Washburne Café

Always cool to see people learning the industry and getting hands-​on experience. I get that. Food was alright — pretty interesting salad combinations, standard sandwiches, and some alright desserts. Service is a little slow, but complaining about that is like going to a barber school for a haircut and complaining that your layers aren’t GQ-​worthy. Overall, safe, cheaper than the surrounding food options, and for a good cause.

I came here for lunch on a weekday afternoon. I had a steak wrap and clam chowder. Both were completely under-​seasoned. My wrap was cold. The chowder is not a cream based chowder – it is more of a broth. It is moderately priced as far as Loop lunches go. I like the mission behind the restaurant. The offerings were pretty limited, but seemed to be mostly healthy. I was hoping the food would be better.

When I worked during the week, I would stop by the café every morning for breakfast! Reasonable pricing for fresh products. Courteous staff/​students.

Hmmm, a gut bomb at McDonald’s or a lunch I’ll feel good about here? It’s a no-​brainer. So I was walking by the building and actually just ducked in to get out of the cold and make a quick call, and I looked over and saw the menu board. Turkey Club with chips for $ 6? Sure, I“ll give it a try. It could have used a little more bacon, and the tomatoes were not great, but for the middle winter what do you expect? For $ 6 I was very happy. I also got a lemon cranberry muffin. It was very moist, but that’s probably because it was little underdone (there was a little uncooked batter in the middle). The flavor was excellent, right amount of cranberries, nice crumble on top. Good food for the buck plus helping students = me coming back.

The café is run by City Colleges of Chicago chefs and students. There are both a limited menu and seating.
I had the steak wrap and clam chowder. I would have preferred the chowder to be thicker, but the taste was good. The steak wrap was as healthy as eating red meat can be as it was topped with fresh roasted peppers, mushrooms, and lettuce. The half sandwich and soup combo was a good value at $ 5+tax (includes fruit or chips).
Overall, notwithstanding the lack of atmosphere, it is at least a better buy for $ 5 than Dunkin Donuts, Giordanos (you can’t get food there for $ 5 can you?), and McDonalds – all of which you see from the window of Washburne Café.

Washburne Café is a training café supporting and run by students studying the culinary arts at the City Colleges of Chicago. Café purchases go towards funding scholarships to students, so cue the warm fuzzies.
First off, everything here is really affordable– they serve coffee and breakfast items until 10:30am, and lunch until 3:30pm. There are a few café tables inside the lobby, and it provides a good spot for people watching.
I visited for lunch, and while I’m super pumped to support their mission and mostly pleased, a few things were lacking, and could use improvement. I got the half sandwich/​small salad combo, and it was really cheap! The Presidents’ Salad with beets, arugula, radishes, was amazing. The 4.0 Spinach Salad is next on my list! For my sandwich, I ordered:
Truman Tuscan Turkey– turkey, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, on multi-​grain bread.
I ordered mine without mushrooms, and even heard the cashier girl call this out to my sandwich maker. What did I bite into? A huge honking juicy mushroom! I’m not allergic, but getting orders right is part of the training. A little extra attention to detail is needed here.
Donate & Educate! Donate $ 3 or more and receive a tasting menu, of things the students are currently learning. I donated, and was hoping for the cucumber ginger soup that was advertised as part of this menu, but I got cold apple cider instead. I also was given a fig dessert that was inedible, but also a coconut macaroon that was delightful!
Hit or miss, I’m still happy to support their mission, and look forward to many return visits to Washburne Café.

I recently ate lunch at the Washburne Café with my buddy. This café has a noble function, as it helps to support the City Colleges of Chicago Foundation (CCC headquarters are located in this building), which in turn supports the programs of Washburne Culinary Institute at Kennedy-​King College. Many of the menu items are named after some of the City Colleges, such as my Truman Tuscan Turkey sandwich. They tout the healthy aspects of their food, and my sandwich ingredients seemed healthy enough (smoked turkey breast, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, multi-​grain bread) though all in all it was just a sandwich. My bud ordered the District Club with chicken breast and turkey bacon, and I have a feeling his sandwich was the better choice. Each sandwich order comes with a bag of chips, which is not the healthiest item I suppose. There are a couple of stools inside the café, but the main dining area is provided by a couple of tables in the building lobby which allows for decent people watching of folks coming in and out of the building. Washburne Café is a nice concept, but with so many good and interesting lunch outlets to choose from in the Loop, I am not in a hurry to return here.

Thoroughly unimpressed. The menu was very, very limited. I ordered some sort of chicken club which consisted of a tasteless chicken breast, lettuce, bacon, and mayo between wheat bread. If I had packed myself a sandwich this morning to bring for lunch, it would have been much better (and heathier). In fact, although reviews talk about how healthy this place is, I don’t see it. A bacon and chicken sandwich with mayo? A shirt steak wrap? The healthy item on the menu appeared to be roasted veggie sandwich or wrap, which I didn’t try because it sounded less interesting than the boring sandwich I ordered.
I did get mushroom soup. There were a ton of well-​prepared mushrooms floating in it, but the broth was very, very bland — basically lightly flavored water.
As for ambiance, it was non-​existent. There are four or five tables in the lobby of the building, outside of the café.
This place has no identity, a limited menu (which wasn’t actually inexpensive), no ambiance, and plain food.

They keep it simple while providing great alternatives to the calorie heavy restaurants around the block.
My favorite is the Wright Wrap. It’s a skirt steak wrap with mushrooms, red peppers, lettuce and cheese. The tomatillo sauce that they give you on the side is amazing too.
As for the soups the chicken lemtil soup os my favorite.
The place is kind of pricey but that’s the price to pay for eating a healthier menu without sacrificing flavor.

Holy macaroon. Didn’t try the food but had a coffee and macaroon. 2 bucks. Great price. Purchases help put kids through college. Love it.

Cool Atmosphere! Great Prices! Nice Staff! Got a «plugger» /​hand-​out on the corner so I decided to give them a try.
I was not disappointed.
Tried the «Tasting Menu» Chilled Cucumber Soup, Veggie Spring Roll & a Coconut Macaroon all for a Minimum «donation“of 3 bucks.(You can always give more to support the Culinary School). All three were very tasty!
My Co-​worker got the Almond Croissant and shared with me. Oh so divine!
I will definitely be back for breakfast and or lunch soon.