Stone Creek Coffee – Downer Ave Café and Kitchen

2650 N. Downer Ave., Milwaukee

This location used to be my bank—funny to think of now—when I first moved to Milwaukee, c. 2000. I can’t even remember the name of the bank—I think they no longer exist. Anyway, the Stone Creek café here is an excellent addition to this neighborhood—if you live over here, you’re in luck, with a few restaurants, hardware, drug, and grocery store, bookstore, theater, and a couple of cafés. Stone Creek is a good, local coffee company—currently with about eight locations in the greater area—and I hope they open more, post-pandemic. (Please reopen the excellent spot in the skywalk!) The espresso is very good, can’t complain there. I’ve visited here a lot, and I’ve never quite figured out why I don’t like it as a place to sit. Most likely it’s just always too crowded—it’s not the café’s fault—it’s set up well enough. The clientele here bug me—of course, that’s a massive generalization—but places have vibe. When you put too many rich people in too small a place, it creates a negative aura, due to their personal space issues. I guess it reminds me, in a way, of the atmosphere on an airplane. If it was possible for the café to expand, that would help. Really, my favorite way to enjoy this place is during warmer weather because they have a great outside seating area facing the side street—so it’s not too traffic noisy—and they also have a variety of ways to open the inside to the outside.

2.15.23