Volumes Bookcafe

Why Doesn’t Chicago Have More Wine Bars in Bookstores? | Eater Chicago

"When Rebecca George and her sister Kimberly opened a bookstore in 2016, they intended it to be, above all, a community space with events nearly every day and a cafe that served not just coffee but wine and whiskey; that vision is what turned Volumes into Volumes Bookcafe. I learned that the Georges originally located the shop in Wicker Park, let its liquor license expire when the cafe closed during the pandemic, and then chose to move after their landlord proposed what Rebecca called a “ludicrous lease.” They bought the first floor of 1373 N. Milwaukee Avenue (the former Filter) because the monthly mortgage would be less than half their old rent, and they plan to keep the store virtually unchanged — down to the drinks — though it may take a few months to get a new liquor license; they were scheduled to reopen in late spring 2022. I also saw how running a cafe intersects with store life here: staff have been taught to pour drinks, and even memorable spills (a regular spilling matcha over copies of Home Fire) become part of the shop’s community story." - Aimee Levitt