Chicago’s Inspiration Café Opens Café Too, Expands Job Training Opportunities

September 29, 2005 marked a special day for Chicago’s well- regarded Inspiration Café when they opened Cafe Too, a contemporary American restaurant with a special purpose. Cafe Too is not just another sleek new restaurant in Chicago’s Uptown with their sights set on a modern menu and clientele – they’ve also got their sights set on using their beautiful new space to provide an atmosphere with high standards for food quality, service and ambiance while providing job-training opportunities for homeless individuals and refugees.

Café Too represents an innovative revenue generating business for Inspiration Corporation. Established as Inspiration Cafe in 1989, Inspiration Corporation helps people who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, to improve their lives through the provision of social services, housing and employment training in an atmosphere of dignity and respect. The organization operates three program facilities in Chicago’s Uptown community and another facility in the Woodlawn community.

Inspiration Corporation developed the new Cafe Too restaurant with support from our generous donors Mr. James Mabie, the Amicus Foundation, The Golden Pearl Foundation, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The restaurant’s design, donated by Hartshorne + Plunkard Ltd., includes an intimate 36-seat Cafe Too reminiscent of an oasis with bamboo flooring, fabric sails on the ceiling and a tropical color palate. The menu is Contemporary American cuisine with international influences. Menu items include muffins and breakfast pastries; Uptown Chowder with fresh corn; spicy chicken wontons; jerk chicken salad; a triple-decker turkey ruben; coconut curry shrimp; homemade granitas, fruit tarts and cheesecakes; and a full line of espresso drinks made with Inspiration Cafe Coffee, roasted by Intelligentsia.

Visiting Chicago? Cafe Too is located at 4715 North Sheridan Road in Chicago, just two blocks south of Lawrence. The restaurant is conveniently located close to the Red Line CTA trains and Lake Shore Drive.