Hero Coffee Bar (Lasalle) is a cafe located in the central business district neighborhood of Chicago–The Loop. The cafe is a hidden gem, catering to people in the building and those “in the know.” Read on to learn everything you need to know about Hero Coffee Bar (Lasalle).
Review Summary
- 12oz Coffee $2.50; 12oz Latte $4.00 (pre-tax)
- Great cafe for working
- Plenty of seating
- Bagels ($2 to $7), “toasts,” and sandwiches ($8) available
- Hours are very limited
Location and Hours
Hero Coffee Bar (Lasalle St.) is located at 222 N Lasalle St / 221 N Wells St and is open Monday through Thursday, 8 AM to 1 PM. It is closed Saturday and Sunday (like much of The Loop), but also on Fridays which is less common. The location is inside the office building at Wacker between Lasalle and Wells.
The limited hours are the biggest downside to this cafe. Even by Loop standards, a 1 PM close is pretty early.
Menu and Prices
On the beverage front, Hero Coffee Bar offers range of coffee and tea options. Beverages are generally available in 12oz or 16oz, with coffee available in 8oz as well.
A small selection of syrups are available. We visited in October and were happy to find four seasonal beverages also available: Cinnamon Roll Latte, Pumpkin Spice Chai, Caramel Apple Latte, and Pumpkin Cold Brew.
Too many coffee shops eschew seasonal beverages as gimmicky. The fact is if you can sell a handful of syrup lattes anyways you might as well include some seasonal flavors to let people mix things up.
We had a Pumpkin Cold Brew and a Caramel Apple Latte. The cold brew was good but the Caramel Apple Latte was perhaps a bit too sweet (which is maybe expected, fair enough).
At the 12oz size, some pre-tax prices are:
- Coffee – $2.50
- Latte – $4.00
- Matcha Latte – $5.00
- Cold Brew – $3.75
- Tea (any size) – $3
The cafe offers bagels ranging from $2 to $6.75 (a build your own could be more expensive, I guess). Two “toasts” are available, but we didn’t see or try these. Two sandwiches are also available for $7 and $8.50.
Whole bean coffee is also available, as are tumblers. $1 from all whole bean and retail purchases goes to support a local charity.
Cafe, Wifi, and Power
This is definitely a “hidden gem.” The cafe is located inside a building at 221 N Wells / 222 N Lasalle.
The lobby of the building is open to the public (the elevators are keycard restricted), so feel free to walk right in and around to Hero Coffee Bar. It isn’t super prominent, but it wouldn’t be easy to miss it in one lap around the lobby.
There is a group table (eight seats) and four two-seat tables. Additionally, there are eight high-top seats along the wall and two high-top seats at the coffee bar for a total of 26 seats.
The cafe has more outlets than people. The entire high top bar and two small tables have access to a power strip that runs along the entire wall (pictured above). Notably the angle of the outlets may cause issues for bulkier chargers.
Wifi is password protected, but the password is prominently on display. The speed clocked in at only 30 Mbps. This is good for most tasks, and just above the speed recommended to stream Netflix 4K. The wifi did drop on us once.
Cafe Experience
Being located inside an office building, it sees virtually no foot traffic. In the afternoon we spent there, the average occupancy was about six people.
There is some light music, but otherwise it’s pretty comfortable for working without headphones.
I’m not sure how to describe the aesthetic. You can see the above picture…it’s semi-steampunk? Steampunk chic? Industrial trailer steampunk? There’s certainly an element of old Chicago in here with the granite countertop, dark wood, and sleek black chairs.
Like most Loop cafes, there’s an understanding that this is a working cafe, as evidenced by the ridiculous number of outlets.
About Hero Coffee
The Hero Coffee chain started on South Dearborn in 2014 and now has five cafes in Chicago. They sell whole bean coffee, but I haven’t been able to find information on their roastery. The whole bean prices start at $17 / 12 oz ($23 / lb).