Gathering for Caffeine OR Musical Coffee Style

Indie Indy Coffee Shops Series #3

I'm gonna start off with a disclaimer:

Some coffeeshops aren't technically in Indianapolis. They are, in fact, in suburbs or small towns just outside of Indy, depending on which label you prefer.

For those longtime readers of the blog: 1) You're awesome and possess incredibly good taste. 2) You may remember a separate post about Pendleton.

We revisit that town, this time concentrating on the caffeine.

Gathering Grounds, Pendleton, IN

Kudos for the alliterative pun!

The title Gathering Grounds brings forth images of a group of friendly, welcoming people coming together to chat, laugh, and drink tasty coffee. It's the kind of sentimental idea that can work really well for marketing but in execution can be far more disillusioning.

Gathering Grounds laughs in the face of such cynicism.

And then invites you to come sing Simon & Garfunkel.

The place is pretty small, but doesn't feel cramped at all. There's a good amount of seating, and even on a crowded, busy Saturday morning one can find seats.

And a rather large variety of seats, at that.

That man with the guitar is, in fact, the owner. When there's a lull in coffee-making he'll grab his six-string and plays a few tunes, sometimes taking requests.

While I can't adequately record the audio component of the experience on this blog, I can say this: The man knows how to play in coffee shops. His volume, style, and tone fits perfectly, even when doing more frenetic songs. To illustrate: I can, in fact, continue to work on my book while he plays only ten feet from me.

It's pretty impressive, actually.

The general decor follows the same Thrown Together Yet Put Together look:

The coffee bar.
It's hard to see, but the cooler in the back holds some awesome quiche.

Coffee next to syrup, next to toasting your own bread.

It's hard to see, but this map is covered with pins.
The owners have been all over, and returned to make this chill place.

To be honest, the whole place is an intriguing blend of laid-back, almost hippy sentiments, strengthened with enough good commercial sense to keep the place around.

Kind of like your favorite Indie band: Doing something different, but there's still a merch table.

Or merch wall, as it were.

All in all? It's a great place to spend a Saturday morning/afternoon.