Luckycat Opens with Coffee Sourced from China and Asian-Inspired Espresso and Matcha Drinks

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A cafe with an “Asian American perspective” is now open where Lakeview meets Lincoln Park. Luckycat is located at 2806 N. Clark St., an independent business replacing one of the many chain stores (a Wow Bao) around the busy intersection of Clark, Broadway, and Diversey Parkway. 

Named after the chintzy, paw-waving cat statuette found in many Asian-owned establishments, Luckycat offers coffee sourced from China, specialty drinks with flavors from Taiwanese and other cultures, and tea drawing on Japanese and Chinese traditions. 

“We wanted the cafe to have more interesting offerings,” says Stephanie Bian, who opened Luckycat with Jake Lee. Bian was a software engineer who has worked for various social media companies in the Bay Area, but wanted to create a gathering space in the physical world. She and Lee both have Asian heritage, so they “wanted to draw on that and have something unique.”

Among Luckycat’s specialty drinks are an espresso latte with ginger and Taiwanese black sugar and a matcha latte with the classic floral combo of osmanthus and honey. Cold brew is made Kyoto-style, via a slow drip method instead of the typical, tea-like steeping process. Tea (from Spirit Tea) is as much a focus as coffee, with a “matchacano” analogue to an americano and a latte made with the roasted green tea known as houjicha (or hojicha). 

Bian and Lee refined their menu of drinks during pop-ups at Boonie’s, the Filipino restaurant in Lincoln Square, before finding their own space. The angled storefront features blond wood, cappuccino leather, a dried floral display along one wall, and a curving bar whose dark green subway tiles and white counter match the colors of a matcha latte. Hand-scrawled, whimsical lettering decorates signage throughout.

“We were going for something modern but not stark,” says Bian. “We wanted it to be warm and inviting, but still you walk in and are like, ‘Oh wow, this is really cool.’”

The cafe is meant to be a place where you can stay a while; it’s open into the early afternoon every day of the week. Bian and Lee are slowly adding more food offerings, with a salad on the way, but for now there’s a breakfast sandwich distinguished by hot honey chili crisp, a Taiwanese three-cup chicken rice bowl, and pastries from La Boulangerie, in addition to lighter offerings like black sesame chia pudding and matcha granola. (A black sesame latte is a signature drink and Bian’s current favorite.)

The most unusual aspect of Luckycat is its coffee beans from China, available both in the cafe and as a monthly subscription. Grown in the subtropical southern province of Yunnan, the coffee comes from a region known for Pu’er tea – and Bian detects a “tea-like quality” in it. “A little bit of black tea, tannin, but also citrusy, a little nutty,” she says. All of the coffee Luckycat offers is light-roasted, and some of the beans are sourced from more traditional coffee-growing regions such as Guatemala and Brazil.

“I feel like with coffee you can always go deeper,” Bian says, having worked as a barista herself and designed the drinks for Luckycat, which will continue to rotate. “There’s always something to learn.”