Colectivo Coffee – Shorewood – 4500 N. Oakland Ave., Shorewood, Wisconsin

Monday thru Friday – 6am to 9pm / Saturday and Sunday – 6:30am to 8pm

This is the Colectivo Coffee Shop of Shorewood, Milwaukee's most immediate suburb to the north. It's on the northern part of this strip of Oakland that has gone nuts lately with development, much of it fairly interesting. The cross street is Kensington, and it's right between a liquor store and a wine shop, across the street from a Chinese take-out—you could live in the apartments upstairs and potentially never have to walk more than a block for anything. What a lot of people don't know, however, is if you walk six blocks north, then run through a couple of yards, brush, and sand, you'll be right in Lake Michigan. And if you walk six blocks east, then run through a couple of yards, brush, and sand, you'll also be right in Lake Michigan. But you might want to stay dry and sit in this cafe—one of many Colectivos—one of the more relaxing ones, I've found, because it's big and airy and not overly crowded like some. It's got long hours, and a good variety of places to sit, windows on two corners. I'll talk about Colectivo's coffee, more, later—it's not my favorite, but it's fine, and right up there with anyone on the jitters-meter. They usually have one gluten-free thing, a cookie or macaroon—I wish they had more. One big plus for cheapies like me is a coffee to-drink-there comes to $1.91, so you're not left with a pocketful of change (and can give your barista a whopping 9 cent tip). Though most of you, I'm sure, make more elaborate purchases, and tip the always pleasant and attitude-free Colectivo employees accordingly.

Richard Skiller 8.14.18