New cafe entering Highland Park central Metra station this summer

Highland Park’s central Metra station will soon board a new cafe.

Highland Park City Council voted 6-0 on Tuesday to approve a one-year contract with Complimentary Cafe, a Skokie-based coffee shop, to start operating concessions in July out of the Highland Park Metra station at 1700 St. Johns Ave.

Ryaz Ali, owner and founder of Complimentary Cafe, said the cafe will feature hot and cold refreshments like lattes and mocktails, as well as locally sourced food items like bagels, muffins, hash browns, cookies, brownies, empanadas and chicken croissants. 

“We’re super excited to bring good coffee to Highland Park,” Ali said. “We’ve been looking for a space in Highland Park for about maybe like nine months now, so baby’s been born.” 

City staff recommended the cafe operate with hours no less than 7 a.m. to noon Monday through Saturday; though Complimentary Cafe’s proposal included steady weekly hours beginning at 5 a.m. with consideration to being open to as late as 7 p.m. for commuter traffic.

Ali opened his first Complimentary Cafe location in Skokie in 2022 with specialty coffee drinks served with handwritten compliments on the cups. 

Focused on supporting other small businesses, the food items on Complimentary Cafe’s menu are sourced from more than two dozen different vendors in order to offer customers the best quality and avoid purchasing from wholesale distribution companies, Ali said. 

Five percent of the company’s profits also go to charitable causes. The business is in the process of opening an additional location in Glen Ellyn. 

Highland Park received proposals from two other vendors to staff the central Metra station: Central Café and Landmark Coffee. Landmark Coffee, however, only offered to provide vending machines. 

City staff “considered the benefit of an established Highland Park business expanding operations within the community” but Central Cafe did not answer all the questions posed by the city’s request for proposal or indicate they wanted to pursue additional investment in the train’s concession space, staff wrote in providing their recommendation in the concession agreement.

The city has invested “significant improvements” in the train’s space over the last two years with updated stainless steel kitchenette amenities, city staff wrote. Complimentary Cafe proposed additional investment to the interior of the concession space, like updated signage. 

Approximately 690 people boarded at the Central station every weekday morning prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Metra representatives informed the city. Ridership reportedly has now reached approximately 60% of pre-COVID numbers and continues to rise regionally.

City staff anticipated the contract with Complimentary Cafe will generate $3,450 in revenue for the city during its first year. The agreement includes a mutual option to renew for an additional two years, each projected to yield $5,400 in annual revenues. 

The city last awarded a contract to Cafe Lumie’re in 2023 to provide concessions inside the central Metra station. Highland Park officials did not return messages from The Record for information on Cafe Lumie’re’s departure from the train station.

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