Anticonquista Café (Pilsen)

Chicago’s Anticonquista Cafe Is Decolonizing Pilsen’s Morning Lattes Along 18th Street | Eater Chicago

"A mural of the resplendent quetzal perched atop a machete and walls hung with burlap sacks from the owners' Guatemalan family farm set a politically conscious tone in this 1,000-square-foot Pilsen cafe on 18th Street, where buttons and artwork spotlight U.S. intervention in Latin America and honor farmworkers. The menu fuses Central American flavors with American café staples—Guatemalan conchas filled with sweet black bean paste or guava and cheese, cafe de olla lightly scented with farm‑sourced cardamom, bagels topped with curtido, and a vegan ceviche of oyster mushrooms, hearts of palm, and güisquil—plus pastries from local vendors and a coffee subscription that lets customers earmark portions of a specific harvest. Founded by a Guatemalan farmer-turned-roaster who scaled production from an 800‑gram to a 12‑kilo roaster, the business emphasizes direct trade and worker welfare: it pays for pickers' food and lodging on family farms, pays staff well above Chicago minimums (cashiers $18.50/hr; lead baristas $21.50/hr) with plans for benefits and farm-visit programs, and positions itself as a sanctuary and community hub for Chicago’s Central American diaspora while modeling a "fourth wave" approach that reconnects consumers to the labor and land behind their coffee." - Serena Maria Daniels