AVONDALE — Even those with an aversion to horror movies can appreciate the level of detail at The Brewed, a horror-themed coffee shop that opened in Avondale this week.
Owners Nick Mayor, Jen Lemasters and Jason Deuchler opened The Brewed on Tuesday at 2843 N. Milwaukee Ave. after a few months of renovations. Mayor and Lemasters also own neighboring Bric-A-Brac Records.
The Brewed serves locally made coffee and snacks, including Halfwit coffee, Sugar Moon Bakery pastries and Ørkenoy sandwiches. It’s open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m.-7 p.m. weekends.
The colorful coffee shop — filled with memorabilia from the owners’ personal collection — is a love letter to the genre, a place where horror aficionados and neighbors can have a cup of coffee in a collector’s library, Mayor said last year.
Everything in the spot — from the monster murals to the display cases packed with horror figurines and ephemera — supports the theme.
“Chicago has a really big horror community and a lot of history in the genre, most notably ‘Candyman,’ but lots of other lesser-known entries into the genre,” Mayor previously said.
“… We’re not necessarily opening a coffee shop because we think we have a superior brew or can really change the coffee landscape as [much] it is we have this idea for a cool space.”
The design of the coffee shop was a joint effort between the owners and artist Eric Wilson. Lemasters painted the monster murals, while Wilson created the menu board and coffee bar.
Next to the coffee bar is a set of doors that lead to Bric-A-Brac Records, which has a similarly colorful and pop-culture-obsessed vibe.
After eight years of business on Diversey Avenue, Mayor and Lemasters set out to move Bric-A-Brac to a larger space on Milwaukee Avenue last year. They planned to open The Brewed next door to expand their business. Deuchler, a longtime DJ and big horror fan, helped make The Brewed a reality.
The coffee shop is named after David Cronenberg’s horror flick “The Brood.”
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