GOLD COAST — Bow Truss Coffee Roasters' new Gold Coast shop will be open next week.
The fast-growing local coffee chain will debut its new store Monday in Mariano Park at State and Rush streets, founder Philip Tadros said.
Bow Truss beat out dozens of other prospective concessionaires, including longtime incumbent Whispers Cafe, last year to open in the historic Downtown park. Once open, the new Bow Truss will serve its coffee as well as pastries from nearby restaurant Nico Osteria, food from salad vendor Farmer's Fridge, and juices from Apotheca, another Tadros company.
“We probably complement what the community wanted the most,” Tadros said last year.
Bow Truss, based in Chicago, plans to double its number of stores here by the end of 2017 with new shops all over the city.
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Mariano Park, 1031 N. State St., is one of the oldest in Chicago and features a century-old concession stand designed by Frank Lloyd Wright protégé Birch Burdette Long.
Gold Coast neighbors aired concerns last summer over the park district's attempt to replace Whispers with a new concessionaire that would pay more rent, and perhaps alter the historic plaza.
"Most of the people here tonight don't care about the coffee or the pastries, we care about the park," one neighbor said at a community meeting last year.
Bow Truss will pay the park district $64,000 in rent this year for the permit, up from the $45,000 Whispers paid in 2015, according to contracts received through the Freedom of Information Act.
Bow Truss's Mariano Park opening will follow a one-day pop-up there on Memorial Day. The shop will be open from 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and 7 a.m.-8 p.m. on weekends.
RELATED LINKS
Bow Truss Coffee Slated to Move into Mariano Park
Mariano Park Concessionaire Hopefuls Pitch Plans to Feisty Gold Coast Crowd
Bow Truss Founder Wants To Revitalize Southport Corner With New Location
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