"A love letter to Chicago’s unique storefront theater scene, the Understudy serves as both a stylish spot for caffeine and a bookstore featuring scripts, memoirs, historical tomes, and more. Co-owners and spouses Adam Todd Crawford and Danny Fender (an actor and stage manager respectively) unveiled the eagerly-anticipated cafe in 2023. They’ve set the business apart from other coffee shops in the neighborhood with a specialized Ground Control coffee brewer, which creates batch coffee while maintaining the flavor of a pour-over cup. It’s the second of its kind in Chicago, only otherwise seen at Gaslight in Logan Square." - Ashok Selvam