Art. Community. Coffee. And a window.

Artist Kate Vrijmoet started Necessary and Sufficient in 2019 as a neighborhood-building project, not a coffee business. The Logan Square original is attached directly to her art studio and operates as a walk-up window with outdoor seating and no interior to speak of. That is not a limitation. It is the concept.

This is a neighborhood ritual, not a destination café. You walk up, you order, you sit outside if the weather cooperates, and you watch Logan Square do its thing. The window makes the most of what it is. There is a little vibe to it. The patio is a good place to be on a good Chicago day.

The coffee is from Olympia Coffee Roasting Company, with occasional guest roasters rotating through. What comes out of the window varies more than it should. The baristas are friendly but can be inconsistent. Sometimes a touch over-extracted, sometimes a bit too hot. A real shame and is a real limitation for a shop where the coffee is most of the offer. The Smoking Gun, a four-ounce shaken espresso with syrup and cold oat foam, is the recurring signature. Not my drink by instinct but not bad. Nothing here has been mind-blowing. Serviceable is the honest word.

The pastries travel over from the Printers Row location and come from outside partners including Beacon Doughnuts, Tropicakes, and Michele Millan. The selection is smaller and less reliable than what you will find at the full shop. The doughnuts are above average when they have them. The Boston cream is the one to get.

Necessary and Sufficient operates as a zero-waste business and pays a living wage making for a very friendly atmosphere. Both things matter and are worth knowing before you go.