La Bella Cafe and Internet

I was going for a walk and saw that this place supposedly had peach smoothies. It was hot and that sounded pretty great, so I went inside. Well, one thing I will say for the place is that it’s clean and it’s not too, too far a walk from my place. But they did not, however, have peach smoothies. Or if they did, the guy behind the counter was clueless because he was like, «We only have milkshakes.» Okaaaaay. So I ordered a peach milkshake, but he informed me that there was not enough ice cream for that so I’d have to order a different flavor or he could mix two. I picked the peach and the raspberry to mix and while he made it, I noticed that there was a $ 5 minimum credit charge, so I ordered a latte, too. Well, there were no lids that fit the milkshake cup, the lids for the coffee just barely fit (and the cup was Styrofoam — *ahem* not eco-​friendly, man) and after he rang me up, it took ages for him to set up the credit card machine to charge me. And unfortunately, it wasn’t worth it — the milkshake was underwhelming, the coffee was nothing special and I didn’t even have a proper lid. Maybe their computers are good or something, but I have one at home and can get cheap print-​outs at the library… so I probably won’t be back in here.

This place was alright. I had to wait about 5 – 10 for them to notice me standing and the coffee was so hot that I had to wait quite a while before I could comfortably drink it. But the sizes are on the generous side and it wasn’t too pricey. I would go here only as a cheaper alternative to Starbucks.

The computers are on and the coffe is hot. That’s it

I was going for a walk and saw that this place supposedly had peach smoothies. It was hot and that sounded pretty great, so I went inside. Well, one thing I will say for the place is that it’s clean and it’s not too, too far a walk from my place. But they did not, however, have peach smoothies. Of if they did, the guy behind the counter was clueless because he was like, «We only have milkshakes.» Okaaaaay. So I ordered a peach milkshake, but he informed me that there was not enough ice cream for that so I’d have to order a different flavor or he could mix two. I picked the peach and the raspberry to mix and while he made it, I noticed that there was a $ 5 minimum credit charge, so I ordered a latte, too. Well, there were no lids that fit the milkshake cup, the lids for the coffee just barely fit (and the cup was Styrofoam — *ahem* not eco-​friendly, man) and after he rang me up, it took ages for him to set up the credit card machine to charge me. And unfortunately, it wasn’t worth it — the milkshake was underwhelming, the coffee was nothing special and I didn’t even have a proper lid. Maybe their computers are good or something, but I have one at home and can get cheap print-​outs at the library… so I probably won’t be back in here.

This is NOT about the food, it’s about the service. Went in with my USB drive to print. I took a look at their menu of services on the wall. It said $ 0.25/page for printing. A little pricey, but not unreasonable. It also said $ 3/​hour or half-​hour for Internet. I’m not sure, because I wasn’t concerned with the Internet, because I had a jump drive. I talked to the guy, (middle-​aged), and I asked, «how much is it to print from this jump drive, no Internet involved?» He said $ 3 plus $ 0.25/page. Well, the sign is misleading then, since I didn’t need the Internet. After about 5 minutes back and forth I finally asked, «So what you’re saying is, that it’s $ 3 minimum charge for any computer use?» He says, «Ok, yes.» I responded, «Thank you, and you should change your sign,» Then I promptly left.
I had a transfer left on my CTA card, so I rode up to Evanston Public library (Rogers Park was closed, otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered with the Internet Café in the first place), printed for $ 0.20/page and came back to my house. It took me longer, but I did the travel and the printing for CHEAPER than at the café. Will not be going back there, terrible service.

Just… Never go here. By walking in, I, apparently, interrupted a conversation between one of the workers and the only customer in the place. They stopped talking, looked at me, and then the customer said, «Yeah, buy somethin’.»
There was no hello, from anybody. Just the worker going to the register and staring at me, as if I knew what I wanted right off the bat, without having been here before. I asked for a large coffee, $ 1.60 is not a bad price, and the shopkeeper said, «Okay, you’ll have to wait a minute.» It’s just Bad Diner Coffee.
The computers appear to be running Windows 98.

Went to La Bella because it’s near my place and I needed to do some research and print. Their (flash) website lists b&w printing as $ 0.15– this is outdated, as now a single page in b&w costs $ 0.25. A dollar for four pages– outrageous! Other prices may also be outdated. You also have to sign up for the minimum computer usage (1 hour) in order to print, which costs $ 3.00. Crazy– nearby Rogers Park Library offers printing for 0.15/page (if you can get on a computer) and Loyola University’s Klarchek Infocommons is a steal at 0.07/page. (Just sign in as a visitor.)
That being said, the service seemed good here, and the place was very clean and set up pretty well. I didn’t eat or drink anything.
The solitary employee did however play the same Eastern European (?) pop song on repeat at full volume on his laptop for half of the time I was there. Headphones were readily available, just sayin… But I didn’t ask him to turn it off, since I was enjoying the weirdness.

This place has two of my favorite things: coffee and ice cream. The Ashby mint chocolate chip is a worthy find.
The ambiance needs a bit of work.
There was also a sign that stated that La Bella also fixes computers and laptops for a good price. Nice.