On Michigan Avenue lies the one-of-a-kind coffee shop, Overflow Coffee. Originally, the building was a landmark recording studio called Vee-JayStudios which produced the likes of the Beatles, Little Richard, the Four Seasons and many other influential artists. Overflow understands the impact of Veejay studios and pays homage to its history on a new level. They take pride in their artistics roots and embrace them with open mics, afterhour jazz nights, and galleries to promote up and coming Chicago artists. (If you are interested in the events Overflow has to offer check out their upcoming event calendar here!) The second you walk in, you are greeted with a burst of incomparable life. The storefront is dedicated to a cozy, bright, and sunny vibe that offers couches to relax, community tables to mingle, or private sitting to sip your coffee with some peace. But not only does Overflow create a perfect coffee shop to hang out in, they offer an extraordinary office space above the shop. Their partner, Moxie, built a community office for people to find solace and work happily within, aka the best place to work on our upcoming finals in.
The coffee is a hundred percent unique with their syrups being made in house by a fantastically talented barista. After talking to the barista behind the addicting syrups, he explained his love for experimenting with flavors and creating new coffee experiences tailored to seasons. For the fall season, we melted into cups of a chocolate chip latte, pumpkin spice latte, honey rosemary latte, and their specialty overflow latte. Each drink had a reason to gawk over; the chocolate chip being a perfect blend of a milky chocolate drink, the pumpkin spice latte finally understanding the specific kick we look for, the honey rosemary reaching a light and earthy taste, and the overflow creating a unique kick that compliments the original coffee taste. Although, we didn’t get a chance to try any of the winter drinks– I have complete and utter faith that they will be just as jaw-droppingly delicious as the fall specialties.
As for food, once again we were dazzled by Overflow. With an extensive and broad menu to choose from, we had the delight in trying their feta and bacon quiche, turkey panini, pumpkin bread, and classic butter croissant. Once again, Overflow going the extra mile to create an inhouse recipe works perfectly with their pumpkin bread. It was dense and warm, spicy but sweet, and excellently buttery. The turkey panini and croissant are classically yummy and fresh, leaving you craving more. Their quiche was locally outsourced and has me itching to have more, despite not normally liking quiches. As I stated before and apparently can't state enough, the food just adds to all of the reasons why you need to pay Overflow a visit immediately.
Overall, I could easily and gladly live inside of Overflow Coffee. They create a unique experience that goes beyond coffee and bests all of the competition they face. Offering a perfect oasis for stressed out college students to grab a perfectly-crafted cup of coffee to clear their thoughts. If you are looking for something to do, I highly recommend getting lost in the lore, experience, and palace that is Overflow Coffee.