Brewing Grounds For Change

I pass this place almost everyday, and I never see it open. I wish they would open their doors! It seems like a waste of money and space to keep it here if it is not being put to use.

I’ve heard a lot of rough things about this place, mostly in regards to the time it can take to get a drink…
While that isn’t inaccurate, I certainly don’t mind waiting a few extra minutes here. The seating is a bit rough, with older furniture, but the vibe of the place is incredibly friendly, and the service staff is talkative without being intrusive.
The prices are fair, and the location convenient. I’ll probably be stopping in occasionally on a nice day to sit and read and enjoy a cool drink on a hot day, but I wouldn’t come in for a quick in and out drink, it’s not that kind of establishment.
If you want a genuine experience here, hang out, talk, and relax… that’s the kind of place it is.

I do like this place. The ambiancE reminds me of a few places back home in Chicago. It almost feels like someone’s living room. Sure, most of the furnishings are indeed second hand, but they are still pretty well appointed and certainly clean.
My main problem with this place is twofold: 1) The baristas tend to be incredibly slow. I fully understand that all of the baristas and really anyone that works here are volunteers, but it seems that it shouldn’t take 6 minutes to make an iced coffee, particularly if I was the only one in line. 2) This may also be because of the all-​volunteer staff, but the training seems to be lacking. For example, pulling each cube of ice out of trays with your bare fingers after handling money and without washing your hands first seems a bit unsanitary. Making sure that the staff is well trained cootek cure both of these issues.

Last year I funded Compassionate Cake via Kickstarter, which actually was funding Brewing Grounds. I never received the tee shirt that I was expecting but more importantly, they never actually gave the crowd-​funded money to Compassionate Cake. Both Compassionate Cake and I have contacted Brewing Grounds about this and they have not even responded to the situation. They just seem unethical.

It seems like this place has lost a little luster lately. In its prime in may have been a decent place to grab coffee and play counter culture outside of going to another place in the area. Recently though there just haven’t been enough volunteers for this to be staffed properly. Hopefully the place picks up and I would definitely be compelled to give this place another shot.

I first started going here shortly after they opened (2004???) because I used to frequent Colleta’s Pizza Collective, which was also co-​run by one of the Brewing Grounds Founders. Brewing Grounds has changed over the years in terms of what they offer and the events they hold but I’ve always loved their spirit and friendliness. Fair trade products, vegan hot cocoa and vegan cupcakes? Yes, please!
I’ve never been a coffee person so I’m always happy to get tea and the occasional vegan hot chocolate. I do wish they had more vegan food regularly (I’ve had chili and pancakes here before), but I understand how hard it is for a collectively-​run, non-​profit business to operate, so I’m willing to forego the occasional inconvenience to support a business that I am 100% behind ethically.

This place is pretty bare bones, but they’re also a volunteer run non-​profit. or co-​op. not sure… But anyway, they serve only 100% fair trade coffee, tea, and the usual trappings. ‘Cuz of the volunteer dependence, I’m guessing, the hours can be inconsistent. However, the coffee is good, the workers are nice, and the location is good if not maybe a bit disadvantageous for the shop. It’s on Farwell in that sort of nether region between North and Brady. A lot of residential buildings and houses, but it seems that residents of this neighborhood tend to get sucked to either commercial district and sometimes forget what is in between. I used to live kitty corner from the place and I barely came in, I must admit. Thing is, Koppa’s is a block up the street and has good coffee you can grab and go on the cheap, and I think that’s what the yuppie-​ish folks are looking for. This place would do better in a more student oriented neighborhood, but I’m glad it’s here. There’s not anywhere else to go sit and stew with your mud if you don’t want to go to the smaller joints on Brady or the Alterras on Prospect or the lake. Those places can seem too big and impersonal for me. I like a smaller, less polished place to hang out and Brewing Grounds does that nicely. It’s just a shame that I’ve only recently been spending time at coffee shops and don’t live across the street anymore.
They have live music sometimes, largely acoustic acts that fit into the smaller side room and play for hippy hipster kids who sit on the floor. There’s always some pamphlets to grab, zines and whatnot, so it serves as a by-​proxy infoshop as well. I live in Riverwest but started coming here because the two shops in my neighborhood have failed me in the 2 basic requirements I ask of a coffee shop: 1. Decent — Good coffee. 2. Consistent Wi-​Fi and a place for me to plug in. Both Fuel and Alterra on Humboldt have blown it on #2 lately. Fuel’s got some issue with their café service provider, and Alterra’s often too busy for me to find a place to plug in. So Brewing Grounds is a welcome alternative, and it gives me a chance to ride the bike out of the neighborhood. Good luck to this shop.
Sidenote: They could use some volunteers. I’m betting you get free coffee/​tea.

There’s really only two reasons I stop here: bakery (especially cupcakes) and vanilla soy chai. They sell bakery items from Compassionate Cake (kinda expensive but high quality) and I (or my husband) will go over there and pick something up if something caught my eye on their Facebook page. Yes, I am the weird girl who will bring her own tupperware to carry the goods home (hey, I’m saving a box and hence the environment, so THERE).
The soy vanilla chai is one of the best I have ever had, they even have this great cinnamon topping they put on it which makes it that much better. I haven’t tried the coffee or tea.
Yeah, the furniture looks like they bought it at a used thrift shop or neighbor’s garage sale. Definitely not an upscale shop, but I haven’t had any bad experiences here (but other then the one time I sat with my chai we have always been grab our bakery and go people). Sometimes they have to open late or close early due to not having someone able to work at a certain time. One time their espresso machine broke, so they were super limited on their drinks that day. However, they are very good about posting this stuff in a timely manner on their Facebook page so I usually catch it on my homepage as I am fulfilling my internet addiction.
It is a fair trade, non-​profit volunteer coffee shop. I don’t know what the money goes towards or is used for though. Give them a try, I think you’ll like it if you don’t go in with a big time coffee shop in mind. :-)

Looks like the furniture section of goodwill and is more of a hang out for teenage hippies that play acoustic guitars and bang on tambourines for hours outside on the sidewalk (I live across the street, it’s non stop in summer, and awful)

It’s not you, Brewing Grounds, it’s me. I mean, I just don’t get it. Please don’t take my two stars to heart. I’ll give you another chance, I swear.
Here’s the thing. i’m all about people caring about things, and I think it’s pretty damned cool that all the people who work here are volunteering, but, like, it’s still a coffee shop, right? maybe they just don’t care about making money. in that case, that’s kinda cool too. except that I like spending money. on coffee i mean.
I may not look like i’m down with social change. maybe that’s why as soon as i walked in the door i was asked if i could be helped and then i was directed to a specific table in the corner far, far away from the other, more cool, guitar playing and bike assembling folk. but i like guitars and bikes, i just also like coffee. they looked confused, even lost when i ordered some. there was no milk or sugar out, and it seemed like a local hang out for neighborhood kids more than a place to get shit done.
i get it. that’s cool. just not cool enough for me. or maybe i’m not cool enough for them. either way.

I love Brewing Grounds. It is right up the street from my place and it is a great spot to study, drink caffeine and people watch. I love reading the flyers and eavesdropping on the conversations. This place is more about the atmosphere and attitude than anything else, but they have some worthy caffeine going on over there also.
I am a fair trade kinda girl, I guess it is the social worker in me. Brewing Grounds is as Fair Trade as they come. I can buy my coffee and feel socially conscious at the same time. Win win situation.

For a while, my roommate and I would try out a different coffee shop during the week while doing homework. We stopped here because we had heard it was kind of cool.
yuck.
Strike 1: We wanted caffeine free tea and the barista couldn’t tell us which teas were caffeinated or not. We ended up with a tea for pregnant women because we figured it was the only safe one.
Strike 2: The seating area was gross. We both agreed it felt very Salvation Army-​ish and not in a cute, kitschy way.
Strike 3: The music.
We had to leave as soon as we finished our tea.

Every town should have at least one place like this.
Where community expression, individual expression and whatever expression is welcome. From what I understand the staff are all volunteers!!!
Unfortunately when we arrived last night, the volunteers seemed burnt and were closing early because neighbors called the cops with a noise complaint. Hello, it was 9:30 on a friday on Farwell. If you are concerned about noise in THAT neighborhood on a friday early evening, neighbor, you should really consider living in a different location.
Any way, nice folks working there as they opened the door and made us a drink before they closed for the night, community sketch books, local events posted, WiFi. A little dirty but not hitting the gross factor. We need to protect and support places like this!

This place is awesome. Open til 11:30, really cool decorations and seating area. Free wi-​fi. Come check it out man

Great café. Staff has gone above and beyond and helped me out a few times with organizing projects I was working on there (networking me with local political figures and academics). Great work space. There was this one time that the person working was manicly playing clips of club music over the speakers though that had made me stray away.