EDGEWATER — Big ambitions and a few mistakes caused the coffee shop side of Edgewater's Cookies and Carnitas, a pork and sweets joint at 5757 N. Broadway, to temporarily close, according to its owner.
Bradley Newman said Wednesday that, after the coffee shop's initial opening and success, he and co-owners decided to re-invest the money into equipment upgrades. By opting for a new espresso machine, a $25,000 La Marzocco, Newman said he expected to gain respect as an independent coffee house by showcasing some of the industry's finest appliances. What he didn't expect, however, was the unintended domino effect the upgrade would bring.
"We kind of stepped it up a notch," Newman said. "In the process, we didn't listen to all the details properly. So when we started installing things we didn't do it properly."
Newman said Cookies and Carnitas coffee shop should be ready to reopen in the next two weeks.
Newman said the "guerrilla-style" coffee shop saw more success than the owners expected and intended to rather swap out the old machine for the new without ever closing.
Newman said once the La Marzocco was delivered, he discovered there was a voltage difference between the machine and his store, and that's when problems began.
"We had to have our electrical done twice," Newman said. "And then from there [we] ran into plumbing issues so we had to get our plumbing redone. We just wanted to buy fancy toys, and kind of stabbed ourselves in the foot in the process."
Newman says he has high hopes for the coffee shop, which opened in July 2014. He said he prides himself on the fact Cookies and Carnitas is one of few coffee houses without a contract linking them to a specific brand of coffee or roaster. Although he says he can see the advantages of partnering with a coffee brand, Newman said he's confident in 20 years his company will be among other local java legends, like Metropolis Coffee Company, 1039 W. Granville Ave., and La Colombe, 5158 N. Clark St.
"We have no interest in competing, we just want to be taken serious in coffee," Newman said.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
