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Photo Edward Biamonte

Springfield’s love of all things hip-Christian has many incarnations—Randy Bacon Photography, The Core, Bible study night at the Potter’s House—and now this unique aspect of our local culture has a new home in a pleasant big-little coffee shop on the south side.

It’s called Hebrews Coffee. It’s open at 6 a.m. It’s closed on Sunday. (And God created Hebrews, and on the seventh day He rested.) In reality, you’ll miss the evangelizing pamphlets by the door if you’re not looking for them.

Hebrews is in the heart of the new southside that has coalesced around Republic Road in recent years. From the road, the Hebrews sign is a little tough to read, so just think “three doors west of Touch.” Like a Baptist at a lubricated Catholic wedding reception, this coffee shop also happens to sit within hop/skip/jump distance of W. F. Cody’s, Uncle Bentley’s and Parlor 88. In fact, Hebrews is in a space once occupied by Churchill Coffee, another Jesus-y java-dispenser.

I hope Hebrews fares better than Churchill’s did—and better than Best of 417 winner Cassils Coffee Café, a place on the other end of Republic Road that recently closed. I made a visit one afternoon just before Christmas with my partner in coffee-tasting, Steve Moore, and we came away from the visit with a lot to like.

Let’s start with the best thing: baked goods! Hebrews’ pastry case smacks you right in the eyes as you enter, and if you look closely at it, you’ll be forced to buy things that will ruin your eating plan for the day. I turned Steve loose on the pastries. He ordered us a pair of date-nut sticks rolled in coconut (two for $1!), a pair of blueberry thumbprint cookies (two for $1!), a peanut cluster dipped in milk chocolate ($1.15!) and a blueberry scone ($1.95!).
The barista, an affable chap in a hoodie, sportive ball cap and jeans, gave us our goodies to nosh while we waited on our beverages. We sat in plush armchairs at one end of the café—ideal for music performances by night (every weekend) and reading by day. Three tables of serious southside businessmen were close by—guys in brown khakis with black shoes, white Apple laptops wide open, jawing away on their cell phones.

We tucked into our food. The date sticks were brown-sugary pillows, rolled in long shavings of coconut, a taste trip back in time to motherly Christmas baking.

The blueberry thumbprints were worthy of verse, but I’ll spare you any poetry. These little cookies were more than cookies. A sweet blueberry center sat on a cookie base, which tasted and textured not like sugar-cookie dough, but like a very time-intensive fruit-tart crust worthy of The Barefoot Contessa. “I would buy those by the dozen… and pay six bucks,” Steve said. At these prices, it’s hard to think of better baked goods in Springfield.
The scone and the peanut cluster weren’t discoveries like the other pastries, but they were fine examples of what they were supposed to be.

Early in the feast, our coffee arrived hand-delivered by hoodie-man. We both chose a banana-mocha concoction called the King Kong ($3.85 apiece for grande-size drinks, keeping in mind that Hebrews grande = Starbucks venti). Espresso drinks at Hebrews are served in tall glass mugs like beer steins, topped with a little flower-puff of (optional) whipped cream. They tasted great, with a smooch of banana, not too sweet.

We sat back and took it all in. Hebrews is in a big space with capacity for 233 people—not really as cozy as “coffee shop” implies—but it’s smartly decorated, if a little sparsely: good furniture, nice brown/sky-blue color scheme, abstractish art. I hope no one buys Gavyn Sky’s “Wild Flowers,” an acrylic pink-and-yellow swirling sky overlaid with curling leaves and wildflowers, because more people should get to see it.

I squinted to check out the lunch menu over the coffee bar. Nothing really inventive—quiche lorraine, chicken-caesar salad, turkey/bacon sandwich, various soups—but nothing was priced higher than $6.55 (!). In the back of the store, a fancy tall-top conference table with pretty floral arrangements and plenty of tall chairs was begging for a company retreat.

With a King Kong warming my belly, I left thinking Hebrews Coffee is comfortable for a suburban neighborhood that’s never been drenched with coffee shops, unlike Center City.

It also serves an obvious niche: commuters along a busy street who need caffeine perks on their way to work. Ideally, Hebrews could use a hallmark dish or drink to draw folks from outside the neighborhood, but as-is, it’s a pretty sweet deal.

Posted on Wednesday, January 28, 2009 | Permalink