- Leor Galil
- Inside Cafe Mustache’s new space
Logan Square coffee shop Cafe Mustache officially opened its second room, which sits in an adjacent storefront at 2313 North Milwaukee Avenue. Owners Kerry Couch, James Stieglitz, and Ralph Darski (of rock outfit Rabble Rabble) have been working on Cafe Mustache’s expansion for about two years. In May 2013 the owners publicly announced plans to take over the storefront next door, which used to house a hair salon, by launching a Kickstarter campaign to cover the costs for permits and hire an architect and contractor to build out the space; the fund-raiser reached its $20,000 goal by the end of June. (The cafe also received some additional financial help from the Chicago Community Loan Fund.) Now, after waiting for the final licensing and inspections, Cafe Mustache’s expansion is open to the public.
Both storefronts will remain open during business hours, and the stores are connected by a couple fire doors built out during the expansion; one door is for customers, the other sits between the service counters on either side, which meet near an alcove containing Cafe Mustache’s large vinyl collection. The shop still sells records and cassettes from local artists on the cafe side, and Cafe Mustache’s proclivity for vinyl spills over into its event programming. One of the events for the new space’s inaugural weekend is an all-vinyl dance party helmed by MC-producer Fess Grandiose. Take a look at the full schedule of events for the weekend below—all of them are free—as well as photos of the new room.
