Cafe El Meson 2

Updates

Instant Ramen 2.0

"Soup up" your instant ramen of choice with sesame oil, egg, spinach, kamaboko, shiitake, nori, green onion, fried shallots, and sesame seeds!

Posted on Apr 3, 2019

Follow our calendar to keep track of our events!

Learn more

Posted on Apr 3, 2019

New Hours starting 4/15/19!
Mon: Closed
Tue-Fri: 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Sat: 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Sun: Closed

Munchies

R.O.C. 'n Roll
$3.50
Taiwanese "burrito"
Ninja Turtle
$3.50
Taiwanese-style sandwich
Po' Bao
$3.50
Taiwanese "taco" aka "baco"
Amelia y Ana
$3.50
Elotes inspired by the owners of the 35th/Archer stand
Na-Cho Fritos
$3.50
Frito Pie with flair
Soup du Jour
$3.50
Self-explanatory

Sandwiches (includes your chips of choice)

¡Chacho! Pollo
$9.50
House-Made Garlic Chicken Breast on Panini
Chiquitibum Atún
$9.50
House-Made Tuna Salad on Multi-Grain
Quesobanzo
$9.50
Hummus Spinach Wrap

Other Specials

Salad du Jour
$8.00
Mix of various fruits and veggies on romaine
Instant Ramen 2.0
$5.00
Souped-up instant ramen of your choice

House-Made Goods

Croissant
$2.50
"Mais oui"
Banana Nut Bread
$2.50
Same recipe 20 years and counting
Chocolate Truffle Cookie
$2.50
Very chocolaty
Rice Crispies Quadrilateral
$2.50
Because I can't cut evenly
¡Quesito! ¡Quesito! Puerto Rico
$2.50
Puerto Rican pastry with sweet cream cheese and guava paste

Drink Specials

Nutellatte
$4.50
think mocha but with Nutella
Matcha Latte
$5.00
So light and fluffy
High Mountain Loose Leaf Tea
$3.50
"Smuggled" from the highest mountains of Taiwan
Cow-a-Doodle-Doo
$5.50
Breakfast oatmeal in a smoothie!
Highbrow Monkey
$5.50
What's better than bananas and peanut butter? Bananas and Nutella!

Testimonials

2 weeks ago

I've been trying to get to Cafe El Meson for a while now. I'm glad they updated their hours to more than one day a week!! And it's just around the corner, which is fabulous!! They serve a really good solid cup of coffee. Coffee is well-balanced and lovely. I also had the quesito pastry with cream cheese and fruit spread at the bottom. I highly recommend trying it when you're there. Cafe has a cozy atmosphere with beautiful art, shelves of games, books and magazines (all in good repair and begging to be enjoyed). They take cards with no minimum! I'm looking forward to making this my regular retreat during the week!

- Suzanne C

4 months ago

This was a perfect little cafe on the street corner. The cozy ambience made it the ideal place to just hang out and enjoy a cup of mocha. Nancy was warm and super friendly. The orange slices and chocolate coffee beans added a very special touch. Highly recommend stopping in if you're in the area, or make it your go to cafe for hanging out if you live in the Rogers Park area.

- Muriel B

3 months ago

Really wonderful space with a kind owner that is community focused. Great to have a cafe in the neighborhood with an interesting and unique menu. Looking forward to stopping by quite often!

- Alex M

About Us

We're about great coffee, fostering creativity, and building community.

Great Coffee

We're excited to bring the southside (holla!) to the northside through Back of the Yards Coffee Co. (they've got a cool mission too).

There are great non-coffee drinks and food too — with a pinch of Puerto Rican and a dash of Taiwanese flair, but that messes with the alliteration. Therefore, assume that all future mentions of "coffee" on this website implies "coffee, non-coffee drinks, and food."

Fostering Creativity

We want to promote your passions. Got awesome art you want displayed or music that you want played? Let's talk.

Currently, we've got some sick art hanging along our brick wall from local artist, Kelly Courtney.

Building Community

We want to open up our space to the community. Whether it's storytelling, board games, knitting, etc. and whether you have an existing meetup or would like to start one, let's chat.

Add our Calendar to be in-the-know on our events.

The Origin Story

2005: She has this coffee shop idea (tcsi) where, as the Cheers slogan went, "everybody knows your name."
2005 - 2014: tcsi is sitting on her shelf (sohs) of "amazing things that she will never do."
2014: She reads "God Cries and An Angel Loses its Wings" about a cantor turned coffee roaster. She emails him and he actually messages her back! She roadtrips to Detroit to see his coffee shop and pick his brain on how to operationalize "relationship-first."
2015: tcsi is still sohs. She comes up with her life mission statement: to create spaces for people to discover and live out their greatness.
2016: tcsi is still sohs. She meets the owner of Cafe El Meson* who encourages her to take tcsi off the shelf.
2017: She finally takes tcsi off the shelf with the support of the owner of Cafe El Meson and her parents (The shelf is too high and tcsi is too heavy for her to carry alone, she realized).

Why the name "El Meson"?
El Meson means The Inn in Spanish and is inspired by the story of the Good Samaritan: Man was beaten, robbed, and left for dead. Civil Servant sees Man and ignores him. Neighbor sees Man and ignores him. Samaritan (aka Outcast fka Enemy) sees Man and brings him to The Inn where Man becomes fully restored.

What's with the "2"?
Real answer: that's what the lawyer put down on the articles of incorporation as a placeholder and she was too lazy to ask him to change it.

Sentimental answer (which also answers the first question): to honor the owner of the original Cafe El Meson and his vision of creating "un lugar para ti," a place for you - to exchange the best humanity has to offer.

*His original location at 4631 S Kedzie Ave, Chicago, IL 60632 is still open. You have to try his Don Diego Chicken Sandwich for which inspired the ¡Chacho! Pollo. Guess where the Puerto Rican influence comes from.