By itself, I'm not too crazy about chicory, but the Community and Cafe Du Monde chicory blends are good.
Chicory was used among other things to stretch coffee during the Civil War in the South since coffee imports were blockaded. There was coffee to be found - but too expensive to use by itself.
It is said that in the letters written home by Confederate troops, coffee was mentioned more than any other subject. Southern newspapers ran articles on how to make coffee substitutes from things like sweet potatoes, acorns, okra seeds, dandelion root, etc.