Arbor Vitae Java & Juice - Naperville, Illinois

Karen R.

A delightful little place hidden away in the NIU Naperville Building. I had lentil soup yesterday. It was clearly made in house and honestly the best soup I have ever had. I will be making a trip back there to try some other things soon. They have a great menu full of salads, sandwiches, soups, hot dishes, baked goods, and coffee. Definitely a place to visit.

Rhoda E.

The owner was very hospitable and offered us hummus while we waited for our food. So accommodating, and the food and coffee were delicious.The food is DELICIOUS and very artistic. They have catering and all the coffee is 100% freshly ground when they make your cup of coffee. everything is made fresh and if it’s not to your liking they will remake it or give you something else, free of charge of course.

M W.

This little gem has the best home made soup, sandwiches, appetizers, and dessert in a cozy, friendly, and welcoming environment created by this establishment owner/chef and his wife.

The challenge I have every single time at Arbor Vitae is which soup to choose from the incredibly tasty variety that the chef makes daily. While the chef will offer you to sample all of them to choose, this unfortunately would not help because you would want to have them ALL !!

I actually end up having a bowl (never settle for a cup) of two soups added together in the chef's creative way to minimize the regret of missing out on some. Whether it is the hearty Lentil, the ever-tasty cream of chicken, or the melt-in-your-mouth beef with vegetable, or any of his other creations that he always pleasantly surprise his patrons, there is absolutely no room to go wrong on your selection.

As other reviewers wrote, the sandwiches like the chicken shawerma are incredibly delicious in fresh bread and creative sauces. Salads are garnished in an appetizing way with the healthy olive oil. Other appetizers include the tantalizing home-made smooth flavor-full hummus that you can dip into with warm bread and/or fresh-cut vegetables.

If you have room for dessert, the baklawa is incredible, the cookies are world class, and whatever the chef/owner bakes that day is always a hit.

Further more, if you have something in mind not in the menu that you would like to ask for to be catered especially for you to share with family and friends, do not hesitate to ask. I regularly order soup, sandwiches, hummus, desserts, and other one-off orders and my friends are so impressed that some who live 40 miles away would go to this Cafe asking for an encore experience !!

Billy S.

The two of us had to wait about 40 minutes to be seated. The restaurant was very loud for the duration of our visit. The wait staff was very attentive. We ordered the "Chicken and Avocado Grill" and "Joe's Healthy Chicken Sausage Scrambler" and a side of Canadian Bacon. The Scrambler's portion size was on the smaller side compared to.

shay D.

This place is a hidden gem, tucked in NIU’s Naperville campus. The chef is the most lovable, friendly man you’ll ever meet. He will make anything you want even if it’s not on the menu. He will go above and beyond to make your visit AMAZING.

The food is DELICIOUS and very artistic. They have catering and all the coffee is 100% freshly ground when they make your cup of coffee. Everything is made fresh and if it’s not to your liking they will remake it or give you something else, free of charge of course. The coffee is incredibly well-priced compared to even local coffee shops, and the taste is amazing— trust me, much better than Starbucks.

Ashraf (the chef) and his wife are so friendly and amazing, go you will not regret it ever! I keep running into regulars who are just in love 🙂

Brendan M. N.

Ash is a wonderful small business owner Yes the food is great. What makes the place wonderful is the owner. He has a lovely customer service way about him that translates to a gigantic wonderful experience for the customer. Great job Ash

janice C.

Phenomenal!!! The coffee is in- house roasted and of best quality too. Homemade or from scratch with quality ingredients are these chefs specialty breads, soups, salads, baked goodies and sandwiches! A lot of skill and love goes into every scrumptious morsel! A hidden gem!!!

Rashida G.

Decided to try out this little café while visiting the area based on the Google reviews. We had a great experience overall. Chill atmosphere, good, low music, good food and good chai latte. Very friendly staff. I had a spicy tuna sandwich and husband had Mediterranean caprese sandwich. We were offered to try out their soup of the day. They had chicken noodle, beef mushroom and chilli veggie. The meat was halal which was a bonus for us so we tried the beef mushroom & chicken noodle soup. Both were tasty and I got our toddler the chicken noodle soup. Thank you for the positive experience! I would visit again if I ever happen to be in the area.