Cafe serves with a grin

It may not be well known, but it is certainly well loved. Along with a full menu of cafe-style drinks and baked goods, the Cheshire Cafe provides residents of Collins
Living-Learning Center with a location to study and socialize.

Collins historian Sarah Epplin and Cheshire Cafe co-manager and senior Jacki Coiro said the “Chesh” began as a service project run by students.

To fulfill a requirement for the Collins LLC, several residents began serving hot drinks from a closet in the Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch Coffeehouse, a lounge located on the ground level of Collins. Eventually they upgraded to a larger room adjacent to the Coffeehouse.

What began as a small-scale project has developed into a fully functional cafe. Open from 7:30 to 9 a.m. weekends and 8 p.m. to midnight nightly, it offers a full menu of cafe-style items like muffins and hot drinks.

Most menu items range in price from $.75 to $2.00. The cafe remains completely nonprofit, and some patrons find this aspect of it uniquely appealing.

“The fact that it’s still around, still not-for-profit, still run by students and still here is pretty amazing,” sophomore Callan Fromm said.

The cafe’s friendly atmosphere is also a pull for customers. Board games fill a bookshelf along the wall, and comfortable couches and chairs occupy one corner.
Baristas choose the background music each night, and students’ artwork adorns the walls.

Customers can share a game with friends or sit down to chat.

“It’s a place that’s open late so students who don’t want to party have a refuge. I think IU could gain a lot from having more places like this,” sophomore and barista Meg Gusler said.

Beyond its nightly role as a friendly coffee shop, the Cheshire Cafe contributes to the Collins community in a variety of ways.

Every barista is required to put on one event, such as a film viewing, each semester.

The cafe has also puts on holiday-themed activities like pumpkin carving and egg dying. Coiro said these events help build the Collins community.

Almost all daily operations are student-run. Any major decisions, like menu changes, are passed through the assistant director of Collins.

As co-manager, Coiro is well acquainted with both the inner workings of the cafe and its atmosphere.

“It’s nice because it’s more laid-back, and the student-run aspect is nice because it gives people a different type of experience,” she said.

Sophomore barista Noah Blumenthal states his feelings about the Cheshire Cafe even more simply.

“I love it here,” he said.