Craft Donuts hopes to move into Elgin library in mid-August
The owners of Craft Donuts + Coffee in West Dundee said they hope to open a location inside the Elgin library in mid-August.
John and Allison Reno said a customer told them about the available spot, empty since late January, inside Gail Borden Public Library and they decided it was perfect to expand their operations.
"We're super excited about the opportunity," Allison Reno said. "It's an amazing library and the area obviously gets tons of people who go there all the time. We had a huge response from our customers when we announced we were going in there."
The couple from Algonquin opened their first doughnut shop in January 2018 in West Dundee and a second one last month in the Metra station in Des Plaines.
The Elgin location will offer 18 to 20 sweet and savory doughnuts, compared to about 25 varieties at the West Dundee location, John Reno said. It will eventually also offer sandwiches with bread baked daily in West Dundee, where the doughnuts also will be made, he said.
There will be vegan, baked, ketogenic and glutenless doughnuts. Customer favorites include the cookie butter doughnut, s'mores doughnut with marshmallow filling, and Nutella-filled doughnut, Allison Reno said. "All the super delicious, indulgent stuff is really popular," she said.
There will be nontraditional flavors like goat cheese with cranberry orange and walnut, and bacon jalapeño and cream cheese, she said.
The library cafe is being updated so coffee and espresso machines can be installed at the front counter, he said. That way, drinks can be made in front of customers, rather than having employees - typically one person per shift - going into the kitchen to do that, he said.
The last library cafe tenant was In the Neighborhood Dream Deli and Cafe for about seven years. After it left, Viator Coffee Cart has been serving coffee and pastries in the lobby.
Craft Donuts will pay $500 per month in rent, library spokeswoman Denise Raleigh said.
Library Executive Director Carol Medal told the board last week that she was waiting for approval for a grease trap variance from the Fox River Water Reclamation District before upgrading work could continue inside the cafe space. The variance was approved Monday, water reclamation district officials said. The previous cafe operator also got such a variance.
"This is about crafting a wonderful experience for our customers," Raleigh said. "After (previous cafe owner) Jeff (Turner) left, we had so many people saying they were disappointed it. We are looking forward to this."