A Chicago couple’s yearslong obsession with specialty coffee is finally getting a permanent home in the South Loop. Cafe Tabeeb held a soft opening over the weekend and is aiming for a formal debut later this month, with a menu built around single-origin beans, pour-over tastings and coffee drinks served hot or cold.
The cafe’s name comes from “tabeeb,” an Arabic word meaning healer or doctor, and reflects the owners’ belief that “coffee is medicine for the soul,” according to Tabeeb Roasters. That idea gives the new shop a little more ambition than simply keeping commuters caffeinated.
Tahani Hassan, a former social worker, and Mohammed Awad, an orthopedic surgeon, began roasting at home during the pandemic before turning their hobby into a business. The Chicago-born couple, who have been married for 16 years, later made coffee-focused trips to Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Hawaii and Jamaica, as detailed by Block Club Chicago.
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The shop is connected to Hani Mahfouz, who is serving as its operational manager, and follows earlier plans for a South Loop cafe tied to his Gold Coast Cafe business. What Now Chicago first reported the South Loop project last year, when it was expected to bring Tabeeb Roasters coffee into a new neighborhood location.
Cafe Tabeeb plans to serve primarily single-origin beans from Jamaica, Panama, Guatemala, Colombia, Ethiopia and Costa Rica. Guests can expect espresso drinks, seasonal coffees and pour-over tastings, along with baked goods from a local vendor that has not yet been announced, according to Block Club Chicago.
The just-under-1,000-square-foot cafe seats 25 people and features a 12-seat communal walnut table, globe lights, colorful poufs and earth-toned furnishings. Hassan and Awad also plan to develop coffee education classes and evening gatherings, while eventually adding matcha, teas and refreshers.
The couple currently operates its roasting business from a facility in suburban Naperville and hopes to move into a shared Chicago roasting operation before eventually opening a brick-and-mortar roasting facility. For now, the new cafe gives Tabeeb Roasters a storefront — and South Loop coffee drinkers another reason to linger over the morning cup, rather than treating it like a disposable medical prescription.
Tabeeb Roasters is already selling roasted beans online, including coffees from Jamaica, Costa Rica and Tanzania, through its official website. Cafe Tabeeb is expected to hold another soft opening on the Saturday and Sunday before its formal late-August opening, with tentative daily hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
