Black Diesel Coffee is now open at the corner of Packard and E. Stadium, in the corner storefront previously occupied by Peet’s Coffee & Tea and by Caribou Coffee. Both were successful, busy stores, but their corporate owners decided to leave the entire region. Black Diesel’s improvements include a new front patio with comfy furniture and a rethink of the interior to add a few seats and a lot of power outlets.
Visitors to the cafe inquire if it’s a chain, and everything about it seems to hint that it doesn’t want to be the only Black Diesel in the world. But, at least for now, it’s a singleton. Owner Nick Ferris also has the Old Carolina Barbecue franchise in Cranbrook Village.
The test of a coffee shop is in part how well the register works and how quickly one can get a cup of hot coffee into jittery morning hands. Black Diesel needs a little work yet to get its front counter working efficiently. If you are used to using Square to quickly sign for your coffee, the point-of-sale software (ShopKeep) will look familiar enough, but it’s not currently set up to remember your email address. Regulars who want receipts will slow down the line just a little.
Black Diesel Coffee, 1423 E. Stadium Blvd., 436-8355. Mon.-Thurs. 6 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 7 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. 7 a.m.-6 p.m. blackdieselcoffee.com
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Though Shinola’s opening was noted a few months ago, we failed to give the coffee bar within the store its due. It’s run by Commonwealth, whose main shop is in Birmingham; Commonwealth also runs the coffee counter at Detroit’s Shinola. Barista David Chapman describes it as “direct-trade coffee sourced from small farmers in South America and Africa. We specialize in espresso and pour-over coffee,” the latter meaning drip coffee, but made to order, not by the pot. Chapman says that back in the mothership in Birmingham, “we experiment with small-batch roasting, and that gives us a lot of control over the product. We can mess around with a lot of little factors.”
Pastries, muffins, and macaroons are made in Birmingham and delivered daily. There’s also a vegan fruit bar.
Like any coffee place, Commonwealth opens in time for you to grab a java before work, and, since it’s not walled off from Shinola in any way, that means you can also buy a thousand-dollar watch before you even know what you’re doing.
Commonwealth (inside Shinola), 301 S. Main, 389-7013, Mon.-Sat. 7 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. 7 a.m.-6 p.m. gocommonwealth.com
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In early July David Myers was about to open Mighty Good at Arbor Hills in what used to be Glassbox Coffee (he also took over the other Glassbox site on South U several months ago, scarcely missing a beat after it closed late last year). Asked what a former Glassbox customer might notice that’s different, he laughed: “The Glassbox has been closed for almost a year!” Ergo, the most obvious change is that it’s open. Myers’ laugh was a little brittle–he began trying to negotiate both leases at the same time, and this one was a battle.
Instead of comparing it to the ill-fated Glassbox, he suggests comparing it with itself. Like his Main St. Mighty Good, this one will also have a “toast bar” with bread from Fenton’s Crust bakery. He’s adding topping all the time–the most recent addition is cheese from Ann Arbor’s White Lotus Farms.
Mighty Good, 3010 Washtenaw, 436-8580. Mon.-Sat. 7 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. 8 a.m.- 6 p.m. mightygoodcoffee.com