New Lake Street Cafe Opens in East Garfield Park, Bringing With It a Community Living Room Vibe

A vacant corner storefront in a historic, more than century-old building steps from the Garfield Park Conservatory has a new life and purpose. 

Owner Richard Weber opened Semaphore Cafe on Jan. 5 at 3458 W. Lake St., bringing coffee, brunch, and a sunlit gathering space to East Garfield Park. 

The space previously housed AMER Food, a small bodega-style corner store. Today, the interior has been carefully refurbished, balancing warmth and restraint. Salvaged wood tables, forest-green accents, and an espresso machine in a matching hue echo the Conservatory’s lush palette. Antique-style lamps, framed botanical prints, and potted plants soften the high-ceilinged room, while south-facing windows flood the cafe with sunlight. 

The cafe’s name references the semaphore flags that were once used to signal “stop” or “go” to train operators, preventing collisions. 

Weber, who moved to East Garfield Park about a year ago, told WTTW that the idea for Semaphore grew out of a simple absence. After visiting the Conservatory, he searched for a nearby place to sit with a coffee, but he didn’t find one. With Semaphore, he said, the goal is less about attracting destination traffic and more about giving neighbors a place of their own.

Semaphore is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to cafe manager Chris, who said the full food menu is available until about 3 p.m. The cafe serves coffee from Sparrow Coffee and pastries from local bakeries, and offers a rotating menu with daily specials. Merchandise is also available for purchase, reinforcing the cafe’s role as both a social and retail space. 

The cafe’s layout encourages lingering. Leather armchairs cluster around a fireplace feature along one wall, creating a cozy living-room atmosphere. A small retail shelf displays packaged goods and gifts, while the counter area maintains clear sightlines across the room, an intentional openness that mirrors the cafe’s mission.

Weber, who has a background in urban planning and previously owned the Albany Park cocktail bar Bokeh, has acknowledged the tensions that can accompany new businesses in historically marginalized neighborhoods. In his interview with WTTW, he emphasized that Semaphore is meant to be additive rather than transformative, a place for existing residents to gather, not a signal flare for rapid change. 

“I’ve never felt more welcome anywhere in the city,” Weber told WTTW. “I think within a week, I knew everybody on my block. […]  We deserve nice things too.”