Uptown Espresso to open next week

Dow Lucurell and Pete Noble are just about done with the tenant improvements at their ninth Uptown Espresso located at 3223 W. McGraw St. and expect to open the doors early next week.

The owners of the coffee company today were overseeing the delivery of the Victorian-esque furnishings such as long wooden tables and mirrored wall tables that workers quietly rested on the trademark green carpeting. The duo have made sure that while each location retain its own independent flair, they maintain the same motifs. Much of the furnishings come from Antique Liquidators in South Lake Union. And the kitchen area and serving equipment is entirely new. The stainless steel serving counter is slung low at 32 inches so, says Noble, customers can see staff and see the food and drinks being made.

?You?ll be able to see yours being made,? he said. That openness helps the flow for customers and the baristas, he added.

Today, furniture movers were loading in tables and chairs. A local artist/landscaper came by to offer the owners an opportunity to hang his art on the walls. The exterior has since been painted a lavender-gray?the west wall adorned with the company tagline: Home of the Velvet Foam. Lucurell and Noble expect to open early next week, but that date largely depends on when electrical and plumbing inspections are completed.

The co-owners have been eyeing the location for some years. When the previous tenant, Tullys Coffee, declined to renew its lease, the property?s landlord called Lucurell and Noble. Both Lucurell and Noble live in Magnolia ? just blocks from the Village, so they were pleased when the opportunity came up. Lucurell?s great-grandfather lived in Magnolia so opening a shop here has special meaning.