Cobb Coffee Shop

I hate everything about this place. If there’s a crazy blizzard going on and you’ve got fifteen minutes to go until your class in Cobb and you’re about to die of starvation, I’d recommend going outside into the snowstorm and eating your own leg before I’d recommend buying something at Cobb.

I just walked out of Cobb and am really taken aback by how incompetent the student worker there was. Since the description says it’s open until 4:30, I thought I would stop in at about 3:30 to grab a coffee. There are no hours posted on the door. The lights were on, music blaring, doors open, so naturally I assumed they were open and went to the counter. No one was there, and I hung around for a couple minutes but the place seemed empty. As I walked back to the main entrance to leave I noticed a guy stretched out sleeping on the sofa. I said «excuse me?» and he stirred long enough to give me a salty look and say «we’re closed» before rolling over and going back to sleep. I apologized and said it was an easy enough mistake to make since to all appearances the coffee shop was open, and he just ignored me. Despite this employee being insanely rude to me, this whole situation was ridiculous — I could have robbed this place blind while he was sleeping leaving the shop wide open. There are lots of other good coffee options on the U of C campus that are student-​run without the childish irresponsibility and selfishness.

RJ still needs to turn down his music.

I really want to love this student hangout under Cobb Hall. But the coffee is bad, the service poor, the counter staff seems to merely tolerate customers, and the music is too loud.
Do yourself a favor if you want coffee make the 30 food trip to the Div. School just the next building over. Want interesting take-​out food, go there too. Chocolate? Ditto. Friendly if perfunctory service? Div. School.
Why go to Cobb?
1) It’s too cold to travel 30 feet.
2) You really like music that is too loud
3) You love «late Soviet Department Store Café chic» ambience.

do you need something? they got it
do you want someone? they’re there
do you have to run? you won’t get far
do you hunger? nevermore
thirsty? obvious
NO CHURCH IN THE WILD

In terms of on campus dining this place has one of the larger and vegetarian friendly selections. Lines can be long, if you pay with cash you might get to line jump. Decent beverage selection and fair pricing. Large space, but often filled with students.

Upon entering the dreary entrance of Cobb Hall and taking the stairs you met with a cacophony of sounds. Walking into this UChicago staple you see the entire hipster population gathered around rickety tables, discussing Kant and Rousseau with cups of coffee and food from local restaurants. It’s an interesting environment to say the least. Sometimes the line will be short and you can walk around in your department store clothes with constant. But when the line is long, you feel drastically out of place among the thrift shop aficionados as you hear the weird audiobook about ghosts playing over the soundsystem.
The food is what draws me here; the environment, not so much. The idea that, without ever leaving the Quad, I can eat delicious Thai, Indian, or Mediterranean foods is wonderful. It makes the days I pack my lunch seem like prison meals. What I recommend: the options from Rajun Cajun. The heating lamps keep the curry warm and delicious.

Staff Friendliness: Very friendly, open, and kind.
Staff Competence: Moderately competent (Kareem is very helpful)
Coffee: Very bad. Very. Bad.
Lunch: Very bad. (I like the tilapia plate though)
Breakfast: Never tried. (Always go to Div School)
Décor: Love the Melville posters. Interesting art by Sei Smith. Worth checking out!
Location: Basement.

Well, I will say the coffee passes with a B+. The food from all over the place allows for a selection second to practically nobody, A-​. Freshness of the food is standard, but you don’t notice that because it’s really tasty and at least made that day, I think.
Bottom line: Perfectly awkward atmosphere deep in the belly of one of the older buildings on the U of C campus. Please allow time to people watch/​stare at hipsters. Bring your skinny pants if you can, otherwise just try to mumble some excuse when you pay and you may get a discount/​not get poked in the eye. They do take credit cards, and the music is usually good, and sometimes worthy of having your ‘shazam’ iphone ap at the ready, but just dont let anybody see you Shazaming or they’ll know you didn’t already have that album before they did.
All I’m saying is, go here to get food and drink coffee or study or whatever, but if you try to change anything about this place you’ll be stepping all over my soul with your big stinking ballet flats.

GUEST POST: by local food critic and conflict of interest specialist ‘captain manager’ CJM
There are ten things I like about this place:
1. They don’t allow boning in the birdcage.
2. They play videotapes of michael jordan giving a roughshod handle to byron russell ftw
3. If you toast a croissant the staff will butter you up with songs in french
4. They know the importance of keeping one’s powder dry
5. Its good enough for the girls I run with
6. They will let you write an IOU if you don’t have your moneygreens
7. The tables are all fucked up
8. Rajun Cajun soul-​vegetarian-​cajun-​indian fusion
9. Happy hour at 3:30 means the night starts early
10. The staff is mostly hot babes

Cobb is a university staple. full of thai food, hipsters, and bottomless coffee for $ 1.25. i crave it.
When cleaning out a barn in Pennsylvania with friend who used to work there, we came across a dead mouse. She promptly picked it up and threw it outside without a grimace, and only the comment of «There are a lot at Cobb.» That being said, the food is delivered in sealed plastic containers daily and has not deterred me.

The coffee is cheaper and better than the other student run shops (not saying much), and the Plum Cafés on campus (Classics, BSLC, Harris…). The food is cheap. The hipster-​watching is fun.

Ah, Cobb coffee shop. I spent many an afternoon holed up at one of the little round tables at this uchicago institution, huddled over my computer with a cup of mud — I mean coffee — to get me through the day. Located in the basement of Cobb hall on the west side of the main quadrangle, this place is known to all students for its hipster ambience, bizarre (to be nice, we could call it eclectic) selection of music and the snarky attitude one gets from the staff — if one gets attention at all. But when you are a poor, exhausted college student, all that matters is one thing — strong, cheap coffee. And you get that here, I think its something around 1.25 for a 12 oz cup of coffee, 1.00 for a cup of tea. Cheapest prices on the campus. They have mugs you can borrow — eesh — or if you bring your own, you get like a quarter off your coffee AND you can even stow it there. The place is frequented by undergrads, some hospital staff and possibly a few of those rare Hyde parkers that are not uchicago affiliated. A good place to go if you’re strapped for cash — if you can handle the music, and if you make it through the crowd of hipster generated smoke outside the entrance to the building.