Another “first” is coming to Pullman/Roseland – along with Chicago’s first national monument, first Amazon distribution center, and first union-built, green-roof Walmart. This time it’s Veteran Roasters’ combination micro-brewery, coffee roaster, restaurant, and café. 9th Ward Alderman Anthony A. Beale announced that with already a $2 million Neighborhood Opportunity grant and pending approval from the Plan Commission, the nation’s first Veterans’ Roasters cafe, commercial roaster, brewpub, and restaurant is expected to break ground in Spring 2023.
Veterans’ Roaster is the latest innovative enterprise from Mark Doyle, who spent a year embedded with an anti-corruption task force in Afghanistan, known for creating businesses that make a priority of hiring and supporting U.S. military veterans. The Chicago-based Veteran Roasters is teaming with Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) to construct the new, two-story, 16,000-square-foot, stand-alone building on vacant land, just west of 111th Street and Doty Avenue. It will feature a commercial coffee roaster, micro-brewery, restaurant, and café with seating for approximately 75 to 100 people, plus drive-thru service. In addition to offering a new dining option and community amenity, Veteran Roasters will create 55 to 65 new jobs for local military veterans, according to Mark Doyle, project partner and founder and CEO of Rags of Honor.
News of Veteran Roasters coming to Pullman comes approximately a month after plans were shared for building the areas’ first nationally branded hotel on another vacant site, adjacent to the National Monument’s new Visitor Center and 12-acre State Historic Site, and a Culver’s location which when it opened in Nov. 2021, became the community’s first new stand-alone restaurant in more than 30 years.
Veteran Roaster employees currently include veterans representing the Marine Corps, Navy, Army, and National Guard.
