Koffeelicious at The Glen is weathering pandemic

Business was good when Jorge Mitre and Manuel Leyva Jr. opened Koffeelicious, a coffee shop inside the Metra station at The Glen, back in February.

Just weeks after opening, though, the once-busy station became devoid of people after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ensuing stay-at-home order, kept commuters away.

Six months later, Mitre and Leyva are determined to stay open for at least a few hours every day during the morning rush hour. About 10 regular customers visit daily, in addition to a few others who trickle in.

"At first it was really hard, but then you get over it. You've got to move on," Leyva said. "The first week I stayed home. But then I said, 'You have to get up. You have to work.'"

Both men have other jobs - Mitre works for a newspaper delivery agency overnight, and Leyva, who has two other jobs, works at a nearby hotel and a weight loss center. But Koffeelicious, which under prior ownership was known as Lucy's TLC Cafe, has given them a chance to start a business for themselves.

Though built in an architectural style of a classic railroad station, the modern structure, and the cafe located within, are both bright and clean. In addition to coffee, breakfast sandwiches and light snacks are among the available food items.

Leyva and Mitre hope they can weather the pandemic until there is a coronavirus vaccine and people once again feel safe enough to take the train.

"There was one customer, he never stopped going to work," Mitre said. "Basically, because of him we said 'we should keep it open.'"

That customer, Melvyn Romanoff, 75, of Glenview, a partner with the law firm Goldstein, Bender and Romanoff in Chicago, has commuted on Metra every work day throughout the pandemic.

Dressed in dark denim jeans and stylish canvas sneakers on a recent morning, Romanoff said he hasn't worn a suit and tie to work since the onset of the pandemic because the courthouse is closed. His partners had been working remotely, but now everyone is back at the office, with proper COVID-19 protocol and social distancing in place.

Now one of 10 regular customers at the cafe, Romanoff is greeted at the door with a cup of coffee and a newspaper, and he converses with the owners before his train arrives. He said he doesn't mind riding the train because there are few passengers aboard.

"The ridership is so small that you can distance without any problem," Romanoff said. "The trains are cleaner than they've ever been."

Romanoff said the parking lot at The Glen, in which there are maybe 25 cars present on a weekday, was mostly full prior to the pandemic. On a good day there was a line of customers at the cafe, and he hopes the village will reduce their rent until business improves, as has been the case at other cafes located within Metra stations.

Mitre said people have suggested the cafe close due to lack of customers, but he said they are determined to stay open. Leyva said they are making the best of a bad situation and have placed signs outside to remind passersby that they are open.

"I think that once we get a vaccine, that people are going to start coming to work, but it's difficult to guess if they're going to come sooner," Mitre said. "Spring could be the date (time) when everything would be back to normal again."

"I'm positive. I think that everything is going to be good."