A long time favorite. They always have unique flavor combos to try. The ambience is great. A neighbor gem!

This place was busy when we visited. It was a little bit hectic for both customers and workers. We wanted to chill and relax at a cute cafe, and even though this place had a lot of seating, all of them were pretty much occupied by people who were working/studying. It was quite difficult to find open seats. A few customers ahead of us decided not to stay and order because of this issue. The drinks were decent, although they took a while to come out. There was only two people working and there was already a line of customers ahead of us which was understandable. However, they forgot one of our drinks which was frustrating as this resulted in an even longer wait time. The place was cute and artistic but a bit too overwhelming for me, so it wasn't as enjoyable as I hoped it would be. read more

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First Sip is a great stop if you're a matcha fan. The fruit basket matcha specifically is very sweet but tasty. The decor is dark and unique and the staff are friendly, though they clearly stay very busy throughout the day. It should be noted that wait times for drinks can occasionally run long, so it's worth building in a little extra time if you're not in a rush- on certain days, expect to wait around 10 minutes for your drink. Overall, worth it for the fruit basket matcha alone. read more

First Sip Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Pretty average 3 star experience. It was surprisingly busy which made the whole visit feel a bit hectic. We were looking for a nice, sit-down cafe and there are a decent number of tables but almost all of them were occupied so seating was limited and it was hard to really settle in comfortably. The drinks were fine (although a bit pricey) and they did take a while to come out (it was crowded but most of the people already had their drinks). There was also a slight mix up where one of the drinks was missed which was eventually resolved, but again, added to the overall wait and slightly disorganized feel of the visit. Nothing was really bad, but nothing stood out either. It just felt a bit overwhelmed by the volume of people compared to the space and speed of service. Decent drinks and nice decor but long wait times and limited seating made the experience less enjoyable than it could've been. read more

First Sip Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Stopped in for a matcha and it was very tasty!! The inside was super cool and I loved the decoration. Appreciated their bulletin for local events and offerings too!! Everyone was super nice and I was out in no time read more

First Sip Cafe - matcha - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

My boyfriend and I went here because he's chasing the high of delicious coffees he had while he was in Los Angeles. He got some kind of coffee special which tasted like coffee to me. I am firmly not a coffee connoisseur or coffee lover. He liked First Sip - it's not the stuff he had in LA but he wants to go back to try their ube matcha and ube latte. He liked it better than another cafe I won't name and found mid (I agree). I got the pandan matcha and the pandan actually had a pandan flavor. I enjoyed it but don't need to come back immediately anytime soon / have had matchas and lil drinks I loved more. Still a solid stop if you're in the area and the place is cute. read more

First Sip Cafe - Pandan matcha and a coffee - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Wow. Accidentally stumbled upon this cafe and it didn't disappoint. Unique drinks , cool vibe, great for a hang out session or even as a place to get a little work done. Full of personality. My latte had a panda design - looked as good as it tasted - awesome ! read more

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This might be one of my favorite spots in the city. The drinks are delicious and reasonably priced. The staff (especially Violet) are warm and charming. We had a special request on a drink and the barista was very kind to accommodate. The space whimsically fun and fantastic -- it's got that Alice in Wonderland vibes. The tea quality is top notch and coffee & matcha drinks are also great. I hope to return and try the pastries. read more

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Delicious coffee and i tried a coconut and jasmine viet coffee and it taste very floral and yum. Depth flavor and not overly sweet and the Jasmine syrup pairs well with the bitter coffee of strong vietnamese caffeine. Dark interior but friendly individual artist works for sale and cute earrings. read more

First Sip Cafe - Coconut jasmine viet coffee and a classic viet coffee - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I love the inventive flavors and kind staff at first sip. This place always delivers with a 10/10 drink. I enjoy my coffee extra knowing it's locally owned and a community hub for the surrounding area. That means there's a good bit of seating here too! read more

The pandan latte is really nice! As usual, this is a really cozy and safe third place. I highly recommend visiting to study, do work, chat, etc. They also have a free library for folks to check out and take books. read more

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A coffee shop that feels like you've stepped into a fun house, in the best way possible. The barista was extremely nice and even offered me a punch card to come back! super sweet. I ordered a brown butter pandam iced latte and a cashmere vanilla latte. Both of them were great, and would definitely order again. I was not able to try their pastries but definitely will next time i visit. read more

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I give it 5 stars for the friendly and sweet staff and the ability to sit and work on things and charge your laptop and cell phones. It's so easy to get frustrated working from home or feeling trapped indoors at home sometimes so it's nice to be able to go to a cafe to read or surf or do work without fear of losing battery power. The sesame pandan latte was good too as well as the matcha strawberry coconut milk drink. Interesting flavors for drinks. Parking on the street and pay through Park Chicago app. Plus cute toys and plants and other fun items for sale. read more

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Inviting Vietnamese cafe located along Argyle. Small interior with a cool vibe. Staff was super helpful and the espresso was nice and strong! Pro Tip: free street parking a block away in the neighborhood if you're not walking! read more

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Surprised it took me this long to get to this gem of a cafe in Uptown. First Sip cafe is a cute and cozy cafe in the Asia on Argyle corridor. Delicious drinks and good space to work. Only downside is not a lot of food options if you want a full meal in the cafe. Drinks are on point though. Pretty good size tables too if you need to meet as a group #cafe #ube #coffee read more

First Sip Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We like going to cafes and decided to visit First Sip on Argyle. This vibrant street has fallen on hard times and we need to support businesses there. First Sip is a bespoke cafe with dark walls, art and many china cups in a dynamic sculpture. The baked items have some light Asian influences and has a wide coffee list. We ordered two lattes and a couple of baked goods. We then sat down and waited, and waited, and waited and waited. I got up to find out where our drinks were and they finally arrived. We waited some more and then went up to ask where our baked goods were and they weere like "oh we forgot" and I asked them to heat up one of the items. We then waited and waited and finally gave up. When I got up to remind them, they shrugged as the item in the oven was pulled out and sat there until it was cold. We asked them to put it in a bag. Now there were two servers and not many people. We are fairly mellow but this experience was totally unacceptable. We will never go back to this cafe. read more

Great selection of coffee from the simple Vietnamese coffee to fancy lattes. The place itself gets loud so it was hard to study there but definitely a cool chill spot. read more

1st time visiting & the atmosphere was very welcoming. The staff were extremely friendly. Pete & Quinn helped me decide what to order with much patience. I highly recommend this place. I cannot forget the amazing aroma inside " smells so delicious read more

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Very cute spot in a fun area! I could not decide what to order from First Sip because there were so many tasty options. I ended up going with the Sesame latte but I think any of them would have been great. The latte was extremely flavorful. I also got a vegetarian quiche which for $5 was a lot smaller than I expected it to be but nonetheless tasty. There was so much seating with cute lamps at each table and was the first cafe I've been to in a while that had outlets. The one thing is that there was only one woman working there so it took about 10 minutes for my drink and food, but I didn't mind. Just don't go if you're in a rush. Overall cute place and I will be back to try all the flavors! read more

First Sip Cafe - Vegetarian quiche and sesame latte - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I have been dying to get in here -- their Instagram is so inviting! They're always hosting inspired events, things you'd really want to go to. It's a little bit of a trek for me to Uptown, but it's very worth it. They just hosted a scholastic style book fair, that, and equally excited friends, got me there. Just like their events, they have an inspired drink menu. I am obsessed with pistachio... and mint... so I got the pistachio mint latte. Super charming. Keep an eye on their social media for a great date night or friends night idea. Make it a first stop, it's a great meet up point, then check out one of the amazing restaurants near by. Cheers! read more

First Sip Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I went in for a special event; Call and Response Book Fair. But I love the quirky ambiance of this place from the sewing machine table to the coffee cups hanging from the ceiling; super charming. I had a brown butter pistachio latte (something like that) and it was a really good. The area is full of Asian restaurants and there were so many to choose from that I just couldn't but I plan on being back in the area soon and cannot wait to sit in one of the window seats of the cafe and enjoy a drink, read a book, and people watch. I just love it's vibe! read more

First Sip Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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A great Vietnamese cafe with unique drinks and merch. The cafe has plenty of seats and free WiFi for those who want to stay for a while. The WiFi name is actually called "Plz no outside food + drinks" The drinks are unique and flavorful. I've been working through their menu and it amazes me how they get the flavor into the coffee. I think the Mooncake Latte blew my mind because it tasted like I took a bite out of a mooncake. Today I tried the Brown Butter Pandan Vietnamese Coffee iced and definitely recommend it! If you're wondering what pandan tastes like, you can probably think of it like a vanilla/hazelnut flavor. It's a plant used in a lot of southeast Asian cuisine and kind of looks like long blades of grass in a bush. It's not overpowering so you wont even know it's in the drink. I also had the Chicken, Port Pate, and Leeks Pie. It was pretty good but probably won't get it again. It didn't really fill me up and was surprised it was $5 for how small of a portion it was. Also shoutout to their merchandise and stickers, very cool artwork. read more

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This is such a cute space, so whimsical and fun with lots of plants and cute teacups hanging from the ceiling! The service is quick and friendly. I tried the Sakura and Lychee Tea Latte. First of all, it was adorable, it was a pink color with flower petals on top. More importantly, it was delicious! I would highly recommend. Overall, this is a great spot to come to do some work, hang out with friends, or just get a great drink to go! read more

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Checked out this place on Argyle for coffee. First Sip is a pretty calm cafe and bigger than it looks. It still has a coziness to it though. A lot of interesting flavors. There's also a few things like paninis. Because it was cool in the morning, I came in for something hot. It's not a big place, but there's still plenty of tables for inside. This is one of those order at the counter places. Coffee is the main thing of course. It's about $6 for a latte. Last time I got the Pistachio Mint Latte. Had a minty and nutty flavor. It's about $3 for one of the baked treats. Has cookies, including the Vegan Chocolate Chip. There's also things like toast. Has a lot of good stuff beyond the coffee. It's a pretty open minded place too. This is located on Argyle at Winthrop. read more

First Sip Cafe - Pistachio Mint Latte And Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I want to preface by saying that there are some things about First Sip that I absolutely love. The creativity of their drink menu is incredible, their community engagement is awesome, and the cafe itself has a great vibe, as does most of the staff. I want to preface this by saying there are a lot of things I absolutely love about First Sip. Their drink menu is incredibly creative, the cafe itself has a great vibe, and most of the staff are genuinely awesome. Their community engagement also deserves recognition. That being said, the wait time for drinks has become a consistent issue. Today I ordered a latte with only a few tickets ahead of me, and it took roughly 25 minutes to get my drink. What makes the long waits more frustrating is not even just the time itself, but the overall lack of urgency or acknowledgment from certain staff while customers are waiting. I completely understand that coffee shops get busy, and I've worked in the industry for over a decade, so I try to have a lot of grace and patience. I genuinely do not want to throw anyone under the bus. But when customers are standing around for 20+ minutes while employees are casually chatting, changing music, or moving at an extremely relaxed pace -- and you eventually have to remind someone that you even ordered a drink -- it starts to feel disrespectful to the customers in the shop. Not intentionally malicious, just careless in a way that becomes frustrating over time. Unfortunately, this isn't a one-off experience. Waiting 15-20 minutes for a drink has become pretty standard here, and it's rare that I get an order in under 10 minutes. What makes this disappointing is that I genuinely love this place. The drinks are excellent, the menu is unique, and I keep coming back because I want to support them. But I've started avoiding coming in when I'm short on time, and it would be unfortunate for a first-time customer to be completely turned off before they even get to enjoy how good the drinks actually are. I'm writing this more because I want this place to succeed than to tear it down. I am only giving a one-star rating, just to get the owner's attention on this issue. If ownership acknowledges this feedback, I'd absolutely update my rating because this place really does have the potential to be exceptional. read more

Amazing study spot! Great acoustics, flavorful lattes, and aesthetic branding. Not too busy on the weekends either read more

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Paid $8 for the ube latte and honestly disappointed. Couldn't taste any ube at all, just tasted like a regular latte with purple coloring, no actual flavor. The coffee itself wasn't great either, kind of bitter/flat. For $8 I expected a lot more. Wouldn't order again. read more

First of all, the decor and plants really get to me. Love the vibe and atmosphere. Not very loud inside, plenty of seating. Things are simple and have personality. Menu is printed paper, not laminated or anything, minimizing plastic, pretty great. They have a pretty interesting bathroom too with grow lights inside. Now onto the latte. Orange blossom latte with oat milk-- this was so good. The fragrance hits you right away, I love how potent it is. It's more like a mocha than latte as the chocolate flavor really comes through. It's like an orange chocolate mocha. Ube (Ubae) latte with oat milk-- I had this first and thought the chocolate flavor comes through and it's really nice that it's not sickeningly sweet like other ube drinks. So definitely recommend. Again, this place's latte tastes more like mocha, which is what I prefer anyway. The Ube flavor isn't too pronounced, and tastes a bit more like Taro than Ube. Which is fine. Still pretty good. My husband also thought the older lady in the back didn't seem very friendly, but it probably is just RBF haha like all our older Asian parents haha. Just like home, am I right? read more

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An amazing Vietnam cafe! I ordered a Pistachio Rose Latte, it was great! The vibe inside really matches the summer feeling, IYKYK. read more

First Sip Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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So good that I made sure to come in again and get my Last Sip here before my flight back home. First Sip, by far, has the most unique selection of coffee I've ever had. It'll probably take me a whole month to get to try every single drink at least once. Cute indoor aesthetic, and as a huge fan of antiques, I especially love that they had some antique decor around, like a vintage typewriter and sewing machine--the dangling cups are also wicked cool. I first had the Coconut Jasmine Vietnamese Coffee and that was insanely good. Easily one of the top 5 flavored coffees that I've had because you can distinguish each flavor and they were bold, which is always a plus for me. I also had the Spicy Mango Latte, which I was a bit hesitant to try at first because the thought of spiciness in my coffee didn't sit all too well with me but decided to go for it after the owner convinced me that the spiciness was very mild. It was surprisingly good but tasted too much of the mango flavoring, which wasn't for me. My friend let me have some of her usual, the Ube Noir Latte, and I thought that was really good too. My friends just moved within walking distance recently and showed me how many great food options Argyle has, this being one of them. Definitely looking forward to making this my coffee stop when I visit again since there aren't too many options around. read more

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this used to be my favorite cafe in chicago, but the owners changed and my favorite drink isn't on the menu anymore and they've been out of limeades when i go which is so sad bc I LOVE THEIR LIMEADES!! read more

First Sip Cafe is a cozy spot with a warm, rustic vibe. The aroma of fresh coffee hits you as soon as you walk in. I tried a few drinks over the time I visited and I really love their Vietnamese coffee (specifically their brown sugar pandan), nice and strong. The staff are always ready to help and are quick on their feet. It's also a great place to work, relax, or catch up with friends. There's always other people there who do so. Definitely worth a visit if you're looking for a nice cafe in Argyle. read more

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I ordered Ubae Noir - ube, pandan, coconut, activated charcoal, black tea, milk The drink was delicious; I could taste the ube and pandan. There's also ample seating for you and/or a group of friends to relax together. Service was not good. The older employee was terse and not remotely friendly, even though it was my first time there. I noticed she was super friendly and smiling with other customers. I asked for one of the boxed tiramisu and if they could serve it for dine-in and she told me they only serve everything to-go. Minutes later, I saw her hand a pastry on a plate to another customer. When ordering my drink, I showed her it on their Instagram account and she made 0 effort to make it as visually appealing as it appeared on their Instagram. Quite the opposite. I'm still interested to try other drinks on their menu but I won't go out of my way or recommend this place. read more

First Sip Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

First Sip was recommended to me, and I also noticed the good reviews so I felt compelled to give it a try. Unfortunately, the oat latte I ordered was absolutely terrible. Honestly the worst I've ever had. Not only did it taste terrible; it was also lukewarm which I can't stand. I am guessing it was a one-off or perhaps the barista was new. I hate to give this place a bad review because the inside is decorated really cool and the staff seemed nice and welcoming to everyone. That was the only good thing about this place. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be enough for me to return. I would not recommend this place to anyone. read more

Stopped in for a drink on a hot day. I was really excited to see the Ube Vietnamese Coffee on the menu. It was pricy but it was delicious - not overly sweet which I know can be an issue at other places. The decor was really creative with plants on the wall and teacups hanging from the ceiling. It was a bit dark so we ended up sitting at a counter by the window for some light. Plenty of seating! I'm not sure if I would come here to do work though the ambiance is good for socializing. It also seems like they host some events and I'm interested in checking those out! read more

First Sip Cafe - Ube Vietnamese Coffee and Mango Noir Tea - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Stopped by this morning with my sister to get the day started with some caffeine and isn't this place the cutest! The faux flower from for adorable window portraits, the teacups hanging and all the plants Lots of seating and most importantly, delicious coffee drinks. My sister got the iced Vietnamese ube latte and I went for the Jasmine. Both lovely and as charged as coffee should be. read more

First Sip Cafe - Cafe counter - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This is a popular, mid-sized cafe in Argyle that is quite packed with people and pretty loud. It's not that ideal for studying, but a nice and ambient spot to chill and chat with friends. My friends and I stopped by on a weekend afternoon and waited in line for a bit before ordering. The staff got our order slightly wrong (wrong drink size), but otherwise the drinks were good! We got the Pistachio Mint Latte and Ube Latte, and both were excellent. Beautiful presentation and they weren't overly sweet, but still tasted like a nice sweet treat. Their menu--filled with eclectic lattes, teas, and Vietnamese coffees--is quite expansive, and everything looked really good... excited to come back to try more options! It's pricey, but compared to other cafes that make similarly creative drinks, the prices are pretty fair. read more

First Sip Cafe - ube latte and pistachio mint latte - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Can't believe I waited so long to write this review! This is hands down my favorite coffee spot in the city. I wish there were more Vietnamese coffee places like this around. Coming from Vietnam, I'm obsessed with my coffee, and they make it just right--strong, not too sweet, and full of flavor. I also love their creative takes on Vietnamese coffee. My favorite is the bingsu Vietnamese iced coffee, but when I want something more filling, I go for the sesame Vietnamese coffee. It used to be a hidden gem, but now it's always packed whenever I visit. Still, it's a great spot for studying, working, or meeting up with friends! read more

My go to neighborhood coffee shop! Such unique and yummy lates and great vibes! Plus the baristas are always so nice!

Super busy spot on a Saturday. I got an ube latte (size large) and it was good. There were def no seats for us but that's okay, I just got it to go! read more

First Sip Cafe - Large Ube latte - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois