Tomer MolovinskyCo-founder, Per Diem · CEO & Co-founder @ Per Diem (YC W21) | ex-Resy, OpenTable

Chicago's Ground Up: Top 3 Bestsellers, Honest Review

17 Jul 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:58

In this on‑site video, the host visits Ground Up Coffee in Chicago’s River North neighborhood and orders the three most popular menu items: a strawberry‑banana matcha latte made with coconut milk, a Banana Freddo Cappuccino (cold‑brew infused with Banana Foster’s liqueur), and a spinach‑and‑feta savory pie. For each item the host gives a brief taste description, notes unexpected flavor pairings, and assigns a numeric rating (9/10 for the matcha, 10/10 for the banana cappuccino, and 9/10 for the pie). The host concludes with a strong recommendation to visit Ground Up Coffee and try any of these items, emphasizing the high quality and unique flavor combos.

Chapters

Hey guys, today we're at Ground Up Coffee in River North. I asked them to make me the most popular things on the menu and I'm gonna review them for you, starting with this strawberry banana matcha, which I've never had a strawberry banana matcha, so I'm curious about this. They said it's good with coconut milk, so that's what I got. Mm, oh my gosh, that's That is delicious. Okay, review. I'm gonna give it a 9 out of 10. Actually so good. And flavor combo I never would have thought to put into a matcha, but strawberry matcha is so popular, so this just makes sense. Next, I of course had to get the Banana Freddo Cappuccino, I think is how you pronounce it. It is a cold brew with Banana Fosters. That's what it is. I feel like this needs a good spin. Oh my gosh, that's delicious. If you like banana coffee, I think you need to come try this because this is probably the best banana coffee I've ever had. Oh, and then for the rating, I'm gonna give it honestly a 10 out of 10. I'm probably gonna like chug this in one second. And then lastly, I wanted a food item, so he said that the spinach and feta pie is really good, so we're gonna try that. Wow, I need another bite. So good. That also gets a really high rating. I would give it like a 9. If you're in River North, definitely stop at Ground Up and grab yourself one of these because they're all really good.