EDGEWATER — An Edgewater family has opened a coffee shop a few blocks from their home to give the community a place where they can enjoy local brands and unwind for awhile.
Lost Hours Coffee Shop, 5256 N. Broadway, opened Nov. 1, offering a variety of drinks and pastries sourced from Chicago businesses. Those brands include the Edgewater-based Happy Monday Coffee Roasters and Roscoe Village’s Sweet Rabbit Bakery, said owners Tim and Mackenzie Wardyn.
“We created what we love about coffee shops,” Tim Wardyn said. “That’s being able to leave the city and everything that you’ve got going on outside the door. You can just come in, grab a coffee, get something to eat, have a seat and lose a little time.”
When the Wardyns first moved to Edgewater in July 2019, they loved how many coffee shops were nearby. But, many of those local spots closed throughout the course of the pandemic.
“We really missed having spots where we could sit down, have a cup of coffee and a pastry, and just kind of forget about time for a little while,” Tim Wardyn said. “When COVID wiped all that out, it hurt. That’s around when we started thinking about opening up our own shop.”
When their kids started to get older and more independent, the couple found a spot to open up shop just a few blocks from their home, Tim Wardyn said. The space used to house Chicago Grind, a cafe that also closed during the height of the pandemic.
Mackenzie Wardyn designed the interior, using light blue and green colors and thrifted furniture to give the space a relaxing energy.
“The best compliment we got when we opened was that someone said it reminded them of a cafe in France,” Tim Wardyn said. “That’s exactly what she was going for.”
The coffee shop is a family affair. Mackenzie and Tim Wardyn’s two sons, Ethan and Noah, will be around on the weekends and Mackenzie Wardyn’s dad, Jim, is usually around and always ready to help out.
“We say Jim is like our Norm from ‘Cheers,’” Tim Wardyn said. “He’s here quite often and loves to chat with people. Or, sometimes if someone’s walking their dog and wants to stop in he’ll hold onto their dog for a few minutes for them.”
The menu is filled with products from local businesses in the area, including pastries from Phlour Bakery, Sweet Rabbit Bakery and Beacon Doughnuts. Happy Monday Coffee Roasters provides the beans for coffee drinks. There are also canned drinks from the Southwest Side’s Komunity Kombucha.
“We really wanted to make sure everything we procured was local,” Tim Wardyn said. “We want to partner with other Chicago businesses so that we can help them while they’re helping us.”
Tim Wardyn said they hope to expand their menu based on what visitors request and seem to enjoy the most.
“We really want to be here for the community, and our menu will be ever-evolving based on what neighbors want,” he said. “They’ve already really embraced us. I couldn’t ask for a better spot or a better neighborhood. We love it here.”
Lost Hours Coffee Shop is open from 6:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. daily.
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