Honestly, a blog post about coffee shops in GR could be VERY long because there are so many good ones! Being a west side native, I’ve seen a few new ones on the scene that make me happy to be a westsider, even more than I already am!
1. Corridor Coffee : this newcomer to the west side fits right in. Situated very close to Bridge st. which boasts a couple big names well known to Grand Rapids (Butchers Union, New Holland, and Harmony Hall), this chic coffee shop is located inside an old building with wood floors, bright front windows and friendly baristas that always ask how your day is going. Oh, and their Cafè Miel was 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽.
2. The Bitter End. This coffeehouse has been on the west side for as long as I can remember. The building is an old bank, and it’s open 24 hours serving organic bean coffee. It’s dark and moody and gives the perfect hipster coffee vibe (in a good way!).
3. You really can’t have a coffee shop list without a shout-out to Madcap. The downtown market houses the west side location, with the Monroe Center location also very close if you need a Madcap fix quick. I love the sleek, chic look of all the Madcap locations and I always feel like a real coffee snob when I order! The other day I tried the Nelson Moreno which has rich flavors of cranberry and chocolate.
4. Sparrows (Bridge st. location). So Sparrows is also a newcomer to the west side! The original location is over near East Grand Rapids. It’s the type of place where the windows fog just right in the winter and the string lights just beg you to come in and enjoy a cup.
This is only a small sampling of the many local coffee shops in Grand Rapids. Every once in a great while I have no choice but to stop at a chain coffee shop (the horror), but more often than not, I try to support these local favorites! There are a few yet that I haven’t tried, but there’s lots of days in the year for coffee ☕️❤️.
Thanks for reading loves,
-Nique
