Street murals + coffee just bring bring me life.
Madcapp Coffee on Farmer Street in Detroit, MI
This new coffee shop (new to the D) is the perfect blend of modern and grit. Nestled into a corner of the brand new Shinola Hotel block, you still feel a sense of the old Detroit mixed with the new.
Taken smack dab in the middle of an empty Farmers Street on a Sunday morning, looking towards Madcap. As you walk through this pathway, it takes you to the brand new Parker’s Alley - home to Drought, The Lip Bar, Evening Bar, The Brakeman, Posie Atelier and more.
Home of the friendliest baristas in Detroit. Seriously, they are always smiling and genuinely kind.
Why Madcap?
If you’ve ever been to Grand Rapids, you know how exciting it’s been to have a piece of GR in Detroit. This cafe has been a staple on the west side of the state for quite some time now, so the expansion to Detroit has been truly refreshing for this neighborhood. This spot literally used to be an empty lot where people could get away with free street parking, and now to have it filled with people (honestly, from all over the world) has made me really happy.
THEY HAVE OAT MILK.
Enough said. I am by NO means a coffee critic, I gravitate towards the iced coffee no matter where I go. They have some delicious options here and did I mention, OAT MILK. My fav.
I think the reason I enjoy this coffee shop so much is because I am blown away that it even exists. When people ask me about living in Detroit (and everyone has their own story depending on who you talk to) the one thing I tell people who have never been here is this: You can literally watch the city being built back up. Abandoned and blighted buildings being restored, day by day. Streets are being turned from parking lots (unless owned by Ilitches) into Madcap Coffee and The Brakeman. Empty parking lots are not ideally desirable places to live by when you pay to live in a downtown city, so bringing life to these streets and watching it happen before your very eyes is truly an experience in itself.
Detroit feels like I am looking in a mirror…a very slow work in progress…but some progress is better than none. Yeah, I said it haha.