ANDERSONVILLE — After more than a year of delays, Middle East Bakery and Grocery will open its cafe expansion within the next two weeks, a spokeswoman for the store said Tuesday.
Middle East Bakery & Grocery, 1512 W. Foster Ave., has been working on the expansion into the former home of Icosium Kafe, 5200 N. Clark St., since November 2014. After the expansion, it'll add affordable Middle Eastern fare, said owner Hisham Khalifeh.
"It's going to be good, healthy food," he said.
For more than 35 years, Khalifeh has sold fresh breads, pickled cheeses, vegetable pies, cookies, pastries, spices and nuts to his neighbors from the small bakery.
In the mornings, Khalifeh would greet the children passing the bakery on their way to school with fresh bread. Now, those children visit his store daily, he said.
"The best part about being here is I don't feel like I have customers, I have friends," Khalifeh said. "We're a neighborhood store. All our customers are family and friends. We know them very well, and they know us very well."
Khalifeh decided to expand his shop to get a little more time with the extended family after Icosium Kafe's owner said "I'm done with crepes" in January 2014. The Algerian creperie and teahouse was open for about eight years in Andersonville.
Khalifeh previously said the cafe would open in late spring 2015 and blamed delays on juggling the expansion while running the grocer.
"We were a little bit slow [because] we are doing business, too," he said.
The restaurant will seat about 40 people. The bakery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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