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Starbucks-Owned Teavana Opening Chicago Tea Bar on Southport

By Serena Dai | March 25, 2014 6:24am
 Starbucks-owned Teavana will be opening one of its new concepts on Southport — a tea bar.
Teavana on Southport
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LAKEVIEW — Teavana will soon be opening one of its new concepts on Southport — a tea bar.

Teavana, which Starbucks purchased in 2012, debuted its first tea bar in New York in October and plans to open 1,000 of them within 10 years.

The Teavana Fine Teas and Tea Bar at 3428 N. Southport Ave., the former Bell Studios storefront, will debut in late April, according to Starbucks spokeswoman Jenny Rikelman.

Unlike the mall locations of Teavana that many may be familiar with, the tea bar will feel more like a cafe where visitors can drink signature tea lattes and eat tea-inspired foods. Teavana's tea bars will be focusing on innovating tea-based drinks, such as lattes and tea infusions, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

Food offerings include breakfast items, pastries and lunch items like chicken sausage spinach flatbreads and lemongrass ginger chicken rice balls.

Like other stores in the Teavana chain, which has been around since 1997, the tea bar will sell teas and accessories, as well.

The company at present has two tea bar locations, one in New York and the other in Seattle.

Initial reviews of the New York store commended the softer atmosphere designed for lingering. Others praised the food.

But both the drinks and the food are more expensive, too. A 16-ounce specialty latte — equal to a grande — cost $5.95 in the New York shop.