Diana's Kitchen Sets Up Temporary Spot at 80th Ave. Metra Station

Starting Wednesday, local eatery Diana's Kitchen will be providing commuters with their morning coffee at the newly renovated 80th Avenue Metra Station. At least for a short time.

The cafe will be taking the vendor spot in the station that Palos Heights-based bakery Isn't That Sweet recently backed out of before ever opening. The owners of Diana's Kitchen, have signed a 90-day contract to sell coffee, doughnuts and other drinks and snacks at the Metra station while the village decides on a permanent vendor for the location, said Debbie Thormann, a café employee who emailed Patch over the weekend.

READ: Officials OK Bakery at 80th Avenue Train Station

Diana's Kitchen will be open for business at the station from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays, starting Wednesday, Oct. 17, Thormann said. Coffee, doughnuts, breakfast sandwiches and other drinks and snacks will be served, she added.

The need for some type of early morning concessionaire was a topic of discussion at last week's Village Finance Committee meeting. With colder, autumn temperatures creeping in, officials said a business had to be brought in quickly in order to keep commuters and residents fully

"Coffee needs to get in there immediately," Village Board trustee Greg Hannon said at the Oct. 8 meeting. "Between now and January 1st, we need to get coffee."

READ: Diana’s Kitchen Hopes to Succeed Where Others Failed ... Exactly Where They Failed

After the meeting, finance committee chairman David Seaman said the process to get a business in the station would be quick and informal, adding that Odyssey Country Club also was interested in the short-term role.

Diana's Kitchen solves that problem temporarily, but the village is still accepting requests for proposals from other businesses willing to provide commuters with their coffee and snacks, as well as possibly catering special events at the station and offering food at other times. About a half-dozen businesses—most from the village—have shown interest so far and have until Nov. 1 to submit their proposals, said village marketing director Donna Framke at the Oct. 8 meeting.

The owners for Diana's Kitchen also will be vying for the permanent spot, Thormann said.

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Village officials, however, emphasized that businesses had some flexibility when it came to what it came to what they would be selling and the services they would provide.

"Let the vendor build [a proposal] and come to the village with what they think might work," Hannon said, adding the village should just lay out the options it's interested in seeing from vendor.

Check out Patch's 80th Avenue Metra Station section for complete coverage of the renovation.

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