Nomad Should Be a Heavy Hitter. The Coffee Holds It Back.
River North's most thoughtfully built coffee shop is let down by the one thing it can't afford to get wrong
I have gone back and forth on how to rate Nomad more than almost any place I've written about. Let me show my work.
Lara Moynihan and creative director Erika Nolan built this place around a specific ethos: supporting global, ethical, small-batch artisanship and creating opportunities and a safe space for women. Erika's connection to women artisans in Oaxaca is visible in every single detail of the space, and I mean that literally. The curation is not decorative. It is the point.
Outside, the building sits on a lush side street in River North that feels quiet and serene despite the neighborhood around it. A mural of a woman covers the exterior in warm colors that announce the place before you walk in. Inside, the coffee bar is gorgeous. There's a side room with a large communal table and booths that work well if you want to settle in and actually get something done. The fairly traded goods from the artisans they support take up a surprisingly generous amount of floor space, and browsing them is worth your time. Metric coffee on the espresso bar. Ceremonial-grade matcha and Spirit Tea teas. The sourcing choices alone should produce something special.
Here is where I have to be honest. The execution of the coffee does not have the same care as everything surrounding it. The quality was uneven from barista to barista across multiple visits, and the drinks were consistently over-temperature in a way that I find genuinely troubling. Steaming milk too hot ruins the milk, which ruins the espresso, which ruins the drink — and it puts your barista at risk handling a metal tin of scalding liquid with bare hands. It is a technical failure that undercuts an otherwise immaculate operation.
The pastries are fine. Nothing that sticks out.
I keep going back anyway. The space earns it, the mission earns it, and they've recently added soft serve ice cream for the summer, which is very good and gives you another reason to visit. I just wish the coffee matched the everything else so I could rate this without reservations.
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