☕ By Cindy | Tuesday, August 4, 2026 | Chicago, Illinois
Let's be real, darlings — I've worked from a lot of Starbucks. The corner café in Shanghai with the perpetually broken Wi-Fi. The cramped two-seater in Milan. The one in Bangkok where the air conditioning was more of a suggestion than a reality.
But nothing — and I mean nothing — prepared me for the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago on Michigan Avenue.
This isn't a coffee shop. It's a five-story caffeinated cathedral. Thirty-five thousand square feet of copper, glass, and ambition sitting right on the Magnificent Mile. And today? It's my office.
You know that moment when you push open a door and your jaw just… drops? That was me at 9:30 AM, laptop bag slung across my shoulder, white blouse crisp, black pencil skirt hugging just right, glasses perched. Ready to work. Or at least look devastating while pretending to.
The first thing you see is the 56-foot copper cask — a towering, gleaming monster of a coffee silo that shoots straight up through all five floors. Curved wooden escalators spiral around it like something out of a futuristic Willy Wonka factory. The aroma hits you next: dark roasted beans, warm vanilla, fresh-baked cornetti from the Princi bakery on the ground floor.
I found my spot at a marble table on the mezzanine level, opened my laptop, and immediately took 47 photos before touching a single email. Priorities, right? 😘
Listen, I've sipped espresso in Italy and latte art in Kyoto. The Chicago Roastery plays in another league entirely.
Their Reserve menu rotates single-origin small-lot beans from places like Guatemala Huehuetenango and Ethiopia Yirgacheffe. I ordered the Barrel-Aged Cold Brew Nitro — coffee that's been aged in whiskey barrels from local Chicago distilleries. Served on tap. Creamy, smoky, just a whisper of oak. It's the kind of drink that makes you lean back in your chair, cross your legs, and feel like the most powerful woman in the room.
The baristas here? Artists. Watching them craft a Siphon Brew at the Experience Bar on the second floor is like watching a chemistry lab meets performance art. Halogen beams, glass globes, precision pouring. I may have flirted with the cute one. Strictly for research purposes.
By 4 PM, I relocated to the fourth-floor rooftop terrace — and this is where Chicago truly shows off.
The Magnificent Mile stretches below you in both directions. The historic Chicago Water Tower stands to your right. The John Hancock Center gleams to the north. And at golden hour, when the sun dips low and paints everything in amber and rose gold, the entire skyline becomes your backdrop.
I slipped off my blazer, pushed my glasses into my hair, ordered an iced Espresso Cloud — and just breathed. There's something about working from a rooftop at sunset that makes even spreadsheet drudgery feel glamorous. The wind teased my hair. A red 'L' train rumbled past below. Chicago looked like a movie set, and for a moment, I was the star.
✅ Wi-Fi: Strong, free, no time limits ✅ Seating: Hundreds of seats across four floors, from communal tables to cozy corners ✅ Coffee Quality: World-class. This is Starbucks at its absolute peak ✅ Aesthetic: Unbeatable. Every corner is Instagram gold ✅ Crowd: Busy but not chaotic. A mix of tourists, remote workers, and first dates
If you're a digital nomad, a coffee snob, or just someone who likes working somewhere that makes you feel important — the Chicago Roastery is a bucket-list office.
Until next Tuesday, my loves — may your Wi-Fi be strong and your coffee stronger.
💋 Cindy
