Not to be outdone by the recent Saugatuck Center redevelopment, downtown is perking up too.
Freshii — offering healthy salads, wraps, burritos and rice bowls — just opened next to Starbucks, in the Parker Harding lot.
And Starbucks itself will soon face competition. Java Coffee & Cafe — offering the “highest quality, custom roasted free trade and/or certified organic” joe; all-natural loose leaf teas and tisanes; a breakfast menu (with 9 varieties of muffins!) and lunches like salads — is taking shape on Church Lane.
Java Coffee & Cafe (Photo/JP Vellotti)
The same crew that turned the nearby dilapidated Sherwood house into the handsome Spotted Horse restaurant has transformed the drab-looking Wild Pear restaurant (and before that, Chef’s Table).
Gone are the front steps, and narrow entry. Plentiful windows promise people-watching, which has made Spotted Horse so popular. The entire facade is warm, inviting — and fits so handsomely with the rest of the street.
Java’s motto is “Wake Up and Live.” When it opens soon, it will wake up its own little corner of downtown.