UPTOWN — Seven months after the Magnolia Cafe closed, the Wilson Avenue space has a new tenant.
Brian Osborne, the owner of Emerald City at 3938 N. Sheridan Road, confirmed he signed a lease for the space at 1224 W. Wilson Ave. It will be the second Emerald City location, according to Uptown Update, who first reported the news.
Osborne, 38, told DNAinfo he was moving into the neighborhood in a few weeks and said the coffee shop would be ready "ideally" by mid-June.
"We're hoping to offer a limited beer, liquor and wine selection and have an event space," he said. "It's an expanded version of what we're doing" at the original location.
Emerald City's Lakeview flagship serves as an event space and coffee shop with over 20 coffee options. Its menu also includes nine noncoffee drinks and sandwiches, including chicken bacon, veggie melt and grilled cheese.
The new location will also serve as a bakery and supply both locations, according to Uptown Update.
Osborne had been looking to bring a shop to the neighborhood for some time, he said, and the open storefront's proximity to Truman College became one of the deciding factors.
"I think it's a very exciting area," he said.
Magnolia Cafe closed permanently after a robbery in September, according to its owner chef Kasra Medhat, who opened the cafe in December 2001.
"Thieves stole everything," Medhat said. Witnesses saw people loading a truck and called police.
Medhat said via email he wasn't happy with police response to the incident, which led to no arrests, and that he wasn't very optimistic about the area.
"The building maintenance is constant, and the neighborhood will unfortunately never come around in my opinion," he said. "I may be wrong, but I gave it 13 years, and it seemed to get worse."
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