Backlot Coffee

Our Story

On the north side of Evanston there is a community within a community called the “Backlot.”  It is a place where a group of homes share a backyard, an open space often filled with laughter and play. It is a place of belonging, a place where neighbors can build and share a life together.

We each have our own “Backlots” — front stoops, back porches, public parks. We remember a time when we would disappear into those spaces and build elaborate worlds while the day turned quietly into night. Our Backlot was a safe place, a place where we could be ourselves and discover new possibilities for our lives.

We created Backlot Coffee to be this kind of relaxed, creative space, an authentic community within a community.

We created Backlot because we believe that fences do not make great neighbors and that people desire and deserve open places where strangers smile to one another and lend a helping hand. We know that when we’re open to one another, we enrich our neighborhoods and each other’s lives.

Backlot strives to be a comfortable, stimulating, and diverse community where people can catch up with old friends and make new ones, where they can play games with their kids, get some work done, or just sit and read quietly.

We want Backlot Coffee to be the place you go to meet your neighbors, your local coffee house. After all, you are what makes Backlot great.

—John and Isaac