PILSEN — Owners of a South Loop cafe have plans to open a new bakery and coffee shop on 18th Street, and they promise to bring well-paid positions along with their fresh pastries.
Scott Golas, who co-owns The Spoke & Bird in the South Loop, will open a second location at 1248 W. 18th St. in Pilsen, he confirmed this week. The new bakery and espresso bar called The Spoke & Bird Bakehouse will take over the former Beurrage bakery that closed in August, he said.
Most of the staff who previously worked at Beurrage and the former Fire & Water Bakery in McKinley Park will help open the new bakery. Fire & Water previously supplied The Spoke & Bird with baked goods.
If all goes well, staff will begin baking in the new space after Thanksgiving and the coffee shop will open to the public before the end of the year, Golas said.
The Spoke & Bird Bakehouse will operate as an artisanal bakery, serving customers in-house and supplying wholesale baked goods for clients across the city. In addition to baked goods, the front of the shop will feature a limited menu of sandwiches and soups made in-house and serve Counter Culture coffee, which has a regional training center in the West Loop. The espresso bar will have seating for about 15 people, Golas said.
The new bakehouse will sell a variety of baked goods. [The Spoke & Bird]
Moving to Pilsen next just made sense, Golas said, as a number of new residential units are being planned in the neighborhood.
Golas, who worked in digital advertising before opening the South Loop cafe in 2014, said he wants to change the perception that working in the food service industry is a "dead-end job." The Pilsen bakehouse will pay its workers above minimum wage and baristas will make close to $15 an hour.
Creating "great jobs in a fun neighborhood" is a win-win for everyone, he said.
The original Spoke & Bird opened at 1801 S. Indiana Ave. in the South Loop in June 2014.
Owners of South Loop cafe The Spoke & Bird are opening a bakehouse in the former Beurrage bakery on 18th Street in Pilsen. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
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