Fun cafe or patisserie near Addison Station on the Brown Line?

[tigerswims]

Hello folks, I'll be visiting Evanston/Chicago for a few days near the end of this week. I'm not familiar with Chicago at all, so I don't even know which "neighborhood" Addison Station on the Brown Line would be considered, which has hampered my searching of the Chicago Boards for places where I could have a nice chai or elegant pastry while reading a book before I meet my friend for dinner (yes, I like my dessert before dinner). Any thoughts on good places?

If the Addison Station area is a bad location to find such places, any thoughts on similar places in Evanston would be similarly appreciated. THANKS!

[mcgeary]

Blue Sky Bakery and Café is a block north of the Addison stop at 3720 N. Lincoln. Cute space, delicious baked goods and a good cause (the café is part of a nonprofit that teaches job skills to at-risk young people). I think it's just what you're looking for.

[tigerswims]

Thanks, all! These are great suggestions!

[Shaggy]

I feel like Dinkel's bakery is over there, as well as Wishbone. Neither fits exactly into your cafe or patisserie category, but Dinkels is a good bakery, and Wishbone is a great breakfast/brunch place.

[nsxtasy]

Dinkel's (bakery only) and Wishbone are a half mile south of the Addison stop. About the same distance are Kitsch and Orange, two other good breakfast/brunch places, both on Roscoe near Damen.

[lbs]

Since the OP is looking for places for desset before dinner - here are the hours for the places listed above.

Dinkel's is open until 7 on the weekdays, 5 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.
Wishbone is open til 3 and then closed until 5 for dinner service
Kitsch (I assume Nsxasty means the one on Roscoe) - Fall/Winter Seasonal Hours October through April: 8:30am-3:00pm daily
Spring/Summer Seasonal Hours May through September includes dinner served nightly.
Orange is open only to 3.

Juius Meinl is open until 10pm on M-F and Sun and open until midnight on Saturday.
Blue Sky Bakery is open until 7pm M-Sat and 5pm Sunday

[Querencia]

Dinkel's isn't exactly a trendy patisserie but I think it's the best all-around old-fashioned bakery in Chicago and it's half a block from the Paulina stop on the Brown Line. It has tables so you can have coffee and pastry there. Everything is wonderful. Their Bismarcks (filled doughnuts) are legendary.

[lbs]

I would check out Julius Meinl (http://www.meinl.com/). It isn't at the Addison Brown Line stop but very close. You would get off at the Southport Brown Line stop which is 2 stops from Addison. You could either get back on the el and go to Addison or you could walk to your dinner spot depending on where that was.

[nsxtasy]

That neighborhood is called Roscoe Village, named after the street two long blocks (four short blocks) south of Addison. (The area just north of Addison is called North Center.) I'm not familiar with that particular stretch of Addison; hopefully someone else here can help you.

South to north, coffeehouses where you could linger near Evanston el stops on the CTA Purple Line include Starbuck's at Chicago and Main near the Main Street stop, another coffee house at the east end of that same block at Hinman, Cafe Express near the Dempster Street stop, a bazillion places in downtown Evanston within a short walk of the Davis Street stop, and Rollin' to Go (more of a sandwich shop) at the Noyes Street Station.