Cj's Cafe

Great Cafe for Coffee, Panini's and Free Wifi in Pekin, IL!

I randomly found while doing business on the road in Pekin.  Great find if you're looking for a great cafe and panini.  

The ambiance and environment is unique and is enjoyable and has that "main street" in an old town charm that is always nice to hang out at and to get some work done on the laptop.

Grab a mocha latte, and chicken pesto panini, you won't be disappointed, especially when the bill comes, as everything is reasonably priced (or am I just used to being in an expensive city?)

The staff rocks!!!  The owner and staff are great people who seem to really love their job and it shows as I was compelled enough to write this for them.

The owner is great and full of energy.  I stayed here for almost 5 hours straight working at a table and got to meet the owner.  She is great, full of energy, as I learned when she began to close up shop and start prepping for her wedding she is catering tonight.   So if you like the food here, check out her catering, it smells amazing right now.

I love their panini sandwiches! Their # 1 selling sandwich is the Turkey Club Panini, followed by the Ham and Cheese (watch out for the peppers!) and Italian. If you're looking for something light, try the Chicken Broccoli Pita. All the other sandwiches are delicious too though I've never tried the BLT or the lunch wrap. Honestly you can't really go too wrong in the sandwich department. I don't particularly like CJ's grilled cheese, egg salad, or peanut butter and jelly as they are too bland.

Their soups are very good overall and usually if you ask for a sample they will give you a little bit to try (at least when I worked there they did!). Their #1 salad is the Parmesan Peppercorn Chicken Salad which is very filling and good. Their quiche is delicious as well=)

It's a nice little locally owned place. The coffee was locally roasted when I was working there so that was a bonus as well. Espresso drinks really depend on who is making it (if they are a good barista or not). However, the best selling drink for the summer was the frescante (which you really can't mess up) and is basically a Starbuck's frappacino.

The coffee's not great here but I love the atmosphere and small town charm of it all.

I'm from out of town and it's obvious and I've gotten a lot of funny looks from both customers and employees, but I kinda like that.

I like it a lot.