Dark Matter Mothership Is a Grab and Go Situation. A Very Good One.

Dark Matter is Allen's favorite roaster in the city. I find them a little dark for my personal taste, which tells you something about both of us and nothing bad about Dark Matter. They are a local roasting collective with serious craft behind the beans and a visual identity that runs somewhere between psychedelic, punk, and deeply, unapologetically weird. Every location shares the same DNA: highly saturated spray-painted mural walls, neon signs, funky artwork that feels like it was designed by someone who had a very specific vision and absolutely no interest in your opinion about it.

The coffee is consistently above average across every location we've visited, which is not a small thing for a multi-location operation. The baristas are trained well and it shows. I always get the cappuccino. Allen always gets the cafe miel, a honey latte where the honey is sourced directly from one of Dark Matter's coffee-producing partners in Guatemala. The bees there have access to flowering hibiscus, eucalyptus, passion fruit, and coffee plants, and it comes through in the honey in a way that makes the drink genuinely worth ordering.

The food program is consistent across locations as well. Donuts come from Do-Rite, one of the better raised donut programs in the city. The chocolate is my order. The Homer, a pink frosted donut with sprinkles, exists and is correct in every way that matters. Cafe Tola empanadas and breakfast tacos round out the savory side. Croissants and a few other pastries fill the case.

The Mothership on Western Avenue in Humboldt Park is the original, and the theme makes complete sense for a roaster this committed to its own universe. Little green men, UFOs, the full alien motif rendered in the same saturated spray paint that runs through every Dark Matter location. This one is standing only. No seats, no lingering. It is a grab and go operation and a very good one if you're moving along Western and need something excellent in your hand.