A last alliance of men and elves... Oh wait sorry I meant a last alliance of baked goods and coffee

Last weekend my chai latte path took me to the Alliance Bakery & Cafe lounge of 1736 West Division Street.

It is prized and has won many notable honors for the chocolate work, cakes, mousse, and their various other bakery sweets and treats.

This bakery is extremely small so upon entering I was almost pushed back out the door by customers waiting to buy their breakfast croissants and espressos. The wait was extremely long for my simple small chai latte and cinnamon bun (they had 4 people behind the counter, yet it didn't help the service any).

It was a little confusing at first but after leaving the bakery portion and a little investigating outside Jen and I found their lounge which is connected to the bakery but you must exit outside to go next door.

The room was not as cozy as earlier reviewed by a customer on yelp.com. Instead the room was chilly and lacked the ability to retain heat because the front door refused to budge all the way closed. Apart from one section of the front window with 2 comfy chairs and a couch the rest of the room had ill portioned wooden chairs and tables, with one corner booth as the exception.

The cinnamon bun was heaven. The bread was soft and light with just enough cinnamon. The icing, which I believe to be the most crucial part, was perfectly light and buttery with the slightest hint of vanilla. The chai latte as I had expected was extremely sweet but bland on the spicy side. It was made from loose tea which might have change the brewing (they might've rushed it) time which could've taken part in how bland it turned out.

After spending about 1.5 hours in the Alliance Lounge working I started to feel restless and cooped up. I thought about another drink but the thought of having to put my coat back on and bundle up to go back outside and into the bakery was disheartening (in warmer weather of course it wouldn't be a problem). I probably won't go back because it was a bit of a trek to this bakery and especially because it was 2 days after the Chicago Blizzard of 2011 which dumped about 20 inches of snow and the sidewalks looked like a scene from the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Alliance Bakery & Lounge

their chai latte (loose leaf)  5/10

lounge atmosphere 4/10 (bakery 5/10)

For studying 3/10

Cheers!