Real & Rosemary owner plans new coffee shop on Reese Street

Real & Rosemary owner Jennifer Mims and business partner Nate Carlson said Homewood has given them such a "warm welcome" since their restaurant opened in March 2016 that they've decided to open a new concept.

Caveat, Mims told the city council's planning and development committee on Oct. 16, will be a coffee and wine shop at the corner of Linden Avenue and Reese Street. The pair are renovating an old house to create the business, which will include a backyard seating area and a pickup window for online coffee orders.

Mims and Carlson asked the planning and development committee to consider making Reese Street a one-way road between Central Avenue and Linden Avenue, to reduce congestion and allow additional parallel parking along the road. The council previously discussed this idea in 2016, without a resolution.

Committee members at the Oct. 16 meeting expressed concerns about the Caveat pickup window line extending into the street and delaying traffic, which Ward 3 Representative Patrick McClusky called a "nightmare situation." Since there has also been the recent installation of islands, parking and restriping on Central Avenue, the committee members said they wanted to see the effects of those changes on Reese Street first.

Ward 5 Representative Peter Wright suggested that the city follow up with Skipper Consulting after the Central Avenue project is complete, in order to study traffic on Reese Street and consider making it one way. Building, Engineering and Zoning Department employee Greg Cobb said the final parts of the Central Avenue project are slated to be complete this week.

Mims showed initial design ideas but said the plans for Caveat are not yet complete. She told the committee members that she hopes to open the shop before Christmas.