Chicago’s coffee scene is about to get another national chain, because no one has yet reached critical caffeine mass.
Blank Street Coffee, the rapidly expanding New York-born chain known for its minimalist cafes, matcha-heavy menu and aggressively Instagrammable drinks, is coming to Wicker Park. The company will apparently take over the former Starbucks space at 1588 N. Milwaukee Ave., according to Crain’s. An opening date has not yet been announced.
The location is a particularly prominent one, directly across from the Damen CTA Blue Line stop. The space was previously home to a Starbucks Reserve location, so Blank Street has some fairly large coffee-chain shoes to fill.
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Launched in Brooklyn in 2020 as a tiny coffee cart tucked into the garden of Wythe Diner in Williamsburg, Blank Street has grown to more than 100 locations across the U.S. and U.K., with the company pitching itself as a specialty coffee shop built around convenience, design and highly photogenic beverages.
The menu is likely to be one of the biggest draws for Chicago’s matcha set, and for those of us who love a grid-worthy coffee moment during the workday. Blank Street is known for drinks such as its shaken vanilla bean matcha and cinnamon bun latte, alongside more traditional espresso drinks, cold brews and other specialty beverages.
The Chicago arrival comes in the wake of the company raising more than $100 million in venture capital this summer, fueling its already rapid expansion, which ha sincluded stores in Boston and Los Angeles.
Of course, Blank Street’s arrival is already prompting the sort of neighborhood discourse that accompanies any chain moving into Wicker Park. The area is hardly suffering from a coffee shortage, with longtime neighborhood favorites like The Wormhole Coffee and other cafes already clustered around Milwaukee and Damen. Local reaction online has ranged from enthusiasm to boredom, which seems pretty typical for any online reaction these days.
Still, there’s something to be said about more options. If nothing else, at least we all know where to get a good matcha in the near future.
For more information about Blank Street Coffee, click here.
