it was a delight every time. The Crêpe Marrakech was the best.

The crepes, coffee, tea, staff, and patrons made this place worthwhile! Everything was so fresh and neatly delivered.
So sad this gem is closed!

I would be unbelievably pissed that this place is closed, but the owner shut it down with the most epic handwritten note on the door: «I’m done with crepes.»
YOU DO YOU, CHEF. YOU DO YOU. CHASE YOUR DREAMS, AND IF YOUR DREAMS SAY YOU’RE DONE WITH CREPES THEN GODSPEED, SON.
RIP Icosium Kafe: Your food was effing amazing. I ate at your establishment probably more than 30 times, all told. Always worth it.
Seriously, chef, good luck in all your future endeavors, I hope you’re winning at life, wherever you are :)

I’ve gone here several times when I lived in Andersonville, and still go back when I’m in the area. Icosium Kafe crepes are so good! Whatever they put in the honey mint tea is perfection. The Belgium dark chocolate are delicious. I came here Saturday night for dinner, and had to have a crêpe for dessert it was so good.
Average savory crêpe is about $ 11 (with meat), and I highly suggest the lamb.

Fresh and delicious are the first two words that come to mind. I had the Mediterranean crêpe with goat instead of feta cheese. They were even able to add salmon at the server’s suggestion. Everything was delicious, well presented, and perfectly portioned. My crêpe came with fresh homemade veggie soup!
I had to knock off a star because they were all out of the gluten free crêpe batter. This was the only reason we went there and they DID advertise the heck out of gluten free options. I think if they are out of that they need to tell you before you order and not 10 minutes later. They were a little understaffed too… on a Sunday afternoon. Hello, welcome to Sunday in Chicago, we love brunch here so you might want to stock your gluten free ingredients and get enough staff to serve.
Despite all that jazz I’d still go back.

When I can convince my friends to make the trek to my hood of Andersonville this is the spot I take them for noms. Every single person I have taken has been so happy they tried it.
The crepes are gluten-​free if that is important to you or yours. Pretty much all the crepes are vegetarian, although you can add several different kinds of meats if you want.

Eh. I’ve tried Icosium three times now. It’s okay. If I could rate 3 ½ stars, I would.
The pros:
— The food is delicious, of course. I tend to go with a savory and a sweet
— The mint tea is fantastic. Even in the heat of August, I’m sure to get it every time. Wow.
The cons:
— The service. Wow, the service. When I go, I expect to sit and wait at least 10 minutes to get water. Then another half hour to get food. Then another 20 minutes just for the check to be delivered.
— Their credit card machine seems to be perceptually out. Twice now I’ve been there, and there was no credit card option because their machine was out. FYI: if your credit card machine is out for more than a week, you no longer take credit cards, and should probably take the logos down from your windows.
I have no idea *why* the service is so terrible, but it easily makes the experience as a whole thoroughly mediocre. That said, I love crepes, so since I love them so much, and Icosium makes them so well, I’m sure to keep coming back… but never when I’m on a time crunch.

I’ve always had a blind spot to this place until this past weekend whilst walking by with my dad. He casually mentioned it as an option, and I was like, «oh yeah. I’ve been meaning to try this place for years.»
Let me just say I haven’t had Mediterranean food this good since I ate in San Francisco. We all got lamb dishes along with cups of their delectable soups. Mint tea in a classic metal pot rounded out the meal. My Crêpe Marrakech with lamb sausage (Merguez) was that rare sort of savory + sweet dish that I’ve only ever experienced at great Mediterranean restaurants. A generous amount of mint leaves filled my tea pot; real honey sure beats white sugar packets.
This is an adjective I reserve for only a rare, few restaurants: delightful. We all left with big smiles on our faces and very satisfied appetites.
Oh and it’s BYOB (no cork fee)

This is a awesome place that mixes some food styles.
Bring your food palate passport. You are about to go on a nice ride.
The place has that old world feel but in a modern way. I feel like I am rocking the casbah in Algiers but just in a culinary matter of speaking.
The staff lets me add goat cheese to some of the other crêpe’s as well.
They are very accommodating here.
My favorite of their crêpe’s is the goat cheese and smoked salmon crêpe.
Thier «build an Omlette» isjust great with about atleast10 things to chose from.
Highly reccomend. It’s on the corner of Clark/​Foster.
It is worth the trek if you dont happen to live in Andersonville.
If you are a coffee nut like me, you will appreciate the algerian coffee they have their.
Just as strong as Turkish Coffee… go there and decide for yourself :)

5 Stars for their vegetarian lentil soup served with a sprig of mint. Yes. Greatest soup of my life. Comes with a pot of hot pepper paste, just a little spoonful mixed in, heaven. Their Zaatar bread with oil and balsamic dipped in the soup is perfection.
I have had a couple of their crepes and they were all very good. I don’t appear to be as blown away as everyone else by their crepes though, but they are definitely good. I am just much more interested in their lentil soup.
Boyfriend had their lamb Tagine the other day, I think thats what I need to start ordering because the lamb I tasted was really flipping fantastic. I only had a couple bites though so I doesn’t accurately reflect my overall food experiences here.
Their coffee is of course amazing, you always have to order some. It’s essential to the dining experience. I had their mint tea once but was disappointed, It got bitter so fast, it was undrinkable. Shame because I am nuts for mint.
Amazingly I haven’t tried their sweet crepes yet.
Lastly their service is slow. I mean slow. Busy or not and that annoys me. Maybe I am just really impatient but man do I get bent out of shape over slow service. The staff is extremely friendly though so I think I just need to cool my jets.
If you aren’t in a rush, Icosium is the perfect spot for a light lunch of soup and coffee.

I loved this little restaurant. The décor was fantastic and the service was even better. As soon as you walk in you feel like you have transported to a little café in Morocco. It smells amazing and the food lived up to those smells.
I ordered the Crêpe De Roma. It was divine. The crêpe was perfectly cooked and it was filled with a mecca of deliciousness. Everyone else in my group felt the same love towards their menu choices. I can’t wait to go back to Chicago and try something else on the menu. Definitely a permanent go-​to breakfast spot when visiting friends in Andersonville.

This is my second review: Same as my other review but this time I ordered a breakfast crêpe with eggs, ham, and cheese. So delicious again as well as the potatoes. Again, the crêpe is misleading… it doesn’t look like it will fill you up but it does.
I love the cucumber in the water, so simple but refreshing. My sister ordered a latte that looked sooo good and from her words was really good.
Next on the list will be a dessert crêpe! Can’t wait!

OK, so, time for an update. I have come here two more times since my last review and they completely lost a star for service. I’m sorry, but the servers are very slow. Today I sat in there for a good 15 minutes with no water and also ordered tea and waited that long. It wasn’t like the place was full either. Old plates are cleaned up slowly too. Usually places get slammed by me for this but I just can’t with this place…
The food here is way too good for that!!! I can’t give them less than 4 stars!!!
I ordered the zataar bread and it came with balsamic vinegar which surprisingly went well with it. I’m used to just having Olive Oil with it.
Both times I got tea, it’s soooo good but the huge negative is that the tea tends to pour out from the top no matter how you try to hold it. I think they need something better to serve tea out of to avoid us customers spilling the water everywhere!
On to the food. So I’ve had the Chicago Crêpe which was pretty good. The Greek Crêpe is also delicious but the Crêpe de Roma won my heart!!! The balance of flavors that they accomplish here is just amazing!
My favorite so far is the Crêpe de Roma and I will probably be dreaming about it tonight!!!
We also had the Sweet Crêpe LaBella. It was ok, wasn’t anything super special, but it was good. I just found that the chocolate filling got too soaked into the crêpe bread and I didn’t really get to savor it. The fresh slices of coconut was a big suprise for me though! I expected bagged shredded coconut.
I also had the one with the raisins, butter and sugar. We opted for the brown and it was great! Hubby loved it!
Overall I still love this place I just wish they’d get their service under control. I will def be returning sooner than later I hope!!! :)
I feel that the filling in the non sweet crepes is good but the sweet crepes need more!

I always like the food here, so I decided to have lunch here today with a friend since it had been a while since my last visit. The crepes were good as usual, but the potatoes on the side were cold and tasted really bland.
As I was signing the check, an employee came over to our table, and without saying a word, took my purse off the chair next to mine and then set it on the table in front of me so he could take the chair. In the past, I have had my purse, phone, etc, stolen by someone walking up and grabbing it off a tabletop, and it took me a second to realize that that was NOT what was happening. Who just grabs a customer’s purse without asking or even saying a word to her?
Less than 2 minutes later, he brought the chair back, again, without saying a word to me.
I think it will be another very long time before I come back here again.

Looking for breakfast this morning? This place has that and crepes done well. Welcome to Icosium Kafe. An African restaurant serving up traditional and non-​traditional African dishes so such great flavor you have to try. Shouts outs to the Icosium crêpe and the Chicago crêpe. Lamb sausage is good too — homemade with a hint of cinnamon and spice. Also love the freshly brewed coffee.
Service is excellent and there is a wide variety is meat and vegetarian options. Lots of food options in this area but this is a must try.

I really liked this place! I don’t live in the area but needed to meet a professor who lives near this place. I let him pick our meeting place and ended up here.
My boyfriend ordered the crepes with portabella mushroom and spinach in it, I think. My only complaint is that I only got to try one bite of it. He ate most of it so fast because it was so good.
I was also surprised to get a table so fast on a Sunday morning around brunch time. But I have to say that the best thing is the coffee, really dark brewed coffee with a strong taste. I love that kind of coffee. If you like DD coffee with as much cream and sugar as possible then you won’t enjoy the coffee here.
The server was friendly and nice but not stopping at our table every two seconds. Overall, I would definitely come back here if I’m in the area and have already recommended to my friend to come here (she lives nearby).
Overall, very good!

Okay, just okay!
The service was good. A big smile from the owner!
The crepes I got gave me a huge stomach ache. When I went to pick up my order, I double checked to make sure the crepes were g.f. The server chick gave me a «wtf idk» look. I saw the owner behind the wall and shouted to him. He peeked around the corner and smiled. Then he reassured me they were and that they’d be delicious!
I ate them and threw up! Yikes!
The painted walls and intricate décor looked fantabulous and Mediterranean though…:-/ Brownie points for décor effort!

Not in the mood for a crêpe? Feel like testing the range of the Icosium kitchen after several years of reliably satisfying crêpe-​eating? Looking for something to warm you up during a cold snap? Go for the tajine. Sure, it costs twice as much as a crêpe, but between the cup of soup, pita and cous cous on the side, and the sizable crock of Algerian goodness, you will end up with enough food for two substantial meals. Plus they bring the entire tajine itself to the table, adding a moderately festive element to your dining experience.
Oh, and it’s absolutely delicious too.
Big kudos to server Tessa for handling the entire dining room, including a demanding table of twelve, by herself last night – with congeniality to boot.

I went here with my friends for Brunch on Monday. The wait was about 15 – 20 minutes and the place was small so we just waited outside. I had the Crepa de Roma (consists of mozzarella cheese, spinach, tomato, basil, mushrooms) which comes with potatoes (yum!) on the side and my friends had the Chicago Crêpe and the Ham & Cheese Crêpe. we all enjoyed our crepes. very delicious!
The service wasn’t bad besides the fact that the waiter initially forgot that we were waiting outside and seated a couple of guests that arrived after us before us (I guess we should have just waited inside); however, when we were seated, the waitress was nice and provided good service.
reasonable price for the crepes (~$ 9-​$ 15).the proportions were good enough to satisfy our hunger… I would definitely go there again with my friends.