Milli by Metric opened a year ago and pours some of Chicago’s tastiest coffee. Unlike the company’s tiny first space that only offers scant sidewalk seating, Milli has plenty of tables and strong Wi-Fi, making it an ideal place for remote workers.
Earlier this year, Milli implemented a weekday laptop policy, making the cafe “a laptop-free space” after 2 p.m. on Friday through Sunday, their busiest times of the day. Co-owner Xavier Alexander helped found Metric Coffee in 2013. He tells me Milli was often “covered in laptops” and felt too much like a coworking space instead of a cafe. A cafe can’t survive if multiple customers are squatting at tables for multiple hours and only spending $5 on a single cup of coffee while customers willing to spend more are turned away, Alexander says. After a year of operation, Milli has broken even financially.
“If customers want independent spaces like ours to remain in their neighborhoods, those spaces have to be economically sustainable,” he says.
Before the cafe opened in 2025, Alexander told me he envisioned a spot for community and conversation. He’s spent a lot of time in New Orleans, and wanted a space to serve wine at night in the same vein as Bacchanal Wine, a wine bar that features a great selection of wine and live music: “That vision was never to create a digital farm filled with rows of people staring at screens,” Alexander says.
He adds that Metric’s not anti-technology or against remote work. They never intended to be a coworking space, even though Milli has taken on a life of its own. But now, Milli’s staff finds itself in the uncomfortable position of enforcing the policy.
I think many people genuinely don’t understand the economics of operating an independent café
“That emotional labor is real. Baristas should be focused on hospitality and making great coffee, not acting as security guards or negotiating over whether someone has the right to occupy a table indefinitely,” Alexander says. “A clear policy gives our staff something consistent to rely on and lets them know that ownership supports them.”
Laptop policies are something sweeping the nation. New York bakery Librae has labels on tables prohibiting laptops and tablets. Axios reported how New York’s coffee chain Devoción limits laptop use to two hours a day during the week. The same story checked in with Detroit shop Alba, which has banned Wi-Fi since it opened in 2023. So does LDU Coffee in Dallas, and it goes one step further by making the dining rooms of its shops not comfortable to be in for more than the time it takes to drink a coffee, and naming its shops "LDU Coffee To Go" on Google Maps. The ownership of Middle Grounds Coffee in Dallas has also been candid online about the challenges:
“Our Wi-Fi password is 'BuyAnotherLatte'. Stop squatting on one espresso for six hours, Kevin. We see you. 👀”
By now, everyone knows how work from home surged after the peak of COVID in 2020. Coffee sales dropped, but work from home was a positive as laptoppers helped shops keep afloat. Some shops continue to lean into their roles as places to be productive. Several have installed those phone booth-style spaces so customers can take video calls in private without annoying other folks in the shop.
Still, laptop tendencies aren’t the only threat to cafe culture. As I wrapped up a recent morning visit to Milli, I stood up and noticed a table of two. Their table had filled water bottles and cups of Metric coffee; they were also locked into a day of studying or working. I also spotted a box with the words “Bad Butter” emblazoned on the top. There was nothing covert about this operation, no humility in bringing outside food — the kind of sneaking around one would do when trying to avoid price gouging at movie theaters. Bad Butter is a bakery located 2.5 miles south of Milli. It has no seating and are routinely busy with lines since it opened in April.
I kind of stood, dumbfounded. I’ve always felt thankful that Chicago is blessed with plenty of cafes where I can grab a great cup of coffee and a croissant. But chatting with so many in the restaurant industry over the years, you notice and worry about whether a business can keep the lights on and pay its workers. Importing another bakery’s chocolate chip banana bread into a cafe that already serves its own baked goods was not respectful.
I decided to share an Instagram post about my experience, and the loudest reactions were from the folks who were justifying bringing in outside food. One follower even ripped the quality of Milli’s pastries, writing that they understood the rationale to sneak in food. Certainly, folks have different opinions on food; however, in August Bon Appétit lauded Milli’s menu. And, I must say, the ham croissant inspired by a Cuban sandwich never misses.
A café is a place of hospitality, but it is not a free coworking facility. There has to be a fair exchange.
“Bringing in outside food makes the impact even more direct. We employ people to bake and cook, and we invest heavily in maintaining a food program,” Alexander adds. “When someone buys a coffee and then eats a meal or pastry purchased elsewhere, they are using our tables, Wi-Fi, electricity, bathrooms, and staff while financially supporting another business.”
Everyone knows the cheapskate at the diner, only ordering a cup of coffee with unlimited refills, the one who stays at his table for an extended period without tipping. In big cities, diners were once a dependable space where people could congregate without spending much money and without alcohol. Everyone deserves access to third spaces, even those without huge bank accounts. But if you’re bringing pastries from another bakery, one where I spent $30 on three pastries on Wednesday morning (Bad Butter’s savory monkey bread is wonderful)… this isn’t that. I’m particularly looking at grad school students cramming for their exams. You’re smart enough to know better, but too buried in your own world to care.
Recent openings have seen bakeries like Chicago’s Bad Butter, Publican Quality Bread, Mindy’s Bakery, and Guillotine Bakery prioritize space in its kitchens so it can have a wholesale business instead of having seats for customers. The owners of Guillotine say that most French pastry shops don’t have coffee programs or seats, and they wanted to bring customers into a distinctively French experience where customers could see kitchen staff make their pastries. Some customers waiting in line often grab a coffee from elsewhere, but finish their drinks before entering.
Also worth mentioning is that part of my discussion with Metric’s Alexander involved chains and private equity. He reasoned that he and Metric co-founder Darko Arandjelovic had leveraged their life savings in establishing the coffee company. They have no investors. But the average customer doesn’t know that and conflates that hard work with that of a coffee shop backed by fat cats. That’s a point that Ravenous’s Amy McCarthy makes in her list of restaurants backed by private equity: “The very nature of private equity also means that it’s very difficult to know which financial overlords have a stake in your favorite fast-casual spot. They’re not beholden to the same legal reporting requirements as publicly traded chains like McDonald’s, and we don’t hear much about what they’re doing until the latest acquisition is announced.”
This confusion only encourages customers to harm local businesses, and that includes having zero concerns about bringing outside food and spending copious amounts of time in their makeshift home office.
“I think many people genuinely don’t understand the economics of operating an independent café,” Alexander says. “They see a cup of coffee that costs $5 or $6, but they don’t see everything that purchase has to support: rent, payroll, health insurance, taxes, utilities, internet, insurance, repairs, equipment, ingredients, cleaning supplies, credit card fees, and the cost of producing the coffee and food itself.”
Alexander and his staff have seen some wacky hijinks over the past year. One customer propped up his laptop on a box and then promptly went to sleep with his head on the table, staying for three hours without buying anything (a photo was shared with Ravenous confirming the incident). Others bring in full meals from other restaurants, believing that purchasing a cup of coffee gives them unlimited access to Milli’s facilities.
“We want people to feel comfortable at Milli, but that comfort cannot come at the expense of other customers or the financial health of the business,” Alexander says. “A café is a place of hospitality, but it is not a free coworking facility. There has to be a fair exchange.”
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