LOGAN SQUARE — Caffè Umbria has big plans for an old street car facility in Logan Square.
The Seattle-based coffee roaster is opening a roasting facility, training lab and cafe — its second in the city — in an early 1900s-era warehouse that used to house street cars at 2535 W. Armitage Ave. sometime in November, ownership announced in a news release this week.
"With several new wholesale partners in the Chicago area, we saw a need for a new state-of-the-art training lab, roastery and second, larger café," master roaster Emanuele Bizzarri said in a prepared statement.
It'll be the second cafe in the city for Caffè Umbria, which opened its first in River North in 2015.
Caffè Umbria's "trio of coffee experiences" will span about 9,000 square feet in total.
Of that amount, 2,000 square feet will belong to the cafe, offering an array of coffee drinks including Italian espresso, Nitro Cole Brew on tap, as well as freshly roasted beans. An open floor plan will give patrons "unobstructed views" of the roastery, according to the release.
Suspended above the cafe will be a "coffee research and training lab," where employees and wholesale customers will be able to learn about the roasting process.
The roastery, housing a fully-automated, Italian-made roaster, will take up about 2,5000 square feet in the building.
Caffè Umbria takes its name from Umbria, Italy, where one of the partners' grandfather opened a coffee shop nearly 70 years ago. The roaster operates a total of seven locations across Portland, Seattle and Chicago.
