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GRAND RAPIDS | KALAMAZOO | MUSKEGON | 5.7.23

These articles have been curated from the archives of MI Best Local Eats on MLive.com. As always, find the most-up-to-date information on the business/event/activity website, Facebook page or other direct information source.

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Welcome Home Michigan’s Best Local Eats:

Caffè Casa serving something

different for 30 years in Kalamazoo

RYAN BOLDREY | rboldrey@mlive.com

KALAMAZOO, MI

This article has been edited for space, find the full article and links on mlive.com/michigansbest

Stories we e to shar

asa in Spanish means house. So, it is no surprise that when setting foot in Caffe Casa, located at 128 S. Kalamazoo Mall, that you feel you are in somebody’s home. A place where all are welcome, John and Kathy Beebe have run their quirky, independent coffee shop and eatery since late 1992, serving the public now for three full decades, since they were both in their 20s. It hasn’t always been easy, and the couple has overcome multiple challenges through the years, from the birth and growth of chain coffee shops in the area, along with local competitors, to a severe motorcycle accident experienced by John Beebe in 2017 to the COVID-19 pandemic. But through it all, “the shop,” as they’ve affectionately called it through three decades, has persevered. “I feel like what we’ve made is a snowflake and you couldn’t try to recreate it,” Kathy Beebe told MLive/The Kalamazoo Gazette. “This place has a magic to it, and it is experienced by so many people. A plant wall that features vintage grow lights features plants that have been growing with the business since day one allows patrons and staff in a break to be surrounded by life and light and, as Kathy Beebe says, “leave feeling improved, with a positive experience in your pocket.” “I try to rein in the clutter and keep It clean and open to placate minimalists, but John and I are both offspring of collectors,” she said, referencing the plants and the walls that are filled with art by local artist Jerry Fry, as well as pieces from other area artisans and custommade furniture. While their parents and grandparents collected everything from antique firearms to model trains, wicker baskets and hats, or in Kathy Beebe’s mom’s case, “all things Jesus,” Kathy said she is all about collecting things that serve a purpose such as the plants, as well as stories, people and experiences. During the pandemic, she said, it was the stories and conversations she shared with people that kept the shop going while they were on a to-go-only basis.

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Hurdling past the pandemic, one of the biggest challenges for Caffe Casa, Beebe said, was that so many people bought fancy coffee and espresso makers at home and became experts in their own right. “Lunches got us back on path,” she said. “Almost everyone that came in was getting lunch.” The shop’s lunch menu is something that, in addition INFO to helping them survive the pandemic, has helped them survive competition over the Caffe Casa is open from 7:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. years, she said. Monday-Wednesday, The croissants and 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. bagels used for the shop’s Thursday-Friday and sandwiches, as well as the 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. on pastries are all baked in Saturdays. For more house by Kathy Beebe, who information, call also makes fresh soup daily, 269-385-1026 and John Beebe makes the or visit everything spice that goes www.caffecasa.net on the bagels. In addition to the lunch menu, the couple keep things consistent with its coffee, proudly serving Paramount Coffee from Lansing since the day they opened. Beyond coffee, Caffe Casa offers a unique selection of loose-leaf teas, Italian and French sodas and other beverages such as vegan power lattes and gingerbread lattes. There are no bubble teas or pour overs or matcha teas, but that’s part of the charm of the shop.