As someone who hates coffee but has friends who are avid coffee drinkers, the Belwood Bakery’s iced chai fills my “coffee” void.  Even those who are die hard coffee fanatics will order the Belwood iced chai over their typical iced vanilla latte with oat milk. As a busy high schooler, this iced chai is the perfect mid-day pick me up. Some days, when the clock strikes 3 and school is out, I quickly drop my stuff, run over to Belwood and with a five minute wait tops, I am walking back to school with my delicious iced chai in hand. Since Belwood is closed on Mondays, I, unfortunately, had to resort to Clark Street. Although, I walked on over with a feeling of optimism, I was quickly turned away by Clark Street’s swarm of students filling the line halfway down the block. The 20-minute line outside of Clark Street is one reason I stick to Belwood.

In addition to Belwood’s iced chai and vanilla lattes, their diverse menu offers a wide variety of smoothies. Their smoothies have the perfect thick consistency that I believe makes or breaks a drink. Belwood is the only place across the street that is a one stop shop. You can grab a delicious sweet drink, refreshing smoothie, morning muffin, burrito, breakfast sandwich or even a lunch sandwich. Like I mentioned, Belwood makes it easy to quickly grab a drink or bite to eat with consistently satisfying service and respectful employees. Unlike my many experiences at its neighbor Clark Street, Belwood is much more of a local mom and pop shop. They are not overdeveloped, selling merch nor pre-packaged foods; Belwood strictly focuses on their food and drink items. This ensures that their time and expertise are dedicated to whatever I order.

My personal favorite food item at Belwood is their muffins. Their muffins range from blueberry to seasonal specialties such as pumpkin spice and they are all reasonably priced. Unfortunately, Belwood does not have an area for large groups of people to sit down for a quick snack, a drink or lunch. Despite their lack of outdoor seating, it does not take away from their reputation as being both an Archer and Brentwood institution.