Surveillance video from Brew Brew Coffee & Tea in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood shows a car careening into the shop's outdoor patio, leaving the space badly damaged and wrapped in caution tape. The crash happened on September 1 outside the small, family-owned coffee shop at the corner of Diversey and Avers avenues, a spot that has drawn safety complaints for nearly a decade.
The footage, first reported by CBS News, captures the moment the vehicle veers off Diversey Avenue and plows into the patio area. Brew Brew has operated at 3832 W. Diversey Ave. since 2014, when siblings Jazmin, Christian, and Diana Medrano converted a former corner convenience store into the neighborhood cafe, according to Brew Brew Coffee & Tea.
A Nearly Decade-Long Fight Over a Dangerous Corner
This is not the first time the intersection has made headlines for the wrong reasons. Co-owner Jazmin Medrano launched an online petition back in 2017 raising public safety concerns about reckless driving and frequent vehicle crashes right outside her business, according to CBS Chicago's report. The station's account notes that traffic safety worries at this specific corner have persisted for close to ten years, even as the shop kept serving its Avondale regulars.
The city has tried to address the problem before. The Chicago Department of Transportation installed street bump-outs along Diversey Avenue across from Brew Brew in 2021 to slow traffic near Brand Park, but shop owners say vehicle collisions at the intersection have continued regardless, per the same account. Part of the difficulty, the report explains, comes down to jurisdiction: Brew Brew sits on a ward boundary line in the 31st Ward, while the north side of Diversey Avenue belongs to the 35th Ward, and a former alderman previously said installing a traffic signal there was not feasible.
Ward Office Responds, Vows to Explore Fixes
After the patio crash, the office of 31st Ward Alderwoman Ruth Cruz said it had not previously been aware of the incident but committed to working with Brew Brew, neighbors, police, and CDOT to explore potential safety improvements, the outlet reported. Whether that cooperation results in permanent physical protection for the patio, such as bollards, remains to be seen.
Local workers and neighborhood regulars told the station they actively avoid seating on Brew Brew's outdoor patio because of frequent high-speed driving and recurring crash risk along Diversey Avenue. It is a grim vote of no confidence in a stretch of street that businesses have been asking the city to fix for years.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Crashes Into Chicago Dining Spaces
The Avondale crash follows other high-profile vehicle impacts into Chicago outdoor dining spaces, including a July 2022 incident in Old Town that injured six diners when a stolen car slammed into a restaurant patio, according to CWB Chicago. A vehicle also crashed into Petterino's outdoor dining area in the Loop in November 2023.
Under the City of Chicago's public way use regulations, businesses operating outdoor sidewalk cafes must secure permits from the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, while physical safety infrastructure like bollards requires separate Department of Transportation oversight and public way permits, per the City of Chicago. That layered approval process helps explain why protective barriers have not already gone up outside businesses like Brew Brew.
Severe traffic collisions remain an ongoing issue in Avondale more broadly. A separate hit-and-run crash at Elston and Kedzie avenues in February left one passenger dead and a driver critically injured, as Hoodline reported in coverage of that fatal Elston and Kedzie crash. For now, Brew Brew's owners are left cleaning up a damaged patio and waiting to see whether this latest crash finally moves the city toward a lasting fix.
