Factory Coffee
213 E. Frank StreetI’m not a morning person. I get up about a half hour before I need to get the kids off to school and my breakfast is usually a Pepsi and leftover pizza if we have some in the fridge. I like breakfast food. I like cooking breakfast food. I just don’t like getting up early enough to do so.
I walked out of the house really hungry on Friday. I was going to just hit the gas station on my way to work and grab a Pepsi and a Hostess, but I really wanted more than that.
As I’ve already mentioned, my morning caffeine is a bottle of Pepsi, not coffee like most people so I don’t spend a lot of time in coffee shops. I noticed a few weeks ago that a new(ish) coffee shop popped up on Grubhub. I clicked on it and noticed a few breakfast items on the menu.
Factory Coffee is on Frank Street on Kalamazoo’s north side. It’s in a business incubator known as the Reality Factory. A ceramics company and the owner’s moped business also have space in the building that was built in the 1930’s. It’s pretty much always been a factory of some kind and still kind of is with the moped business.
The coffee shop takes up the main floor of the building. There is an entrance off Frank Street but it’s not handicap accessible. There is a large wooden ramp that winds around the building to a rear door that will get you inside the coffee shop.
The space is as amazing as you would expect from a building this old. There are beautiful hardwood floors throughout and bike parts from mopeds are used in the decor. There are also large display’s of ceramics in the back from Grayling Ceramics which uses the basement of the building. My wife actually bought me a custom ceramic growler from Grayling for our anniversary last September.
There was just one barista working the order counter. There were a few people in front of me and that barista was working as fast as he could to keep up.
I started by ordering a Hot Chocolate. This was made with chocolate syrup and warm milk. The barista was really struggling getting enough syrup out to make the drink. He wasn’t happy with it when he handed it to me but I thought it was delicious. There was plenty of chocolate to give it really strong, sweet chocolaty flavor. He topped it off with whipped cream and handed the cup over while he got my food together.
There were a couple of things I was interested in so I just ordered both. Remember? I said I was hungry.
I started with the Factory Biscuit. The sandwich is premade and waiting in a cooler near the cash register then heated up so it comes together quickly. The sandwich starts with a biscuit made by the Victorian Bakery. It’s stuffed with pork sausage and scrambled egg. The biscuit here was so buttery and so flaky. It was really hot so I could just scarf it down like I wanted to. I had to be patient.
I also ordered the Waffle Darts. These are said they are made to order but I honestly didn’t see how the barista did it. The darts are essentially a waffle on a stick. It kind of feels like eating a delicious, breakfast corn dog. Unfortunately, they were out of maple syrup. The Darts are a really cool idea and easy to eat on the go. On their own, they just tasted like a waffle. The syrup would have made them a lot better.
My bill for the drink and two breakfast items was a little over $12 before tip.
Factory Coffee is a cool place. I love the atmosphere and can see it as a really great place to sit and get some work done if you’re one of those coffee shop people. There seemed to be a lot of people meeting others for meetings or just to catch up during my stop. The food menu is not extensive but there’s just enough to get your day going
SW Michigan Dining 