Clarendon Hills Cafe Expected To Open Next Month

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – By the time you put on your Halloween costume, the long-awaited Sparrow Coffee in Clarendon Hills will likely be in business.

Under a village subsidy agreement, the restaurant was originally scheduled to be ready by last Halloween.

But Sparrow has received a couple of extensions since then. Its new deadline is this Halloween.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, Sparrow owner Chris Chacko said the shop's "soft opening" will likely be around Oct. 15, with a full opening later in the month.

"I have 99 percent confidence it will open in October," he said to applause.

It is taking the place of the old Starbucks at 100 Park Ave., combining three units in the block into one.

Sparrow is seen as so critical to downtown Clarendon Hills that some residents have urged officials to hold off on downtown improvements until they see the restaurant's impact.

Chacko said Sparrow will be where "great architecture meets craft coffee." And he said the project was well worth the wait "because we did it correctly."

The restaurant's website says its coffee is served at the majority of Chicago's Michelin Star restaurants.

At the meeting, Chacko said Sparrow also has a "robust" food program.

"Our croissants take four days to make just like they do in France," he said. "We run a different kind of coffee shop."

Sparrow Coffee now has a cafe in Naperville and a roastery in Chicago.

Sparrow's $622,000 subsidy is coming from a village tax increment financing district, or TIF, where growth in property tax income is reinvested in the district.

The idea is that the increased tax income would reimburse the district for the subsidy.