On a brisk October morning, ninety-five-year-old Martha Ebinger walked to Real Baked Goods, in the triangular space next to Arbor Vacuum on Packard, from her home two blocks away. We found her there, sharing a pecan roll with her caregiver. Owner/baker Alan Caldwell hadn’t been open long enough to know how she took her coffee, but by now he probably knows that she drinks “dark roast, with a little half-and-half, not milk.”

Another customer walked in–Caldwell’s coffee roaster, Matt Bjurman (pronounced “beerman”). Bjurman owns Milan Coffee Works, which bills its product as “nano-roasted craft coffee.” They bantered about the difference between “nano” and “micro”–the latter is how Caldwell describes his business. It’s so micro he won’t sell his cinnamon rolls wholesale to Bjurman, who runs a small cafe in his roastery. “But if I did,” says Caldwell, “you’d be my first customer.”

Caldwell, fifty-six, has always been a baker and has a hospitality degree from MSU. He topped off that degree with an MBA and worked at Ford corporate for twenty-some years until he was let go during one of the recessionary purges.

Real Baked Goods is high quality, unpretentious, and minimalist–a trio of adjectives that can be hard to simultaneously pull off, but Caldwell seems naturally tuned into that frequency. The bakery case holds a variety of fresh, yeasty spiral rolls, some savory, some sweet (typically pepperoni, spinach and feta, pecan, and cinnamon), and chocolate chip cookies–all baked from his own carefully developed recipes. To go with it, Caldwell sells regular filtered coffee and fancy barista stuff. A basket of fresh fruit and chips sits on the counter, there are a few bottled drinks, and that’s it.

Real Baked Goods, 1232 Packard, 646-6087. Tues.-Sat. 7 a.m.-1 p.m. Closed Sun. & Mon. realbakedgoods.com

Real Baked Goods is one of a quartet of new hyper-localized micro-businesses, all watched over protectively by neighborhood customers.

“Is it OK to go to the Ground Floor Cafe?” asked a U-M grad student about the coffee shop that replaced The Espresso Bar at Braun Court, afraid that she might be supporting a politically incorrect coup. Yes, it is. The Espresso Bar departed voluntarily to open a cafe and events space over Literati bookstore, where its build-out is in progress.

Its successor was quickly put in place by Eric Farrell, who, with Ted Kennedy, owns the upstairs Bar at 327 Braun Ct. He hired Dana Blaisdell, a barista whose impeccable coffee bona fides include working in the coffee mecca of Portland, Oregon; Zingerman’s; and Mighty Good.

The cafe retains its comfortable, battered ambience but is giving more serious attention to the coffee–tasting notes chalked on the board mention things like rhubarb and peanut butter. More casual drinkers can probably ignore that: when we were there, even barista Tavi Veraldi couldn’t smell the rhubarb.

Ground Floor Cafe, 827 Braun Ct., 585-5440. Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (brunch Sat. & Sun. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.)

Luciana Lampert and Paul Meyer are pursuing two different passions under one roof: Shades of Green Artisan Merchandise and On Your Left bike services share a funky little shop in Burns Park that’s surrounded by U-M student housing. Despite their limited business hours (both still hold other full-time jobs), they say plenty of students and “neighborhood people” have discovered them since they opened last fall.

Lampert, a preschool teacher, hails from Brazil, and met Iowan Meyer, a respiratory therapist, at a show at the Blind Pig about five years ago. Since then, Meyer says, they’ve become “partners in life and in business.” For thirty years Meyer was a cyclist and mechanic for RAGBRAI–the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. At his shop he offers tune-ups, repairs, and rentals and sells refurbished bikes. He also builds custom bikes, like the “Cadillac of bikes” he built for Lampert.

Lampert’s side of the shop features items by a dozen artists, including handcrafted women’s clothing, accessories, and gifts. Most are repurposed. Lampert’s own label is called “Revoiced,” and she sells wallets that she made out of Brazilian coffee bags, one-of-a-kind fabric shopping bags, and even dangly earrings created from Oberon beer’s orange bottle caps. She says her clothing designs have a “Bohemian or new hippie style.” There’s a top created out of men’s ties, a “rock-star jean jacket” with appliques and macrame, and colorful tops and dresses created from tablecloths and curtains.

“I’ve been repurposing since I was a teenager–we didn’t have much ready-made clothing when I was growing up in Brazil,” she explains. “It’s the way I use my creativity, and it also helps the environment.” Lampert also features products made by Brazilian cooperatives that benefit street kids and other charities.

The couple’s passions intersect in at least two places in the shop: she offers handcrafted panniers for bicyclists from an Etsy artist, and he creates artful earrings and bracelets made out of bike spokes and chains for her to sell.

Shades of Green Artisan Merchandise, 645-8746, shadesofgreenartisan.com, and On Your Left, 319-400-3318, onyourleftbikes.com. 1217 Prospect, Thurs.-Fri. 1-6 p.m., Sat. 2-7 p.m., or call or text for an appointment. Pickup and delivery available for bike repair.

The Garden Cafe in the Huron Towers apartments reopened last month under new management. Mercedes Lyons is from Ecuador and says when she saw the rustic, earthy tiles on the floor, “it reminded me of home.” The menu of breakfasts, salads, sandwiches, and soups is a little bit elegant, dotted with brie, smoked salmon, and portabellas and loaded with fruits and vegetables, because “kids need to learn to eat healthy.” Sandwiches like the Monte Cristo (smoked turkey, tomato, lemon aioli between slices of French toast) come with a choice of chips, mixed greens, or raw vegetables and dip. She laughs about quinoa being newly fashionable here–she grew up eating it and other grains. The cook and manager is Lonnie Hodges. Asked about the “bulletproof coffee” on the menu (coffee, coconut oil, and grass-fed butter), he says, “Oh, it will pick you up, and it will get you where you’re going!”

The Garden Cafe is, of course, another hyper-local spot, visited mainly by the folks who live in the apartments upstairs or work in the V.A. Hospital across the street, as well as by the restaurant owner’s best friend: construction workers. “They’re always hungry!” says Lyons.

Garden Cafe, 200 Fuller Court (inside Huron Towers), 224-9715. Mon.-Sat. 7 a.m.-3 p.m. & 6-9 p.m. Closed Sun.