Ashbary Coffee House

Reviews

• Ali B.

  star star star star star_border 10 June 2026

  Stopped here to hang out with my brother and sister, and had some tasty tea! This place is quirky, I enjoyed the little decorations, especially the Obama dragon. I thought it was cool they had a pinball machine..and that you can gamble there haha. You don't see that in coffee shops too much. The cookies looked really good but I ended up getting a mango passion fruit tea. It was delicious, great for a summer day. The cookies looked good too. I don't drink lattes very much, but it looked like they had some unique options. Overall a cool place!

• Anne S.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 2 June 2026

  As if you needed another reason to continue avoiding acoustic Chainsmokers covers and emasculated neckbeards rattling off vaguely racist standup comedy, look no further.
  
  Ashbary Coffee House--on the surface--may seem like a "cute" and "niche" hideaway for local artists and musicians, but its twee charms and humble digs are merely a façade with a surprisingly predatory underbelly.
  
  Drawing in freaks and outcasts across south Chicagoland with a common fondness for the Foo Fighters, Marlboro Red 100s, and feeling trapped in the suburbs, Ashbary has intrinsic appeal to a young, alternative crowd of artists and showgoers, but also provides a home for a tight-knit crowd of 45-year-old incel tribute band members, who often appear to act out their repressed masculinity and need for power and enfranchisement via taking on simultaneous roles as predators, unofficiated bouncers, and brethren.
  
  Before you think about allowing your 14-17 year old "indie" kid spend a night out enjoying the unique and incomparable talent the all-ages Ashbary Coffee House has to offer, know that PREDATORS are on standby at the slot machines, waiting for soft grunge alt kids to approach. Though it is possible they may be too nervous and inexperienced in their old age to say anything to these teens at all, they WILL stare and they MAY follow. On the flip side, however, they do not hesitate to take on "fatherly" or "police" roles when they catch them underage drinking, so you don't have to worry about your wanderlusting young emo downing too many Bud Lights.
  
  All in all, we must shine a light on the Incels of Ashbary for once. Though these men seem harmless, years of disenfranchisement to traditional male power roles and strong desires to assert dominance over a space prevail. Be warned--though the $8 cover plus drink purchase might seem like an out-of-this-world deal to witness some of the finest artists Willow Springs has to offer, danger and convoluted male identity complexes lurk in the walls of the storied Ashbary Coffee Shop.

• Nikki W.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 21 May 2026

  Giving 1 star is absolutely generous here so LISTEN UP!!!!! Save your money. The staff is super rude, the decor inside is tacky, the coffee overpriced, and the food is slop. The ONLY decent part of this place is their patio.. but even that's kinda ruined since other customers are allowed to chain smoke out there. Not friendly and have a "policy" on outside food/beverages regardless of your dietary/medical needs that they know NOTHING about. Both of the people who work there never washed their hands, used gloves or any kind of sanitary prep when touching food/money. All I can say is RUN!!!!!

• Sarah S.

  star star star star star 21 May 2026

  I have no idea how anyone can write a bad review about this place. If they do, they obviously have some crazy bizarre sense of self importance and no sense of humor whatsoever.
  
  The ash has always been a home away from home and I've never felt uncomfortable there. And the coffee? The best around.

• Chloe F.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 17 May 2026

  Yesterday I was looking to quickly grab a to-go coffee with a friend while waiting for an appointment at a business next door. My friend and I both had reusable water bottles in our hands, as most people carry around nowadays... The staff was rude, and made snide comments when asking us to put our water away, as "no outside drinks are allowed." I get the point, but why so rude? I should've turned around and walked out at that point because the coffee I got was not good, and completely overpriced. Don't waste your time or money.