Overcast skies, wind howling, a chill in the air – no, that’s not a business major coming your way, it’s simply fall weather. In honor of getting past the drizzling fall rain and the climate change-induced fall heat, the writers of The Byz decided to spend a Saturday sampling seven Lansing-area coffee shops in order to find the best one.
7.) The Quality Dairy on Grand River
We traipsed from our RCAH classes to the closest Quality Dairy, each of us wearing AirPods blaring the Lumineers and the Avett Brothers. When we finally reached Quality Dairy, there was oddly some wood covering all of the windows and doors. After kindly kicking the wood in, we were able to find one big pot of coffee sitting next to a smelly slushie machine. The coffee tasted acrid, and almost entirely like mold. 1/10.
6.) The Claddagh
After the odd experience at QD, we decided to try our hand at an Irish Coffee. We took our cute little behinds to Eastwood Towne Center, only to discover with dismay that the doors were locked and the place looked nearly abandoned. Fortunately our colleague Ben had a spare safety pin in his car and we were able to jimmy the lock. Score! When we tried to get coffee, all we could find was a half-drank bottle of Jameson. 3/10, we’ve had worse at Dublin.
5.) Spiral Dance Bar
Since we were already out, we decided to hit up a classic: Spiral. When we got in after scaling the roof and finding a vent that led inside, we were dismayed to find most of the furniture, as well as the dance floor, were completely gone. Fortunately, we were able to find some still-sweaty thongs in the bathroom. 4.5/10, saltier than expected but it quenched our thirst.
4.) Espresso Royale
We’d been away from campus for awhile, and decided to head back to Grand River. The obvious next choice was Espresso Royale, and we were all excited for the lattes and cappuccinos we’d surely find there. When we entered, we were all pleasantly surprised to be actually served beverages by workers. What level of service! However, we took off points because all of the coffee tasted exactly like hummus and the napkins said Zyara Grill. 6/10.
3.) The Vista at Shaw
Some say Saturdays are for the boys, but we say Saturdays are for coffee at Shaw caf…with the boys. After begging a disgruntled facilities worker to let us in, we found a row of cereal dispensers chock-full of Cheerios and Cap’n Crunch and forgot why we went in there. 7.5/10, cereal rules.
2.) Mac’s Bar
We headed to our penultimate local gem, Mac’s Bar on Michigan Ave. When we got there, we just found a box of basketballs outside and some pre-teens putting out cigarettes on the front door. One of them gave us a gourmet lobster mac-and-cheese sandwich. 8/10, Mac’s makes a good mac – good enough to forget the quest for caffeine!
1.) The Frandor Sears
While driving back to campus from Mac’s, we realized we could make one more stop: the Sears in Frandor. We tried to get inside, but the doors were locked. Fortunately, we found a line of cars and hopped right in. When we pulled up, the baristas shoved some cotton up our noses. 10/10, it invigorated us more than any other cup of joe we’d had all day!
Let us know what local hotspots we should try next time we need our java fix!
The Byzantine 