Great brunch spot for indian fusion. Masala chai was excellent
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Abby Poeske
Incredible pastries and beautiful space!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Neluka Wije
Great food, awesome pastries, and high quality drinks. They make a great real matcha! Add cream top to your drink it’s delicious!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Maliha Hashmi
One thing I like more than great matcha is great customer service. I walked 30 min to get to this coffee shop and was SO excited to try their matcha and started my conversation saying exactly that. The girl at the counter told me they have matcha but they can’t give it to me because they’re saving it for tomorrow? That has to be the most laughably pathetic excuse. So many people rave about this place and while other coffee shops in Chicago might not have great matcha, they atleast care about their customers.
Service: 1
Jasmine Sejnoha
Incredible caramel latte, breakfast sandwich, and butter chicken croissant!
Taizoon Baxamusa
Indian breakfast cafe with popular Indian themed lattes and savory pastries. Very crowded & popular with many of their selections sold out well before closing. Loop location close to Union Station
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Evan Fazio
This is New York quality—pastries are perfectly flaky, sweet, and savory. Coffees are perfect. Ambiance is great. Seating comfy!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Valerie Renk
Cute atmosphere and excellent food. An order at the counter then bring to your table situation. As one who doesn't know a lot about Indian food I would have liked a menu with item descriptions...but maybe the surprise is part of the fun.....
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Butter Chicken Croissant
James Colquitt, PhD
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Swadesi Cafe - Fresh Vibe & Great Bites on Jefferson
Stopped by Swadesi Cafe on Jefferson today and was immediately impressed! The space feels incredibly fresh, open, and has a wonderful, welcoming feel.
For breakfast, the food selection was varied and tempting, but I went with a classic: the Bacon Egg and Cheese biscuit. It was excellent—a perfect, satisfying start to the day. I paired it with a cup of their coffee.
The quality of the food was definitely there. I did find the pricing a little higher than expected, with a basic 12 oz drip coffee at $4 and the BEC biscuit at $8.
Overall, I think Swadesi is going to be a popular spot. With the new medical school (IllinoisCOM) and the move of The Chicago School arriving just a block south in Summer 2026, this location is perfect. While the price point might make it an occasional treat rather than an everyday stop for a quick cup and snack, it's a fantastic cafe and a great addition to the neighborhood. I'll certainly be back!
Soo good!! The salted jaggery caramel latte was amazing! Butter chicken croissant is so so yummy
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sameet Sapra
Really nice cafe, plenty of seats and areas to sit.
Nice lattes, would love to come back to try the food.
isabel romero-rodriguez
the girls here are super unfriendly
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Zachary Zhu
Absolutely absolutely divine! This might be my favorite place I’ve tried to date in Chicago - the drinks and food both hit the spot. We ordered the chili cheese sandwich, which was the perfect balance of cheesy, crunchy, and infused with Indian flavors. I feel like this is Indian brunch done right, as someone who isn’t South Asian. I loved how many different beverages there were, all of which were a nice homage to Indian cuisine. To nobody’s surprise, it was absolutely packed on Saturday so be prepared to fight for a seat!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
siya h
As a South Asian, my people will do it every time 😩. I had the chicken tikka toastie, so so good perfect amount of crispiness and ratio of chicken to bread was perfect. I also had the Salted Jaggery Caramel Latte and Gulab Jamub Croissant. The latte was so good,I was expecting it to be more sweet than it was, but it wasn’t too sweet, and you can definitely taste a little more than a hint of Jaggery which was not to subtle and not too overpowering! And omg the croissant, it was literally magnificent, a little too sweet for me personally but the filling was really good and had pieces of gulab jamun. Overall the atmosphere was nice, aesthetic, service was good, and you can tell they put thought into the creations!
Great brunch spot for indian fusion. Masala chai was excellent
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Incredible pastries and beautiful space!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great food, awesome pastries, and high quality drinks. They make a great real matcha! Add cream top to your drink it’s delicious!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
One thing I like more than great matcha is great customer service. I walked 30 min to get to this coffee shop and was SO excited to try their matcha and started my conversation saying exactly that. The girl at the counter told me they have matcha but they can’t give it to me because they’re saving it for tomorrow? That has to be the most laughably pathetic excuse. So many people rave about this place and while other coffee shops in Chicago might not have great matcha, they atleast care about their customers.
Service: 1
Incredible caramel latte, breakfast sandwich, and butter chicken croissant!
Indian breakfast cafe with popular Indian themed lattes and savory pastries. Very crowded & popular with many of their selections sold out well before closing. Loop location close to Union Station
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
This is New York quality—pastries are perfectly flaky, sweet, and savory. Coffees are perfect. Ambiance is great. Seating comfy!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cute atmosphere and excellent food. An order at the counter then bring to your table situation. As one who doesn't know a lot about Indian food I would have liked a menu with item descriptions...but maybe the surprise is part of the fun.....
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Butter Chicken Croissant
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Swadesi Cafe - Fresh Vibe & Great Bites on Jefferson
Stopped by Swadesi Cafe on Jefferson today and was immediately impressed! The space feels incredibly fresh, open, and has a wonderful, welcoming feel.
For breakfast, the food selection was varied and tempting, but I went with a classic: the Bacon Egg and Cheese biscuit. It was excellent—a perfect, satisfying start to the day. I paired it with a cup of their coffee.
The quality of the food was definitely there. I did find the pricing a little higher than expected, with a basic 12 oz drip coffee at $4 and the BEC biscuit at $8.
Overall, I think Swadesi is going to be a popular spot. With the new medical school (IllinoisCOM) and the move of The Chicago School arriving just a block south in Summer 2026, this location is perfect. While the price point might make it an occasional treat rather than an everyday stop for a quick cup and snack, it's a fantastic cafe and a great addition to the neighborhood. I'll certainly be back!
#SwadesiCafe #ChicagoFood #WestLoopGate #BreakfastChicago #CoffeeShop #ChicagoCafe
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Tried the Chicken Tikka Toastie, Butter Chicken croissant, and the Malai Custard croissant. Everything was great! Would definitely come back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Soo good!! The salted jaggery caramel latte was amazing! Butter chicken croissant is so so yummy
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Really nice cafe, plenty of seats and areas to sit.
Nice lattes, would love to come back to try the food.
the girls here are super unfriendly
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Absolutely absolutely divine! This might be my favorite place I’ve tried to date in Chicago - the drinks and food both hit the spot. We ordered the chili cheese sandwich, which was the perfect balance of cheesy, crunchy, and infused with Indian flavors. I feel like this is Indian brunch done right, as someone who isn’t South Asian. I loved how many different beverages there were, all of which were a nice homage to Indian cuisine. To nobody’s surprise, it was absolutely packed on Saturday so be prepared to fight for a seat!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
As a South Asian, my people will do it every time 😩. I had the chicken tikka toastie, so so good perfect amount of crispiness and ratio of chicken to bread was perfect. I also had the Salted Jaggery Caramel Latte and Gulab Jamub Croissant. The latte was so good,I was expecting it to be more sweet than it was, but it wasn’t too sweet, and you can definitely taste a little more than a hint of Jaggery which was not to subtle and not too overpowering! And omg the croissant, it was literally magnificent, a little too sweet for me personally but the filling was really good and had pieces of gulab jamun. Overall the atmosphere was nice, aesthetic, service was good, and you can tell they put thought into the creations!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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