Isla de Cafe

As we drove west on North Avenue by Humboldt Park we saw this beautiful shinny airstream trailer and we kept going on to our lunch restaurant.  On the trip back east I couldn't resist and I said, "Let's check it out!'

I could see a bunch of men hanging out and drinking coffee in the park, near Isla de Cafe.  This kind of reminded me of being in Little Havana in Miami.  There was plenty of parking and I pulled in front of this cool diesel powered generator...close your eyes and think MASH (the TV show)...okay open your eyes and just go look at my photos because I had to take a picture of it.

This was the coolest food truck I have ever seen in Chicago...I immediately checked Yelp and was sad to only see two reviews for this cool location.  Yelpers are not flocking to these hidden food trucks in the park.

The menu looked great...in fact sandwiches were only $5 but because we had already eaten lunch...I was going to have to save food for another day.  What I did need was a pick me up and guess what?  They have Cafe con Leche here.  Now I know why all of these guys in the park were hanging out.  I wanna hang out here too...I wonder if they will let me join there group?

A large cafe con leche was only $3.50 which is not bad because it was made fresh in front of us by Louis, who is the owner.  Louis was a great guy and it was fun to talk food with him.  He also told me that he was going to be adding free wifi too.  How cool is that?  Hanging in the park, surfing the web and enjoying some fresh coffee.  Louis also has a nice area set up with chairs and tables outside.

I also learned from Louis that food trucks that are inside of parks can cook there own food.  That is a plus for me because I know that everything is fresh.  Food trucks on the streets of Chicago are not allowed to cook (stupid law) and can only have there food in warmers...which always does not translate into the freshest food.  I was so excited to see all of these food trucks in Humboldt Park and I can not wait to try every single one of them.

The airstream was very unique and was also very clean on the inside.  The Cafe con leche was delicious and provided the right pick me up that I needed for the conference call that I was about to be sitting on for the next hour of my life.  I can hardly wait to come back and have some of the food.

I also had to laugh because cars can pull up next to the airstream and the one window acts like a drive-thru and yes I did capture a photo of this too!!!

On a weird side note...As we were drinking our Cafe con Leche, we saw a squirrel with a burger king bag in his mouth try to jump over a puddle of water to the curb and he landed right in the middle of the water.  Yes we laughed and wished we were shooting video because I have never seen a squirrel misjudge a jump...just a note for you other squire ls stop eating that fast food it is not good for you!!!

I was drawn in by the beauty of the airstream trailer and so happy I was because I found Chi town's perfect coffee con leche!  
The weather man said it was suppose to be in the mid 70's today but he LIED!  So, here I am freezing, looking for a cup of joe to warm up and I see this food truck offers coffee con leche.  I order the large and it is a monster!!  Just the right amount of creamy frothy goodness at the top and I am in heaven.  Service was fast and friendly and no trouble at all with parking.
Thanks for the warm up and for being so rad Isla de Cafe!!! (I can honestly say I haven't used the word rad in a few decades but this place deserves it :))

This place is special. Mostly they serve coffee, coffee drinks, and other drinks (batidos and liquados), although there are pastries and a few sandwiches. The sandwiches are excellent I am told, but none of them are vegetarian so I haven't tried them myself.

Make it a point to check it out. Whatever coffee you are swearing by (Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, some fair trade house brand somewhere, etc.) will become a very distant second to this stuff - especially if you go for one of the fancier, tricked out options. The Rice and Beans Frappe transcends words (iced drink best enjoyed on a warm day - hurry!!!)

Isla de Cafe is in Humboldt Park (in the actual park), across North Avenue from the Humboldt Park Branch of the Chicago Public Library. Each one is an excellent reason to walk over to the other.