Love & Light Café

Kiley Russell’s Grandma Lou once said, “If you can’t bring love and light to a situation, don’t show up.”

At Russell’s Hyde Park’s Love & Light Cafe, that motto became the inspiration for the bright and charming eatery, located in the historic Piccadilly Building at the corner of Blackstone Avenue and E. Hyde Park Boulevard.

The cafe is open for breakfast and lunch, offering coffee drinks, pressed juices, egg & cheese croissants, sandwiches, salads, and cauliflower-crust pizza. Everything is fresh and made to order, and Russell jokingly said that the menu features all her favorite foods, including the Sloppy Joe, and Lou’s Burger, served just the way her grandma liked it. Many of the baked goods are made on-site, including the chocolate chunk, macadamia nut, and red velvet cookies; and the breakfast muffins.

The space was formerly a dry cleaner, and Russell would walk past it and think, “This really needs to be a cafe.” She got her chance to lease the space in 2019, and after COVID-related construction and supply chain delays, the Love & Light Cafe opened in October 2021.

Russell is a long-time Hyde Park resident and also owns Kemit Academy at 5100 S. Dorchester, offering daycare and pediatric behavioral healthcare services.

“We want our customers to feel like they’re in their aunt’s kitchen. We get to know everyone’s orders, and the cafe is a great place to grab a meal on the go, maybe get some work done, and enjoy fresh food in the neighborhood at affordable prices.”