“I was looking for a second place, something smaller, where we could edit down our menu,” says Jenny Song, explaining why she opened her second Songbird Cafe in the former Great Lakes Coffee on Jackson. Her first one is thriving, she says, and “I was drawn to this place. It had so much potential. It was very homey, I loved that the bar was front and center.”
Song seems to have a magic touch: she has managed to populate the new place almost instantly with studious-looking people tapping into laptops and drinking expensive coffee drinks. Her original Plymouth Rd. location had the same kind of instant success–even when a Starbucks opened just across the parking lot, it didn’t seem to put a dent in her traffic.
The new Songbird is in an awkward location–in heavy traffic, it takes a nimble touch to get in or out from several directions. But she’s smoothed over some of the other kinks Great Lakes had. There’s more seating, and she’s redecorated to make it warmer (though she says it’s “a little darker, not as rustic” as Songbird on Plymouth). Most important, instead of Great Lakes’ slightly incongruent mash-up of coffee shop and retail outlet for chocolate and small gifts, this is a true restaurant. She put in a kitchen, and, while she doesn’t do weekend brunch or the full breakfasts served at the north-side Songbird, she does have breakfast sandwiches, and lunch is the same.
The following hours are tentative–Song may adjust them as she sees how things go.
Songbird, 2891 Jackson, 436-8412. Mon.-Fri. 7 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. & Sun. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. thesongbirdcafeannarbor.com
