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Health-Focused Cafe and Vitamin Shop To Open in Andersonville in August

By Mina Bloom | July 14, 2015 5:40am | Updated on July 15, 2015 8:31am
 (from l.) Andy Peters, 27, and Scott Dicker, 26, are opening Progo Cafe, 5507 N. Clark St.
(from l.) Andy Peters, 27, and Scott Dicker, 26, are opening Progo Cafe, 5507 N. Clark St.
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DNAinfo/Mina Bloom

ANDERSONVILLE — A new health-focused cafe and vitamin shop is slated to open in Andersonville sometime in late August, its owners said.

The menu at Progo, 5507 N. Clark St., will consist of healthy salads and wraps ($7 - $9.50), Metropolis Coffee and blended fruit smoothies. There will also be a retail counter, where patrons can buy both mainstream and locally-sourced supplements and protein bars, among other health store products.

Owners Andy Peters, 27, and Scott Dicker, 26, met a couple years ago on a birthright trip in Israel.

At the time, the young entrepreneurs were both pursuing careers that revolved around food and healthy living. Peters was working as an events manager for the Illinois Restaurant Association and Dicker was working in the nutrition industry, doing everything from marketing and sales to managing big retail stores. 

So when the space below Peters' Andersonville apartment became available, they jumped at the opportunity to open up a cafe that would combine both of their passions.

"We didn't feel like there's any place where you can get a quick, healthy and affordable meal [here]. You can get a quick meal and it'll be unhealthy, or you can get a healthy meal, but it'll be expensive and sit-down," Dicker said.

There will be plenty of space for patrons to sit down and work, with at least 30 seats in the back of the cafe, Peters said. The cafe will be outfitted in furnishings from Scout, a modern and industrial antique shop located a few blocks away at 5221 N. Clark St.

Beyond offering healthy and affordable grub, the pair believes the vitamin and supplement retail component will fill a hole in the community.

Dicker, who studied nutritional science and dietetics at the University of Arizona, said ever since The Vitamin Shoppe at Foster and Clark avenues closed, there has been nowhere to buy supplements in Andersonville.

"We want to make sure that when you go in and ask a question, you're asking someone who knows what they're talking about," Dicker said.

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