Chicago's "Magnificent Mile" has another attraction.
The largest-ever Starbucks, housed inside Crate & Barrel's former flagship location on Michigan Avenue, opens its doors on Friday. The Reserve Roastery's 35,000 square feet and five floors house three coffee bars, a cocktail bar and an artisan bakery and cafe.
The Chicago location is the company's sixth roastery. Other locations include Tokyo, New York and Milan. Each roastery is much larger than a typical cafe and is designed to pay homage to the culture and history of the city.
Starbucks spokeswoman Maggie Jantzen said that the average Roastery customers spends three to four times more money than at a typical Starbucks cafe. Roasteries, on average, can see more than 8,000 visitors per day.
Take a look inside:
Largest coffee bean cask
In addition to being its largest-ever cafe, the Chicago Roastery hosts its tallest cask. Freshly roasted coffee beans rest in the 56-foot-tall bronze container before being used in drinks.
Curved escalator
According to Starbucks, the Chicago Roastery also has the first curved escalator in the Midwest. Customers have a 360-degree view of the roasting and brewing process happening on the first floor as the escalator carries them around the roastery's cask to the second floor.
Unique drinks — and gelato
The fourth floor hosts a bar dedicated to barrel-aged beverages. Available spirit-free coffee drinks include a cold brew aged in whiskey barrels and mulled spiced coffee.
Cocktails crafted by local mixologists are also available on the fourth floor at the roastery's Arriviamo Bar.
On the third floor's Experiential Coffee Bar, customers can eat liquid nitrogen gelato. The Chicago Reserve Roastery is the only U.S. location to offer the treat.
Artwork
Artwork from local artists decorates the interior of the store. Artist Eulojio Ortega painted a mural that spans the roastery's staircase across all five floors that pays tribute to coffee farmers and the regions where the beans are grown and harvested.
Since January, Starbucks shares have gained 29%, boosting its market value to nearly $99 billion. The company has benefited from improved customer traffic in its U.S. cafes and same-store sales growth in China.
