Maison Marcel

slow mornings on broadway hit differently when you've got nowhere to be until noon. maison marcel sits at 3114 n broadway in lakeview, a stretch of the neighborhood that moves at its own pace on weekends, less frantic than wicker park, more lived-in than the loop. the reviews suggest a place that people return to, not out of habit exactly, but because it holds up. you get the sense that the coffee is taken seriously without the whole thing being made into a performance about it. solo visits work well here, laptop or no laptop. so do the unhurried kind where you linger longer than planned. the cortado is a reasonable place to start a saturday.