Elwood Food & Wine

This prosaically named place does busy business at the very end of the Elwood Village strip. The space would be a little bare and cold with its concrete floors and metal tables if it weren't for the lush mural of trees that adorns one wall. The breakfast menu provides some nice twists on standards (try a breakfast bruschetta with cinnamon mascarpone, poached pear and figs), lunch is pastas, burgers and schnitzel, and there's tapas for dinner. The Veneziano coffee ($3.50) has a sweet, stewed-fruit nose and a full-bodied kick.