Pepper Park Coffee

Great little getaway from the kids… Pepper Park is not like your typical Starbucks that everyone is trying to camp out all day with their laptop for 4 hours.
They do have a drive-​thru and their Pepper Up will kick start your afternoon.
Enjoy!!!

A group of us visited during after hours for some wine and conversation. They were VERY friendly to our group, presenting the delicious flat breads and recommending certain wines. I’m upset not to have tried the pretzel sticks that were brought around! It’s not a great coffee house or wine bar vibe, but everything that I had was wonderful. I’m excited to return for their coffee and breakfast.

Pepper Park is a great place to stop by with friends or by yourself to get a little work done. Good music plays in the background and it is not hectic. If you are in a hurry, driving on Rte. 14, stop by their drive-​thru and pick up a cup.

Great place for coffee! Much better than your everyday coffee. Their Espresso is amazing, and the food is really great. I heard they have wine and tapas at night, so I’ll need to try that.
It’s also not too noisy unlike other coffee shops, so I can get some work done. Overall a fantastic coffee shop!

I thought I would give this place a try, haven’t heard of iota until i saw a large billboard on Route 14 everyday for a month. So I decided to try, I tried the El Dorado sandwich, on a everything bagel, Wow. It was great. Well worth the price, I did ask for a coffee with an inch of ice in the bottom of the cup. And the guy that took the order didn’t relay that to the guy pouring it, and I burnt the roof of my moth, because I use a straw while drinking coffee in the car. I will be back and will make sure I get my ice

I must have been under a rock somewhere because I just learned of this place three weeks ago. I’ve visited five times and had different experiences each time, but all good. I’m surprised by the less than stellar reviews but maybe that’s just due to growing pains.
On the plus side, the coffee and espresso drinks are great. To be expected considering it’s Conscious Cup beans. The lattes are perfect and unlike chain places the baristas here ask you how many shots of espresso you’d like. I’ve also had black iced tea, green iced tea, drip coffee and even tried the butter/​coconut oil puck. I think the puck is supposed to be blended into the coffee to make it light and frothy. Mine was just plopped in. Next time I’ll ask for the blend.
I’ve tried the muffins and scones — both absolutely fantastic. Not sure where they are from but they are good. They also have a large selection of donuts that my son appreciates. All fresh.
The location is a little out of the way. I don’t have any business down that way, but that doesn’t keep me from going. I would love it if my son’s skating rink and field house had a great coffee shop across the street, though. So I’m sure there are waiting parents that love the locale.
The staff is nice. Not overly friendly but not rude either. They appreciated the tips I’ve left and patiently answer my questions.
I usually work form home, but decided to work at Pepper Park for one day this week. It’s pleasantly spacious and was never crowded. The chairs and tables are comfy, as are the couches. The décor is slightly industrial with high ceilings and exposed pipes. The paint colors are beautiful and overall, I felt comfortable here. The music was outstanding and low enough not to disrupt my writing. There were two other worker bees there that spent most of the day with me. Plenty of electrical outlets! I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and it was awesome and came quickly. A little pricey but the quality of the ingredients are obvious.
My only suggestion for this place is for the staff to brighten up a bit. I’m not sure if they are new kid nervous or just bored, but it would help for them to pretend to like their clients even if they don’t. The place is pretty quiet and rarely busy. It would have been nice if while I was sitting there working all day (and also buying refills, lunch, etc.) if someone would have checked in with me occasionally to make sure I wasn’t comatose. I’m not expecting table service, but come on, there were 4 clients there working — it wouldn’t have killed them to swing by all of us once in a while to see if we needed anything or just to say hello!
Overall, I like the place and will be back. If they could work on the staff friendliness a bit the place has the potential for awesomeness.
PS. They also need someone monitoring their social media and responding to these reviews… it would help if we knew whether the words were sucked into the ether or actually appreciated.

Best Coffee in Town! Friendly people, great atmosphere!

I am still working on my review for this place so hopefully i can update it with more positive.
I have been here enough times to practically fill a punch card.
I am a bit of a coffee freak who appreciates local businesses in a sad world of franchises and mass production, so this place is right up my alley. So here’s my good, bad, and ugly if the place.
GOOD:
Locally owned! Haven’t met the owner here but whomever they are they have a vision… A coffee vision… Which is wonderful.
Locally sourced products! They use conscious cup coffee roasters beans. conscious cup is a great coffee joint in Crystal lake that roasts their own beans on site. If you haven’t been there go now and check it out. They also use a local bakery for donuts, muffins and scones… I’ve tried almost all the donuts and they are so good!
They also serve a few salad options which are made 2 doors down by wild asparagus.
Facilities! — they have a great theme going on here… Modern with a retro twist.
The place is always sparkling clean. Lots of seating. They have many tables, a comfy leather couch and chairs. You can also sit at the counter. They also have a meeting room that can be reserved.
They also just put out the outdoor seating which is ample and has umbrellas for shade.
THE BAD: sometime inconsistent, ill order the same iced coffee everytime and depending who makes it, the taste is vastly different.
The location isnt wonderful. While it is quite back there, it is still very industrial.
THE UGLY– the pricing. Now i understand that a place like this is going to be more expensive, but when they charge $.65 for vanilla flavoring that is store bought well… Thats disappointing… When its homemade like the other places in the area then we can talk.
All in all this place is good and has potential and over time I think they will get there! Its worth the stop

Let me tell you what I am not going to do again, RETURN TO THIS PLACE!
Talk about snobby service, and very expensive drinks, that in MY opinion are not that great.
I don’t care where this place is located, reality check, you’re NOT in, nor near downtown Chicago.
The Espresso was bitter and not well. Work on your customer service asap.

I ordered a café au lait, no sugar or flavor because I like the taste of coffee.
When it’s not burnt.
Which it was.

Don’t get me wrong, I overall think this place is ok, but here’s the list of things that make me want to turn around and never go back…
1) The prices are way too high for the quality of what you get. Specifically their food.
2) They don’t pay attention to what you ask for. Ask for sugar and cream? Get an empty bag in the drive-​thru with your breakfast sandwich, instead. Want a slice of lettuce or tomato on your egg sandich? Nope! They don’t have vegetables! lol… It’s pretty sad for the prices they have. It cost me nearly $ 10 for a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich.
3) They don’t use real eggs. The eggs are folded, fake eggs that are likely processed. They don’t even taste like eggs (probably because they’re not). I mean, at least if you’re going to charge a lot use real ingredients, right?
I would rather go to McDonald’s and get the same thing for way less or I’d go down the street a bit to Kooker’s in Barrington for their breakfast food which is pretty phenomenal and half the price. Literally half the price.
Bottom line is this place doesn’t put forth the effort to pay for quality staff and doesn’t back up their service with quality food. For that I give it 2 stars.

Updated review: Props to Pepper Park Coffee for adjusting their weekday business hours to better serve those commuting home or in the area for youth sports at the nearby Barrington Field House or Barrington Ice Arena. They are now open until 9 p.m. weekdays, which is great. I stopped by on a weeknight and was served quickly. Their beverages are high quality but, at least for what I ordered, somewhat more expensive than Starbucks. That may or may not be a big deal to you but the new hours are definitely a welcome change.

Most of the time I really enjoy this coffee shop. I come here all the time. I’d love to give it 5 stars, however the past couple times I’ve left frustrated with the staff. I hope the owners see this message and either retrain or rehire. The girls working behind the counter gossip so loud! I’m just trying to read and I hear the loudest voices talking incessantly about petty things, and worst of all, talking very badly about the owners and how cheap they are and how they keep buying low quality products. Honestly now, if you’re going to gossip or really even talk at an excessive volume when you’re working in the service industry, do it where paying customers don’t have to be party to or annoyed by your conversations.

Found this place 2 days ago, and I liked it.
Quiet, clean, well lit, comfortable. Good espresso. And the server dis not put it in a paper cup by default.

This place is great. The setting is super nice and inviting. The staff is great and engaging. They even extended hours for a weirdo like Mike. My regret is reading his dumb essay. No one serves you after close unless you want spit in your food. The baristas are not snooty like other coffee houses. Great drinks and sandwiches. Highly recommend!

Great coffee, cheaper than Starbucks, and the friendly staff you get with a small business. They are currently testing out extended hours to see if it’s worth it to stay open later and I’m really hoping they’ll see it is, this coffee shop is quiet and comfy enough I can actually be productive. Bonus: you don’t leave smelling like burnt coffee, which always happens to me at Starbucks. Support local small businesses and give this place a try, I really like it!

This place is great! Super friendly staff and good quality drinks. I have a caffeine sensitivity, but love hot beverages in the winter, so they have been able to make nice Chai lattes, hot cocoas and teas for me. I tried a decaf peppermint mocha and the espresso is phenomenal! They even offered to open early for my coworkers, so I don’t know why the stingy review about hours. They seem like friendly, accommodating staff to me!