I had a nice conversation with Sarah (Sara?) who manages the ERC on Main St. We had talked ever so briefly during Art Fair (when it was impossible to get any sort of word in edgewise) so it was nice to talk.
ERC-MAIN (that's their wifi ID) is one of the places I'm a regular. The coffee is good, the location just across the street from my office downtown is good, and there's usually wifi so I can be online. They carry bagels (my favorite is salt) so I can get a morning snack that's not sugary. There are usually a number of people here on laptops and there's generally enough outlet space to stay plugged in.
This cafe is not as full as it could be during the day. I'm surprised that more people don't use it as a gathering place for things like book groups, knitting groups, ad hoc meeting places, or a spot to just sit and be online or catch up on phone calls or reading.
For Sara, what would you do to bring people to the cafe?
Some reading:
Starbucks Gossip - just as it says, an active blog about SBUX with plenty of patron comments.
What's on the bulletin board at Cafe Ambrosia? - a start at a "cafe blog" idea. This turned out to be hard to do at Ambrosia because there was no wifi.
Ann Arbor coffee shops with Internet - a 2004 survey and summary of what's available in town - the #5 hit in Google for "ann arbor coffee"
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i agree that erc has the best coffee in town, and the best baristas, too -- they are artists. but ERC-MAIN has no windows.
you'll find me at sweetwater's much more often. the capuccino is nothing special, and they don't provide Wi-Fi ... but what a view.
Posted by: peter honeyman | August 10, 2005 at 11:47 PM
sweetwaters newly has wifi again - beamed in from across the streets - use "A2 Freenet" or the grizzly peak access points. saw osm there today.
Posted by: Edward | August 10, 2005 at 11:55 PM