New In Joliet: Specialty Coffee Shop Sought Out Grounds Opens, 'Dirty Hor' Super Good

JOLIET, IL — Jitters coffee shop has been a fixture in downtown Joliet along North Chicago Street for more than 20 years and people love it, but starting this week, there's a new specialty shop a few blocks away in the 3 TEN Building at 310 North Ottawa Street called Sought Out Grounds on Route 66.

Sought Out Grounds marked its soft opening last Saturday and more than 300 people attended including Route 66 tourists passing through Joliet from as far away as Australia and California.

Sought Out Grounds is now open seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It's motto? Coffee With Culture.

For visitors, there is parking along the nearby downtown streets consisting of Benton Avenue, Crowley Street and North Ottawa Street.

'Dirty Hor' Becomes An Instant Hit As Most Popular Drink

Samantha Bosi, Sebastian Arroyo and Cesar Cardenas' wife, Rosie, co-own Sought Out Grounds, and their barista is Rissa Trotsky, who specializes in drawing, painting, ceramics and tattoos. Joliet City Councilman Cesar Cardenas and his wife purchased the Old Steelworkers Union Hall in 2018 and spent several years renovating the building into a mixed use including professional offices.

This week's addition of Sought Out Grounds gives the building a total of seven businesses. The drip coffee is single origin from Honduras while the espresso beans for the new coffee shop come from Ethiopia.

"We're seeking out the best of what we can and bringing it to the area in coffee and art," remarked Arroyo.

By far, the most popular drink has been the aptly named Dirty Hor. It's a house-made horchata with oat milk, cinnamon, homemade organic vanilla syrup and espresso.

Although the Dirty Hor is listed on the seasonal menu, the owners of Sought Out Grounds told Joliet Patch that it will probably become a permanent menu selection.

"The dirty horchata, that's our signature drink," Arroyo remarked. "It's going to be a staple. For seasonal, we have four flavors running, and about eight flavors for the coffee. Everything is made in house, from scratch."

The drip is available in 12 ounces and 16 ounces. The rest of the regular coffee menu is rounded out by the Nitro Cold Brew, Cold Brew, Cafe Miel, Latte, Cappucino, Cortado, Americano, Espresso and the Pour Over - Cafe de Olla.

"All our syrups are organic and homemade," Bosi said.

Music Events, Open Mic Nights Planned This Summer

Besides the Dirty Hor, the other seasonal flavors on the opening menu include the Getting Figgy With It, Berry Good Vibes and Lavender Lush.

The non-coffee drinks include Macha Latte, Chai Latte, hot tea, iced tea and hot chocolate. There are nine pastries featured on the menu including donuts, croissants, sourdough cookies, sourdough blueberry muffins and pumpkin muffins.

"In addition to the pastries, we're looking to offer sandwiches and paninis in the future," Bosi said.

Downtown Joliet's 3 Ten Building is large. A total of seven different businesses operate inside the building and the open space allows for Sought Out Grounds to host regular music events and open microphone nights for small audiences.

'Specialty Coffee Shop Inside A Shared Workspace'

In addition to Sought Out Grounds, downtown Joliet's remodeled 3 Ten Building includes the Latino Economic Development Assocation, Unidos Marketing Network, With Purpose Media and Events, Pueblo Studio architecture, interiors and consulting, Herencia Residential & Commercial real estate and XR Space professional photo and video studio.

"I think it's a specialty coffee shop in downtown inside a shared workspace area," Cardenas pointed out.

During Tuesday's interview, Cardenas told Joliet Patch he expects Sought Out Grounds will quickly become another destination draw for downtown Joliet, notably for Route 66 travelers.

"Absolutely. I think it's a great addition to the downtown area," Cardenas said. "We see a lot of Route 66 travel coming to the area."

Cardenas said he just returned from another Route 66 destination, Albuquerque, New Mexico, where at least four different coffee shops in the downtown co-exist and flourish.

"It brings us more people downtown and this place has been pretty busy since the soft opening," Cardenas remarked Tuesday afternoon.

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