Chicago-based veteran-owned and operated coffee company Veterans Roasters is opening a brand new brewpub/ cafe in Pullman.
The new project is just west of 111th Street and Doty Avenue, according to Eater Chicago. Veterans Roasters was founded in 2017 by Army veteran Mark Doyle to help give his fellow military members a place to work and regain their lives after service. Now, Doyle, along with CEO and Navy veteran Branden Marty, is partnering with community development group Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) to build a two-story restaurant with a drive-thru, expected to open sometime in 2024.
Another feature of this development is the rooftop terrace that will give customers an amazing skyline view. The new project is expected to create approximately 55 to 65 jobs for homeless veterans. This isn’t the first time Doyle has gone out of his way to ensure his fellow servicemembers are being taken care of. Before starting Veterans Roasters, he opened Rags of Honor, a coffee maker with the same purpose of getting homeless veterans employed and off the streets. Doyle is also behind RNR Brews, partnering with Haymarket Brewery to further support the cause.
“I saw the community take the downturn when the steel mills and businesses left. I saw the void. We want to change that,” Ninth Ward Ald. Anthony Beale tells Eater Chicago. “That’s why Veteran Roasters will be a huge added amenity to what we’re already doing in the area. This program is definitely going to be a great addition to what we’re accomplishing in Pullman. This is something that will help grow a community. It’s a risk, but if we look back in five years and say we have 55 to 65 men and women working for us in a vibrant neighborhood, we can say, ‘We did that. We were a part of that.'”
