The Wake

Inside the old Riverside Café at the intersection of Cedar and Riverside Avenues is something old, but also new. The walls have transformed from lime green to a ruby red. The booths are now made of old coffee bags stuffed with foam and lined with a coat of plastic. There is even a bar with 28 beers on tap. This old café has transformed into the new Acadia Café.

The Acadia Café, which was previously located at 1921 Nicollet Ave. in the Stevens Square neighborhood, is moving to the West Bank and is expected to open sometime in mid-February. The café has been known for offering good food, coffee and pastries. More importantly, it has been know for its eclectic musical performances, relaxed atmosphere and of course lots of different beers.

After being in the same location since the mid-1990s, the current owners decided that it was time to move on. Co-owner Juliana Bryarly says that as their lease ended, she and co-owners Jeff Radnich-Worthman and her husband Ted Lowell wanted to own their own building. They also say they are sick of a landlord that did not care about their business and sick of a “crotchety guy complaining about loud music” upstairs.

“For what we’re getting, it doesn’t compare to the old place,” Bryarly says. “We were outgrowing that place, especially the kitchen.”

Their original plan, according to Bryarly, was to sell the Acadia Café, own their own building and start a new café. However, after the landlord could not find a new tenant for the space, they decided to move the entire café. They looked at many different sites for the new café, but Bryarly says they were particular when scouting for a new location.

“Three things had to align,” Bryarly says. “The right space, the right location for the right price. The Cedar-Riverside location fit that bill.”

Even with all the other bars and cafés in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, the owners are excited to join the growing West Bank. Bryarly says she believes that having other businesses around, like the Hard Times Café, the 400 Bar and Mapps Coffee & Tea, will not only help the Acadia, but will also help bring more business to others on the West Bank.

“I like the neighborhood,” Bryarly says. “It’s funky and energetic. There’s a really cool mix of people. I just like the feel. I like the fact there are other businesses in the area. The more, the merrier.”

Other business owners on the West Bank agree with Bryarly’s sentiments. Erdoan Akgue, the owner of Mapps , which is right next door to where the new Acadia will be, says he is happy that a locally owned business is going to be his new neighbor. He says he hopes that the new Acadia will also help draw more people over to Mapps.

“There’s nothing worse than having an empty store next to you,” Akgue says. “When there are more businesses that attract people in general it helps everyone.”

Akgue also says that many other corporate businesses could have moved into the area, and that could have ruined his quaint coffee shop, which is a favorite with some students around campus.

“I don’t see it as Starbucks moving in next door,” Akgue says with a laugh.

Others business also share Akgue’s anti-corporate opinion. Co-owner of the Hard Times Café, which is down the block from the new Acadia location on Riverside Avenue, Jason Buckendorf says that having a small, locally-owned business is much better for the West Bank community and for their café.

“It could be worse,” Buckendorf says about the Acadia moving in. “It could be a Starbucks there. At least it’s a local business.”

However, Buckendorf also worries about how the new Acadia might affect the Hard Times café, which was affected already by closings and health code violations. He says that he has mixed feelings. He says it could bring more people to the West Bank, but it also might take people away from Hard Times.

“At first I was apprehensive, but that was during the period of our status being unknown,” Buckendorf says. “It could bring in a different crowd to the West Bank. I guess I’m kind of mixed.”

These small West Bank businesses might be happy to hear that the Acadia Café is changing its game plan. According to Bryarly, the Acadia will now have a full liquor license and a full kitchen. The Acadia will now be more like a relaxed pub and café, Bryarly says.

“It just fits more in with what we enjoy doing,” Bryarly says. “We’re going from coffee shop, to café, to a full bar.”

Bryarly says she will miss seeing the regulars that frequented the old Acadia, but she says she hopes to still see them wondering over to the West Bank. U of M senior Erin Bonner was a regular customer at the old Acadia, and went to the café about three times a week. She began going there as a freshman when she heard of it through word of mouth. Now she says she probably will not be able to make it there as much.

She says she will miss the relaxed atmosphere, friendly staff and how it had something to offer everybody.

“You could go there in the morning and get an omelet and drink your coffee,” Bonner says. “Or you could go there on Saturday night and see a show and have a really good on-tap beer selection.”

The unique beer selection is one major draw that Bryarly and the owners say they hope will keep some of the “beer snobs” coming to the Acadia, regardless of its location. The Acadia will now have 28 different beers on tap compared to 24 at the old café.

What makes the Acadia unique is that they do not serve any major corporate chain of beer on tap. Bryarly says they pride themselves in their snobbery of beer.

“We’re snobby and selective,” Bryarly says about beer. “Bud on tap is a waste of a tap. If you’re going to have fresh beer, make it good beer.”