Colectivo Coffee Roasters’ Third Ward Cafe has put a fresh face on the Colectivo brand with new features for the fast-paced customer.
The coffee company opened its thirteenth Milwaukee-area location at 225 E. St. Paul Ave. on Wednesday in conjunction with the launch of its Troubadour Bakery brand.
Colectivo co-owner Paul Miller has chased the prospect of a Third Ward venue since Colectivo Coffee, formerly Alterra Coffee, was established in 1993, according to co-owner Lincoln Fowler.
“We had never been able to identify the right location,” Fowler said. “We’re very particular when it comes to where we locate, and we finally found the right spot and that is why it occurred at the time it occurred.”
The new locale contrasts quite dramatically with other Colectivo coffee spots in the physical implementation of the café, Fowler said.
Several elements connect the interior of the café to the street, in particular the building’s expansive frontage. When Colectivo renovated the site, its artisans enlarged the triple-hung windows, returning them to their original size. A previous building inhabitant who thought the windows’ openings were too big used bricks to partially cover them, but Colectivo’s leadership team envisioned opening the entire façade of the café to the street.
Inside, Colectivo employees engage patrons from a centered service bar that is open and accessible from all angles.
“(The café is) really oriented to the walk-in, walk-out, downtown working customer,” Fowler said.
The café’s menu reinforces its commitment to the on-the-go customer with a sandwich station and simpler food options.
“We’ve engineered that menu specifically to serve that very fast-paced environment,” Fowler said.
Beverage-wise, the menu includes three Colectivo beers brewed by 3 Sheeps Brewing Company in Sheboygan. According to Fowler, the drink menu will likely be expanded in the next month or two with some other “very interesting” unannounced non-alcoholic beverages.
On the whole, he pegs the new venue as “immediate” and “urban” with a revamped design that he loves.
“I like to say whenever I visit any of the cafes that that café is my favorite, but when I say it about the Third Ward (location) it’s actually true,” Fowler said.
