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If you live in Crystal Lake, you probably know Conscious Cup Roasters for their coffee.
It’s outstanding, some of the best around and a local company that’s doing big things.
What you might not know, however, is they’ve also got some pretty good food at the cafe in their location off Route 14 in Crystal Lake.
For starters, there are a ton of coffee and espresso and everything else options. It can be overwhelming especially if you don’t know what you want or what you like.
There’s everything from Sweet Bee Honey and Peanut Butter Cup lattes to macchiatto, cortado, loose-leaf teas and regular coffee (which is way better than what it sounds).
Caffeine in a lot of forms that taste great.
On this lunch-time trip, I ordered a caramel vanilla latte and my fellow diner ordered cafe au lait, which is the regular coffee with steamed milk. Both were filled to the brim and had a happy design in the milk. Perfection.
We also ordered sandwiches.
There are 11 options on the panini all-day menu. They come on English muffins but also can be made on gluten-free bread for $1 more.
My fellow diner went for the green option and ordered the Vegi’Cado ($5.95), which includes avocado, pesto, cucumber, spinach and tomato. It’s the only one of the sandwich options that doesn’t include egg, in fact. But that didn’t change how much it was enjoyed.
There’s also an Avo Ba’Cato ($5.95), which sounds similar but has avocado, bacon, tomato and an egg.
As for myself, I had gone for the Amarillo Chipotle on a previous stop. That one has bacon, chipotle, pepper jack cheese and two eggs.
So this time I wanted to upgrade the heat.
I went for the Angry Bird ($6.95), which has turkey, jalapeño, chipotle, pepper jack cheese and an egg. The spice was high but I was up for it and happy with the result. That turkey was definitely a little bit angry.
The best part of Conscious Cup is the soothing vibe. There’s several different seating options, from small tables to couches to armed chairs.
You can meet up for work, have a relaxed lunch or just get some caffeine and some work done while you’re there.
It’s just a relaxed place to hang out and reset for the second half of the day.
This won’t be the last time I feel like I need that.
• The Mystery Diner is an employee at the Northwest Herald. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a restaurant and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a review.
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IF YOU GO
WHAT: Conscious Cup Coffee Roasters
WHERE: 5005 Northwest Highway, Crystal Lake
WHEN: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
INFORMATION: Call 815-356-0115 or consciouscup.com