A Little bit About Us
Our funky little coffee shop thrives on quality, community, and care.
Valeria socorro velazquez lindsten
Hailing from Guadalajara, Mexico, the head of Loba Pastry + Coffee has been fostering her love for food from an early age while experiencing her family’s strong cooking tradition through the women in her family. She has been cooking professionally since she moved to Chicago in 2010, learning the tricks of the trade while working at some of the best restaurants the city had to offer, like the now closed Blackbird. Unsatisfied with the mundane, Valeria is always learning new techniques, working with new ingredients, and inspiring us all with her creative and inclusive edge. She’s no ordinary chef pâtissier, she’s hungry like the wolf!
Our amazing team
Our team of baristas and bakers come from all walks of life, and share the same passion for great coffee, delicious noms and good vibes. They make a great first person you speak to before work, will be the spark you need in the lull of the day, and a smiling face to liven up your weekend.
We can’t wait to see you!
SOME NICE THINGS PEOPLE SAID ABOUT Us!
CHICAGO TRIBUNE - Finalists announced for the 2024 Jean Banchet Awards, former Tribune food critic to receive highest honor
“The 2024 finalists for Pastry Chef of the Year are Tatum Sinclair of S.K.Y., Valhalla and Apolonia; Maya-Camille Broussard of Justice of the Pies; Valeria Socorro Velazquez Lindsten of Loba Pastry; and Erin Kobler of Sepia and Proxi.”
CHICAGO HAS 17 JAMES BEARD AWARD SEMIFINALISTS FOR 2024
“Loba Pastry + Coffee, the hard-fought bakery from comeback queen Valeria Socorro Velazquez Lindsten, is a semifinalist for Outstanding Bakery”
Monocle: Travel Guide to Chicago
“Valeria Taylor has a knack for flavour combinations, which means her squeeze of a coffee shop in Lakeview is packed with sweet and savoury treats. The ever-changing menu features delights such as a pepita crunch bar topped with honey-caramelised nuts and caramel-cherry monkey bread. The coffees include a latte sweetened with violet-flower syrup and an Arcadian latte, Taylor’s take on a Turkish coffee. You can also go simple with a single-origin espresso and a sourdough muffin (crunchy on the outside, fluffy in the middle).”
A CUP OF JO: City Guide: Chicago
“Head to Loba Pastry in Lakeview for the most exciting pastries in town (plus, great coffee) and see what chef Valeria Taylor is pulling out of the oven. It might be a mole croissant or a fruit danish dusted with violet sugar. But my truest love will always be the pineapple sourdough muffin (a staple on the otherwise constantly changing menu), which is unlike anything I have ever tasted — tart, sweet, funky — and one of the absolute best things to eat in Chicago.”
MEATLESS PODCAST: CHICAGO PART TWO
“In the second part of Alicia’s visit to Chicago, she speaks with pastry chef Valeria Taylor, and food writers Tim Mazurek and Natalie Slater. They discuss their frustrations with the way Chicago’s food scene is repeatedly defined by critics based in LA and NYC, their favorite animal-free recipes, and what they think makes for a good vegan city.”
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: LOBA’S MOLE CHOCOLATE SOURDOUGH CROISSANTS NAMED ONE OF THE BEST CROISSANT IN CHICAGO
“It’s a punk version of a bakery,” said Taylor last Saturday morning behind the counter in Roscoe Village. “There’s no rules here.” For someone with no rules, the Mexican American baker fiercely follows some. Taylor makes all the croissants herself, weekends only, all by hand, including the mole, traditionally a sauce for savory dishes. The result is a slow sunrise of subtle spice.”
THRILLIST: Meet the She-Wolf Behind Chicago’s Loba Pastry And Coffee
“Valeria Taylor, owner of Chicago-based bakery Loba Pastry and Coffee, wasn’t sure she was ready to open her own bakery until she heard a podcast about the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park.
The episode was about one female wolf in the park: the ‘06 Female. This particular wolf was huge, bigger than any of the others, male or female. She had a gray coat that was stark and stunning. She shot down five potential mates who didn’t live up to her impossibly high standards. She didn’t need them anyway; she hunted on her own.
“She upset the balance of what it was like to be a wolf,” Taylor says, recounting the story. “She was fearless and unstoppable and nobody could compare. There was no alpha male. She was the alpha all around.
“It was just so inspiring,” Taylor says. “I thought, ‘This is the time to do this. I’m going to do this.’”
CHICAGO MAGAZINE: loba named best new bakery of 2016
“Val Taylor took over the storefront of her former employer, the beloved Bad Wolf Coffee, and made a bakery all her own, drawing on her Mexican heritage to punch up the flavors of basic pastries in completely novel ways. “
CHICAGO READER: Loba Pastry + Coffee fills the void left by Bad Wolf
“It was a sad day last September when Jonathan Ory announced that he was closing up Bad Wolf Coffee, his Lakeview bakery that sold, among other things, the best kouign amann in Chicago, and moving to Charleston, South Carolina. Fortunately, Val Taylor, who worked with Ory during his last six months at Bad Wolf, has stepped in to fill the void. As its name implies, Loba Pastry + Coffee is not Bad Wolf Part II, but rather its own entity, with some of the same DNA.”