Imbibe 75 People to Watch Artur and Iryna Yuzvik

What might have been a dream deferred for Artur and Iryna Yuzvik became a longtime goal realized sooner than expected. The husband and wife founded Soloway Roastery in their hometown of Ternopil, in western Ukraine, in 2016. They soon opened two cafés—among the first to introduce specialty coffee to the city. Having received his education in Connecticut, Artur knew he wanted to return to the U.S. to open a coffee shop. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine altered their timeline.

“On the day the full-scale invasion began, we were returning from vacation and landed in NYC,” explains Artur. All flights to Ukraine were indefinitely canceled. Meanwhile, Iryna was five months pregnant with their first child. “Instead of postponing our dream, we decided to find the perfect city to make it a reality,” says Artur. After exploring New York, the couple visited Chicago and knew it was the right fit.

Just under two years after that canceled flight, Artur and Iryna opened Soloway Coffee in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The chic-yet-cozy corner café features coffees exclusively from their roastery in Ukraine—sourced from origins like Ethiopia, Colombia, and Honduras—and serves everything from pour-overs to specialty drinks like a miso-rosemary latte. Relying on a strong team to manage operations in Ukraine, the Yuzviks are planning on a third shop in Ukraine, as well as a new stateside project, with details still under wraps. “Our goal at Soloway is to encourage people to slow down and connect,” says Artur. “We want to build a strong community around our business.”

Click here to read more about some of 2025’s other Imbibe 75 People and Places to Watch.