That's definitely been the vibe that I've seen with my buddies as well. Most don't seem to care all that much about origin/specialty but rather would just get a seasonal milk drink of the day.

I tend to be more of a pourover guy at shops, since I can pull my own specialty SO shots quicker and easier than ordering. Rare to find a good shop offering one though - anecdotally I've only gotten them at high end restaurants (Oriole) or at Blue Bottle / SB Reserve Roastery.

Feels weird coming from SoCal where every street corner seemed to have a specialty coffee roaster with their own SO's.

@fjen, You're near the Millenium Park Intelligentsia as well, which does eyewateringly-expensive pourovers.
Downtown is still suffering from people like me commuting 2 or 3 days a week rather than 5.

Oh you're right, I totally forgot about that one... I saw a PO brewed on a Melita Wave for double digits one time and then never went back

Fjen, Thanks for the feedback. Downtown could be a future location. Right now, I've narrowed down my search to Roscoe Village and North Center.

Jim, there is actually a retail space that I assume was a coffee shop right beside the Damen Brown Line, but no contact info. However, I actually prefer a slower paced location so we can focus more on the coffee making aspect of service rather than speed. Commuters tend to be in a hurry and we don't want anyone to miss their ride.

Fjen

A couple of friends moved to Metric and they are great at dialing, so I'd say worth a try PO or shots. I've had great single origin shots at Dayglow and 4LW, great batch brewed coffee at a few places like the ones mentioned above and at Beans and Bagels in Lincoln Square.