Two staple Chicago businesses, Dollop Coffee Co. and Hoosier Mama Pie Company, are joining forces to open a shared location next month in Evanston.
The expansion was a natural option for the companies’ owners. Dollop serves Hoosier Mama pies at its Chicago locations and Dan Weiss, owner of Dollop, knew that Hoosier Mama was looking for a bigger space.
Explaining the partnership, Weiss said Hoosier Mama’s pies would “fly off of his shelves.” At 750 square feet, the pie company’s Chicago location did not have enough space to offer espresso, owner Paula Haney said.
“Dan [Weiss] feels the same way about coffee as we do about pies,” Haney said. “It really seems like a good fit.”
Haney called Evanston a “good pie kind of town” and said her customers often drive from the North Shore to the Chicago shop. Weiss agreed, saying he went to high school in Evanston and grew up writing in the city’s coffee shops.
The new space is located on the ground floor of the AMLI Residential apartment building, 749 Chicago Ave., by the Main Street CTA station and will offer Hoosier Mama’s renowned handmade pies and Dollop’s home-brewed coffee.
The shop will also serve a variety of breakfast and dinner options, including sandwiches that Hoosier Mama was unable to make in its old space due to size restrictions.
Even though Dollop has three other locations throughout Chicago, Weiss prides himself in that each of his stores do not have a predetermined final image when he opens them.
“I like to open up cafes that really suit the neighborhood that they are in,” Weiss said. “They are not cookie-cutter cafes. They are coffee shops that are going to continually grow and change.”
Despite that fact, Weiss says the biggest goal for Dollop is to continue expanding as long as he has the energy to do so.
Haney said Hoosier Mama plans to stay in the Chicago area because it makes all its pies by hand.
Dollop uses coffee beans from around the world and roasts them at Metropolis Coffee in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood, Weiss said.
Hoosier Mama finds most of its produce at farmers’ markets, baking pies seasonally, with the exception of apple.
“There would be riots if we didn’t have apple pie year-round,” Haney said.
Weiss said the new location will “definitely” offer student discounts. Dollop also already served Northwestern students, with its Streeterville location near the Chicago campus.
“I think Evanston will definitely attract some of the Northwestern crowd,” Weiss said. “A student is always looking for somewhere new to go do work and hang out.”
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