Cosi

Food is decent at an appropriate price. The ordering and payment system must have been set up up by someone who clearly has never worked in food and beverage before. HIGHLY confusing. There are five cashiers taking money but not orders. Are you supposed to pay first or order first? Consequently the people who should be making sandwiches and food are held up taking orders. Have they not heard of 21^st century POS systems?
To make things worse you get a number that is yelled out instead of displayed. So the diner has to wait between the line of guests ordering and those waiting for paying, in order to hopefully hear the number called out. Oh and there are separate lines for soup OR sandwich. WTF.
Additionally, there’s is zero control with the current system. What prevents someone ordering food and skipping the cashier line altogether?!?
I’m stunned!

Average. The wait was long… not unacceptably so… but something to keep in mind. I had the steakhouse gorgonzola melt and everything about it sounded good. Was it though? Eh, it was okay, but the slices of meat were too large to eat in one bite and way too difficult to bite into pieces. The entire sandwich fell apart bite after bite, even though I kept it in the sleeve/​paper wrap. Not too exciting for a $ 10 sandwich. The plus side was that it came with your choice of chips or carrots. I like the healthy snack option so I went with the carrots.

The guy making my salad had to read the ingredients off the menu board above his head. The layout of their order and pay system is convoluted. I would NEVER come here at lunch if they can’t run smooth at 6pm with no lines. The food is good, but not THAT good. Don’t buy the hype, this is my second visit in a month, might not make a third.

BEWARE of this Cosi location!!! I have always enjoyed Cosi’s food so this review is based solely on my experience dealing with the staff and manager at this particular location.
I stopped in to purchase a sandwich to go and was in a hurry. Thirty minutes after leaving the store, I realized I had accidentally left my debit card there. I called and asked if they had my debit card, and thankfully the employee on the phone said they did. Great! I was only a 10 minute walk away so I walked back to go retrieve my card that I assumed was safe. On my way over I had a funny feeling so I opened up my Chase Bank app on my phone. My heart dropped when I saw that 50 dollars had been charged to Cricket Wireless, which I do not use. I immediately called Chase to report that my card was compromised. Chase also said that there was an attempted charge of over 40 dollars to Dominos Pizza, so around 90 dollars total. These charges were made between the time that I left Cosi and when I called to confirm that my card was left there. CLEARLY an employee at this Cosi used my card information! Once my facts were straight with Chase, I walked into Cosi and asked to speak to a manager. The employee at the register told me she was the manager. I started to explain what just happened. How could somebody do this? A few seconds later, a man came out from the back and said HE was actually the manager (ok, so was the other employee lying that she was? Not sure…) I told the manager the same information and all he did was have me write my name and number down and said that he would give me a call later. He said he couldn’t prove if an employee used my card or not. I showed him the charges on my Chase app and said, «Obviously my card has been behind your counter for the last 45 minutes, so it had to be one of your employees.» He said he would «look into the matter and give me a call» and that was the end of the conversation. I left very frustrated and felt that he wasn’t listening or attempted to understand what I was saying.
I am never the type to complain about or bad mouth places of business, even when I receive below quality service. I have worked in the food service industry before and am the first to understand that mistakes happen and no one is perfect. However, what happened here was inexcusable and completely unprofessional.
Oh, and I was never called back by the way. Very disappointing.

I hadn’t been to a Cosi in years, but decided to stop in and was very pleasantly surprised. I got the Adobo Chicken with avocado bowl, which was excellent. It’s a shame this place doesn’t have more people coming because it’s a great option.
But… as people have mentioned before me, the ordering system is truly all over the place and would probably be a nightmare during lunch in the loop. There are two separate lines with 1 entrance and only 1 place to pay. You have to pass the cashier just to order and then walk back to them — it makes no sense and I thought a chain would have this down better, like Chipotle has done.
Bottom line — food is good, but probably don’t bother when they’re busy.

My roommate and I were looking for a quick bite and stumbled upon this place as we were making our way back to the L. At the time, I did not realize Cosi was a small chain restaurant because it had the feel of a small business. The menu had a wide variety of options and I went with the hummus & veggie flat bread sandwich that also came with a bag of chips. The flat bread was delicious and quite possibly the best I’ve ever had! The prices were also very affordable, especially considering its location in the Loop. I would recommend ordering a full flat bread sandwich instead of the half size if you go there for a full meal.
The number of places to grab food in the city is endless, but I would not mind going back to Cosi!

Food is great. I’d eat there more often… but the headache of ordering isn’t worth it. The new ordering system they’ve switched to in the last year is beyond HORRIBLE. Different lines for sandwiches and salads. What if you want both? Then tons of people standing around waiting for their order. Nowhere to stand. Chaotic and super messy. THEN you have to take it to the register to get your drinks and chips, etc. Lines for credit, lines for cash. So incredibly inconvenient. Don’t even think about going during the lunch hour rush. You’ll want to stab your eyeballs out. And they have the to-​go & catering orders sitting on a bookcase right beside the door that no one working can see. Good way for someone to grab a free lunch and go. Management has to be lacking or completely void for all of this mess.

They have sandwich only lines, salad only lines, credit card only lines and cash only lines. They give you a plastic card with a number on it that you hand back in the next line and then awkwardly carry your food to the register. I could not design a more baffling setup. The turkey in my sandwich was ice cold.

I like trying new things. So I decided to try out one of their square orange cranberry bagels, toasted and smeared with low fat veggie cream cheese.
The bagel itself was extremely dense and heavy, quite a workout to chew through and kind of hard.
They were very generous with the cream cheese – probably too generous – as the taste was overpowering and completely overwhelmed the taste of my bagel. There were also bits of raw red onion, which I don’t prefer to eat.
I don’t think I would get this again, as it was too heavy and salty for my taste.

So I’m at Cosi about 2 – 4 times a week for the past couple of years. You’d think after that long at least one employee would act like they know me as I’m there so frequently but no.
I love the warm sandwiches in the winter and the salads anytime. Along with the change in ordering the process they changed the way the warm sandwiches are made, from a toasting oven to what looks like a microwave that makes the bread chewy and soggy. 2 tries and both sandwiches had bread so soggy it was hard to eat.
They changed the layout a while back and it is just plain dumb. Order your food, wait for it to be made and then carry all of it to the cash register to pay. So if I order and salad which comes with bread and a side soup my hands are full and then I have to get my money while I hand the food over the cash register to person who bags it for me to go. It is quite chaotic. Prior to that you ordered, paid and the food was ready and bagged to walk out the door.
I’m giving 2 stars for the breads, salads and breakfast sandwiches that are awesome however the rest need to be reevaluated.

Many of their breakfast food items are deliciously made each & every morning by friendly & caring staff. My favorite is definitely the freshly baked toasted sesame seed squagels with plain cream cheese. For being freshly prepared & baked, the price is reasonable.
The reason they don’t get a 4 or 5 star rating is because I have previously found a hair baked into a squagel in the past. I understand that mistakes do happen in kitchens from time to time but better care should be taken to avoid them & especially from these mistakes reaching & affecting customers.

Recently they’ve changed the way that you order your food and it’s quite confusion. The restaurant is already really small. They have two separate lines to order, one for soup and salads and the other line is for other entrees. Both lines are directly next two each other, almost merging, with a sign with arrows pointed. The arrows really don’t lead to anywhere because the place is really small. In addition, after you order, you have to carry your food to the other side of a crowded (crammed) restaurant to the cash register (with the order slip), where they may bag it for you. If you order more than one entrée, this may be a problem because the little trays that they give you can only fit one entrée. The new system sucks and it is just plain stupid!

Worst Cosi ever. I call in to order breakfast for pick-​up quite regularly for clients and without fail, even if I arrive well after the given time by the Cosi employee on the phone, my order is not ready (sometimes not even started!). The employees just roll their eyes and stand there.

For less than three bucks a pop, Cosi’s Asiago bagel, untoasted, with vegetable cream cheese on the side makes a tasty treat when I’ve convinced myself I deserve a bagel for breakfast. But for better or for worse, I’m tempted to go less and less because I’ve gotten the wrong variation the past several times I’ve been. A toasted bagel. With plain cream cheese. Already smeared on. Such a bummer to receive the wrong order!

If you work in the loop, add this to your list of lunch places you on rotation. They have both hot and cold sandwiches and all of them are flatbread sandwiches. I’ve been there several times and I’d recommend this place for lunch without the batting an eye. You order at the counter, get the meal number placards and pick a table. The staff bring your food to your table. A approach atypical for a quick service restaurant.

Well, it was OK. I used to work closer to this location years ago, and hadn’t been in since then. It seemed more personal before, when you went up and ordered right from the people making your food, then paid at the register. Now it has the Corner Bakery setup, where you order at the cashier and put your number in the holder at the table for your food to be brought over.
I got the Asian salmon salad (forget the actual name of it) and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of salmon in the salad, and the dressing had a very nice flavor. There were these weird sesame croutons though, that ere less like croutons and more like a broken Asian snack bar.
Oh yeah, and the iced tea is not sweetened, and they were out of ice. So lukewarm unsweetened tea. Sigh.

Good food quality, I feel like the prices are appropriate for what you get. They’re efficient, never had to wait in line too long & the food is always fresh & warm.
Nothing specific that really knocks my socks odd otherwise I’d probably give them an extra star.

Am I the only one who doesn’t get it? This place isn’t good at all. You only THINK that it tastes better for you because you’d like to think that you didn’t waste your money. Spend your money elsewhere.

This place falls into the bakery café category that includes Panera and the Corner Bakery. The atmosphere is casual and very similar to the vibe of other bakery cafes but their breakfast menu offered a few different things.
I went with a spinach Florentine breakfast wrap; whole grain tortilla with egg, spinach and cheese. It was a little sloppy on the presentation. The tortilla itself was hard around the edges, like it was cooked too long in the microwave. But the egg inside was perfectly cooked.
I also got regular drip coffee, its a gourmet coffee and it was pretty strong, bold and a little to bitter for my taste despite the cream and sugar I added. I was not a fan, literally a few sips and I had to call it quits. The hubby wasn’t a fan of it either, but our coffee crazed friend loved it. To each his own, I must not be a gourmet coffee kinda girl.

Tried it for the first time yesterday and I LOVE it. I have been passing this location up for the last five weeks and finally caved. Glad I did.
Awesome selection of sandwiches.
I went with a friend so we were able to sample each other’s sandwiches. I had the buffalo bleu (chicken with buffalo sauce and blue cheese spread on bread). YUM! It’s not even bread, it’s more like a pita… flat bread… kinda.
He had the Chicken Tinga (pulled chicken with bbq sauce) and that was AMAZING! I was actually craving it today.
Either way, good service, fast, inexpensive and so worth it.
You have to try this place.