Yova Gourmet Coffee & Treats

I LOVE this place! Such a cute shop with a warm atmosphere. You can tell the people who own it care about their customers and the quality of their food/​drinks. The atmosphere and deco is so fun and works well with the rest of the surrounding area of boutiquey shops and restaurants.
I would definitely recommend you give Yova a try!

LOVE this place! I’m so glad they are in the neighborhood and I will def make an effort to stop by here (even though I’m hopelessly devoted to another chain coffee place…) But I totally want to support a local business that has great drinks, yummy pastries, and an awesome relaxed vibe to it.
Yova screams local, with the fresh, clean store and décor (complete with artwork from locals), the chalkboard with drinks and prices, the super nice and friendly staff, and the simple but delicious selections. Oh, and the mid-​morning ‘80s tunage doesn’t hurt either. «Every Rose Has Its Thorn» with my peppermint mocha? Yes, please.
Everyone in the area needs to go here! There are a zillion of the «other» places, but there is only one Yova! It’s great, so please support it! =)

Um, is the correct way to spell «yum» now «Yova?» Because hold up! This place hooked a sista up on a hot Sunday with a Thai Iced Tea with (get this) mango pearls and a steamed chicken bun on the side (just over $ 6 for both)!
I am crazy about Thai Iced Tea and have a weird impulse to order it every time I see it on a menu. That urge was in full swing when I walked into Yova today. I asked for it with little ice and pearls.
«Mango or strawberry?» asked the girl.
I get a choice? I expected sweet potato or tapioca (what IS tapioca anyway?) and was shocked silly that I could choose between mango and strawberry. I let the girl choose (she picked mango). And those pearls were YUM! They were like little bubbles of mango juice that delicately popped in my mouth. I kept saying «Mmmm!» as I walked and drank on my way home.
The Thai Iced Tea was not my favorite. It was creamy and sweet, but the typical burnt flavor was missing.
The chicken steamed bun was (I’m smiling now while typing this), well, it hit the spot! The little Asian in me was delighted to not have to go all the way to China Town to get a steamed bun. The only downside to the bun was that the bottom was kinda crispy hard — almost as if it’d been toasted instead of steamed. I munched through it anyway and had a smile on my face the whole time.
The café itself was really nice. It was spacious with comfortable, yet modern and clean furniture. I sat on a comfy couch while I waited for my food. While I sat, I glanced around at bright artwork, a flat-​screen TV, and listened to Kiss FM. A girl sat near the front window working on her laptop.
One major complaint about Yova (and the primary reason why this is not a 5-​star review) is that they aren’t open late enough. They close at 5:00 M-​F and at 3:00 on the weekends. This makes it impossible to walk over there after a day of work.

I love this little place. I live nearby and walk there a few times a week with my baby. One of the gentleman that works there always offers to get the door for me since I’m lugging a stroller around. That would never happen at dunkin donuts or Starbucks. Anyway, the coffee is awesome and the pastries are really good too. I had a smoothie once and it was really good. I couldn’t put my finger on what made it different from other smoothies but it was really tasty. I like giving my money to the little guy, and I love how convenient it is for me to walk to. I hope they stay in business.

Yova looked so cute from the outside, that I had to come in today and check them out. It was okay. I do have to say that the service was quick and I did enjoy my chai latte, but the pastries did not look inviting. They need to work on their display. They didn’t have much to choose from.
I will give them another try and come back to Unilocal,if my experience is positive.

This cute little cozy coffee shop is located just across the street from Avenue Ale House. The staff is very friendly and helpful, as they are able to make good menu recommendations. The strawberry smoothie has real strawberries and tastes kind of like strawberry ice cream… well that’s because it has frozen yogurt in it! YUM! If you’re in the mood for tea, I would say go with the mango passion iced tea. It’s amazing! Besides a variety of beverages to choose from, whether hot, cold, caffeinated, or sweet, they also have ice cream bars, frozen yogurt, and a large variety of pasteries. The seating area is cute. There’s many paintings along the walls (which you can actually buy). There’s also event and business-​special postings by the entrance. Something cute Yova Café does is they take pictures of their clientele and hang them up on the wall. If you’re in the mood to watch tv or go on your laptop while you enjoy your food and drink, you can. This is definately a place you’ll feel welcome and comfortable in.

Yay to Yova! Short walk from the Oak Park Blue Line. I love my starbucks, but also love supporting independent establishments such as this. They usually have a regular and a dark roast hot and ready. But beware, it is extremely hot! Just give it a minute to cool down, it will be worth the wait. The staff is very friendly and welcoming. They have put some final touches in since opening which include a couch along with a few tables and chairs. They also have a special for coffee with a pastry or bagel for $ 3. That will work just fine for me on just about any early morning. A welcome addition to OP Ave!

So not updating my rating JUST YET but they now brew Blue Max Coffee which means I’ll be trying them again very soon! They also added a couch and additional chairs but I wouldn’t say it has an appropriate amount of seating just yet. I’m giving them time, they are only about a year old and business may not be forcing them to step up their game yet. Since they are on my way to the el, it would be nice to see them flourish.
So on eupdate on food — Stopped in for lunch one day and tried the chili. A bit thinner than my preferred style but still tasty and very affordably priced! They have fresh soups every day too, which is a nice bonus to just coffee and pastries.
I think my only complaint is that the past few times I have gone in, the girls behind the counter were very, uh, spacy is probably the word. BOTH times I ordered a muffin, they offerred to heat it and made me a latte. When they handed me my latte and said thank you, I stood waiting for my muffin and they just began chatting and walked away. Eventually one of them noticed me and asked if I needed something else to which I replied «my muffin that you offerred to heat up» and they giggled and brought it to me. BOTH TIMES.
Hoping that doesn’t happen again, it’s enough to make me stop doing anything there beyond coffee and an ocasional soup. And the muffins are not particularly good to begin with. Very dense, like the kind you get in a grocery store. Maybe they should also get some Blue Max Coffee patries too :)

Cute little place! Very Clean and colorful. The chick behind the counter was super helpful and lovely. The plain frozen yogurt flavor is way better than Red Mango’s, just sayin.
Gluten free pastries, just because? THANK YOU. the gf cheesecake was lovely. I have my eye on those ginger cookies next. Obvs, somebody there actually lives GF and knows how to make GF taste GOOD.
A Phoenix song over the speakers & world news muted w/​closed caption. awesome.
We’ll be stopping by regularly now that the weather is breaking
and Yova really IS a combination of yogurt & java…
not Yogurt & Hova, which is what I told me son when he asked me. JayZ does NOT make yogurt… yet.

I like it. Coffee, yogurt and artwork for sale («Yova» is a conjunction of Yogurt and Java). I had a mixed berry smoothie which was great. Yova had a few tables and a comfy sofa near the front of the store. Magazines and coloring books are provided for customers to enjoy. They also had a flat screen TV which was a bit of a distraction. Similar to Buzz Café but brighter and cheerier! I’ll certainly be back.

has free WI-​FI but a lack of seating. I had hoped to sit down but 2 of the 4 tables were occupied and the other two tables were taken up by papers, boxes, and jackets but no people sitting there (you know who you are)
your mileage may vary

A whole lot of cuteness going on here.
Yova is your classic coffee shop around the corner, only a bit larger, brighter and more refined. Besides getting your caffeine on (I recommend the pumpkin spice latte — deliciousness in a mug), you can entertain your sweet palate with a bevy of baked goods including scones and muffins (some organic and gluten-​free). They even make fresh fruit smoothies on the premises, and the classic tart soft serve yogurt brings in all the kiddies after school gets out (warning: it does get a bid loud in here). Free wi-​fi with purchase… and no, they don’t mind if you’d like to linger.
The staff is all smiles and is able to make some stellar recommendations. Be sure to check out this new business open for about six weeks now!

Yova makes a welcome little addition to the neighborhood: A cute place with yummy yogurt and smoothies. I don’t know that they have a full kitchen, but they seem to be adding new food items gradually, so they do have a growing menu of more substantial fare, in addition to treats.
I’ve been in there a few times now and have found it to be a nice setting in which to hang out and do some writing. I agree with an earlier reviewer in wishing that more places could be TV-​free, but I don’t think the TV is on all the time – or if it is, it’s muted — they usually have music playing at a nice background-​volume level. The one time the sound was on (albeit at a low level) and nobody was watching it, I asked if they would mind muting it, and they were very friendly and accommodating.
The biggest drawback to this place is that they could really use more seating.* Right now they have three real tables, eight wood chairs and a a fair amount of empty floor space. On my first visit, the place was nearly empty for much of the morning, but eventually some other customers trickled in. Then I watched two women walk in, hover on the threshold for awhile, and then leave because no tables were free– and there were only about four other customers in there at the time.
I live nearby and really really want to see this place make a go of it, and have been happy to see their menu expanding in what I think is an effort to keep increasing their business. I do think a couple of basic changes could add to their appeal: more varieties of coffee, definitely, including something stronger/​darker (the coffee they serve now is fine for me personally, but I’m somewhat of a coffee wimp, and I have pickier friends who’ve been disappointed by the coffee). Another would be the addition of a couple of electrical outlets for people who’d like to plug in — the only one I’ve found so far is near the front window, and the small table there (shorter than the other 3 tables, more a coffee-​table kind of height) is too low to work on. And the wood chairs, while comfortable enough when sitting upright at the main tables, felt much too hard and uninviting the one time I tried to settle in near the front window with my laptop on my knees.
I also have a feeling their sales would increase if they promoted their non-​treat menu offerings more, and if they added table service. Right now, the people at the counter are very low-​key and hands-​off. It might be a deliberate decision to respect the customers’ privacy, but I think a little bit of busing and «can I get you anything else» might help things pick up.
*I’ve heard through the grapevine that Oak Park has some ordinance where places with one bathroom are limited to a max of 8 seats, which seems fairly ridiculous. Another act of self-​sabotage by our Village… why they want to make things SO difficult for entrepreneurs around here, I’ll never understand. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one way or another, Yova will bring in some more seating — they definitely have room for a few more tables and maybe, by the window, a couple of big comfy chairs or a sofa.

Yova has the potential to be a wonderful neighborhood hangout. Offering coffee, delicious frozen yogurt, and a selection of organic pastries and sodas (who knew sodas could be organic?), this is a great addition to our funky little south Oak Park business district.
I stopped in this afternoon to check the place out, and they gave me a generous sample of their dark chocolate frozen yogurt. Perhaps I loved it because it was a toasty late-​August day, but it really was almost as satisfying as ice cream.
The only downside was the flat screen TV. Why does every eatery need a freaking TV set these days? Probably because if there isn’t a big screen to immerse yourself in, you’ll be mesmerized by your little screen. A rant for another day.