Restaurant Critic James Ward has coffee on the menu as he treats us to something special - not from the state of Washington, but from a state of mind called Vienna where the coffee house was invented!

The Julius Meinl Group of Vienna has been roasting, selling and serving coffee since 1862, and they recently opened their first American coffee house here! It's a blend of vintage Vienna in a contempo Chicago condo building!

Ah - Vienna, city of dreams - city of waltz ... and schmaltz and coffee and pastry mit schlag.

And now, there's a touch of Vienna in Wrigleyville! Meinl's the name and coffee's their game.

"What makes great coffee?" - I asked Thomas Meinl of the founding family:

"Well, a lot of know-how ... we have now 140 years experience ... we know how to put the coffees together, we know how to roast it properly," Meinl said.

And why did Meinl come here?

"Chicago people are so nice and so open, they accept us. This is more America, real America," Meinl said.

Schmoozing aside, Meinl's big biz is the sale of bulk coffee and other products. But customers mostly come to drink coffee, served in the traditional Viennese manner. Perhaps one of 14 daily blends, or those robust standbys - straight Espresso & frothy Cappuccino.

However, the fave is Melange - espresso with steamed and foamed milk, topped with chocolate powder.

Other coffees include the even-richer Mocha with whipped cream, and the almost excessive Eisekaffee made with vanilla ice cream.

Aside from coffee, people come to drink up the atmosphere, to get together, to meet and greet and talk - in various languages - to study, work & to read - books or newspapers.

And the scene changes. Mid-day time is Mommy and Kiddy time. Nighttime is for grown-ups. And as Vienna waltzes into Chicago, there's music to match - on Thursday and Saturday nights.

But you can't eat all this atmosphere so there's food of course: soups, a couple of tossed green salads -light, good stuff - and sturdy sandwiches such as maytag blue cheese & chicken perhaps, or there's even a tuna melt!

Now, consider the pastries made-on-premise - like this hot molten-center chocolate cake with chocolate sauce - they're all perfect, adult, swell and not-too-sweet.

One simple statement about two things: this is the best coffee and the most wonderful croissant I've ever had. Julius Meinl Cafe is at 3601 N. Southport. Call 773-868-1857.

Well, I really can't give a Bread and Circuses rating to Meinl's - so they get a 10 for Coffee and Croissants and an 8 Circuses!

About prices well, they're somewhere between Dunkin and Big Bucks! And auf Wiedersehen and ciao-chow for now.