What's Your Favorite...?

Coffee talk with Lyle Foster, owner of Big Momma's on Commercial Street.

Lyle Foster has neither been in Springfield all that long, nor has he been in the coffee business for very long. In fact, until December, he still left his Big Momma’s Coffee & Espresso Bar (217 E. Commercial St., 417-865-9911) once a week and hopped in his car to teach sociology classes at Lewis University in Chicago. How did he stumble upon Springfield and the espresso-bar trade?

Foster’s daughter played on a visiting basketball team at Drury University one weekend in 2004.
After getting his hair cut at Louise’s barber shop on Commercial Street, he made his way through the historic district. “I thought, ‘What’s this?’” Foster recalls.

“I loved the potential I saw in the street and what was already going on,” he says. “But I thought I would just renovate a building, get some lofts going, and I would just have a little hut by the water in Belize, sip a tropical beverage and, once a month, go to the mailbox to collect rent checks.”

Rather than sit back and relax, Foster chose to be engaged. “I’ve always been interested in community development,” he says. “There were already a lot of cool places on Commercial Street, so I thought a coffee shop would be the next step in the progression to enhance the street.”

To call Big Momma’s Coffee & Espresso Bar just a coffee shop would be like calling Foster just a coffee shop owner (although he even attended “Coffee College” in order to learn the business).

Since it opened May 4, Big Momma’s has become the social center for Commercial Street, connecting loft-dwellers who otherwise rarely see one another and pulling in Midtown homeowners who are out for a weekend stroll… especially from April to October, when the nearby farmer’s market is in season.

“I want Big Momma’s to be a place where people can meet and engage and really feel comfortable to meet new people,” Foster says. He’s also made his coffee shop a home for jazz music, dinner theatre and a constant stream of people who come there to meet friends, read or use the WiFi. Reflecting Foster’s gregarious, playful nature, Big Momma’s has an intriguing mix of everything.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE...

Coffee drink?
“Momma’s Mocha. It’s got chocolate espresso and steamed milk with Momma’s love.”

Thing about having a business that’s on Commercial Street?
“Every day is completely wild and crazy and out of control.”

Regular customer?
“Mama Ama. She works down the street at the [Professional Massage Training Center]. We go through a hugging ritual every morning. She is very much the morning person you want to see. When I go on vacation, we have to do extra hugs for the ones we’ll miss. She actually had the Mama nickname before we opened the coffee shop.”

Thing about your own momma?
“Her elegance.”

Thing about winter?
“Winter clothing on women. It’s sexy and glamorous, very classy.”

Winter coat?
“I’ve got one I call the Polar Bear Express.”

New Year’s Resolution?
“Lose weight. I have that one again.”

Muppet?
“Cookie Monster.”

Tea?
“Chamomile.”

Dog?
“I’m not really a dog person, but I’d say mutts or golden retrievers.”

Local musician?
“Skylar Smith. He’s a high school kid at Central. He is the future Led Zeppelin.”

Element from the periodic table?
“Gold.”

Injury?
“Sprained ankle, I have it right now”

Saturday morning cartoon?
“Fat Albert”

Cooking utensil?
“Spatula. I like to lick the cake batter when I’m finished.”

Temperature?
“72 degrees.”

Place to stop along your trip to Chicago?
“QuikTrip station in Eureka, Missouri.”

Surprise about Springfield?
“Access to people. Springfield is not very pretentious. You can just call up the mayor.”

Class you taught?
“Cultural Diversity.”

Thing to do in your time off?
“Get a massage. I get them down the street at Professional Massage Training Center. Usually I just fall asleep and snore.”

Big Momma’s House movie?
“The first one.”

Thing about Chicago?
“The skyline is killer.”

Cub?
“Sammy Sosa.”

Book?
“The Word.”