Green Bean Café

The lower level of University Community Church (UCC), near the University of Windsor’s east campus, is Green Bean Café – a thriving community coffeehouse owned and operated by Kyle Lefaive and Caleb Farrugia. Monday to Saturday, the café attracts its daily eclectic clientele of university professors, students, Windsor locals, and coffee lovers. The Green Bean experience is as cherished as a quiet morning before work, afternoon out of the office, and an evening away from stuffy libraries and dorm rooms. Lefaive and Farrugia’s beloved patrons enjoy the finest local coffee from roasting stalwarts Colonial Coffee Co. paired with quality homemade specialty soups, sandwiches, and bakegoods (the food is literally soooo… good!)

Photos by Karitas Photography – Karitas Photography

The owners’ care and attention to detail is obvious in their café’s asethetic. Green Bean’s white ceiling, floors, and walls have a natural, relaxed warmth accented by colourful local collections and paintings. Thrifted, gifted tables and art from friends’s homes lend a personal touch, texture, grit and soul – reminding us that interiors needn’t cost a fortune to be special. The recessed mural area at the back of the café is rented out to university classes, and the mural itself, painted by a local artist Tajana Ristic, gives that particular area of the coffeehouse a darker mood in comparison to the brighter, airy vibe of the main seating space. The mural space is also, occassionally, home to the CBC for the corporation’s local broadcasting.

The majority of their wall space is blanketed by rotating local art, including an award-winning landscape of Pelee Island by Ricki Oltean-Lepp. Green Bean Café is currently a low-key music venue with plans to expand and host bigger shows (fitting, given the owners’ musical backgrounds). Every Saturday is Sonic Saturday – an event that features performances from acoustic acts to DJs. Among all else, they also offer yoga classes for students and the public – times are updated here. For more info on their other goings on, follow their quirky social media on the links below.