1515 Broadway Cafe

Rude rude man/​owner who runs the place. Both times I stopped in he ignored me for several minutes and once even barked at me for not shutting the door quickly enough. The dessert items were stale and overpriced. Don’t waste your time going here.

What terrible customer service.
We happened to come in when the place was empty and ordered a tea and coffee to go. Apparently we interrupted the lone employee from doing her homework and were subsequently treated like garbage. As soon as we got our drinks we hurriedly left and were surprised to hear screaming as we were halfway down the block. Apparently we had forgotten to close the door all the way and the girl working was screaming at us to come back and close the door. I walked back and closed it as it seemed that tearing herself away from her homework again to close the door seemed to be far too big a task to ask.
Kudos to this girl being the only mean/​rude person I encountered during my entire trip to Detroit.

One of the worst coffee shops I’ve ever been to. My latte was ok, but it was completely made from concentrate and way over priced. To make matters worse, the barista scolded me for not tipping her. I paid via card and was then told that next time I come in, I need to bring in at least a dollar for a tip.

Good coffee! It reminds me of an independent coffee shop I use to work at in my early twenties. I loved that the barista had given me sass about my order. «You know there is no such thing as an iced latte, right?» It kinda made my day :) I will be back!

There is nothing commercial about this place — for more than 25 years 1515 Broadway has been a cozy neighborhood coffee shop that many Detroiters enjoy.
The menu is broad with lots of coffee, tea, snacks and pastries to choose from. Court and I visited this place after a chilly morning of volunteering so a cappuccino and a banana nut muffin was the perfect way to warm us up!
The coffee and treats here are VERY reasonable compared to your average coffee giant. A cappuccino is $ 2-​$ 3 and a coffee is $ 1-​$ 2. The pastries and snacks run from $ 1.50-$ 3.50.
1515 Broadway is casual and full of character. Forget the matchy, matchy couches and tables — this place has interesting and historic pieces everywhere you look. In the photo below you can see a black curtain — that leads to a large room with seating and a stage! At night they offer poetry readings and different classes/​workshops for the community.
If you are looking for a neighborhood coffee shop overflowing with charm — it’s time you visit 1515 Broadway!

A cool hipster hangout in Downtown Detroit. Good enough coffee and tea and a sizable «black box» performance area the is available for rent. For better or worse, 1515 is behind the times in that they don’t have a website, etc, so you will actually have to go to the store regularly to keep up with upcoming performances. The staff are hipsters at the top of their game and are very friendly and accommodating. Great place to bring your fedora and freshly waxed mustache.

This place is open late, which is nice. I enjoyed an afternoon here recently a drinking reasonably priced tea at a funky little desk and it was pretty peaceful. They were playing some good music and there was a nice, funky vibe going on. Why not? Stop by and check it out.

I love the pesto sandwiches on a croissant. So good. Also Josh makes me really yummy coffee drinks with caramel and espresso.

The coffee isn’t good and the food is from sam’s club, but the owner is awesome and the staff is painfully hip. I kind of love this place and I don’t know why.
The sandwiches are acceptable, the coffee is ok. Don’t expect a great meal. But this is an awesome place to get some work done. Outside in the summer, inside in the winter, it’s always slightly busy, rarely packed. Cool place obviously built on passion.

I’m a big fan of 1515. They aren’t amazing, but they are good for what they do. The prices are fair, good sandwiches, good coffee, nice salads, and very friendly service. They also have a variety of sweets and pastry I have have to admit I indulge on occasion. If you’re in a hurry you’re in trouble but if you have a few minutes to wait they won’t let you down.

I had passed by 1515 multiple times, but was unable to get anything as they had not accepted credit cards and I did not have cash. The owner must have finally caved and they are now using Square, which is awesome. I got a roasted turkey sandwich and a tea. The sandwich was very good and tea at the perfect temp. The barista was exceptionally nice and accommodating. Great, cozy place for an afternoon out in the city.

Awesome and friendly barista’s, great coffee and gelato, and outdoor seating for when the weather is nice. Love good ol’ 1515!

A convenient, laid back coffee shop with a good selection of pastries, bagels and sandwiches as well. Generally pretty quiet here weekday mornings, as Detroit generally feels like a ghost town when there’s not an event going on. They even have a little performance space in the back, but I’ve yet to attend anything here, I just stop by for my morning coffee.

Well look at this here gem of a place! After getting out of a dance performance (watching, not performing), my lad and I needed some coffee to perk up before continuing our fancy-​day-​in-​the-​city. As soon as I saw the interior through the storefront windows of 1515, I knew we had to stop in.
I love that this place is divided into basically three spaces: the main little room, the room that continues underneath the area where the ceiling drops down, and the black box theater in the back. I also love that there are huge exposed pipes and that some of them drip water while you sit and listen to that eerie and comforting sound. That is to say, this ain’t no sterile Starbucks.
Our barrista was really friendly, energetic, and genuine. They call their non-​fat decaf latte a «why bother» — hilarious. I dig their artsy fartsy vibe and the fact that the space has been there, evolving, for 26 years. You can feel that resilience the moment you walk in the door.
I’m looking forward to checking out some of their events — seems to be a wide range of offerings. Speaking of offerings, they also have baked goods and some shelves stocked with convenience-​store-​type-​items like potato chips and altoids. As for the coffee, we had an Americano and I actually really liked it. It was slightly sweet, very smooth, and not at all bitter. We sucked that puppy right down.
Having once been an 8-​year-​old who grew up in dark back-​stage areas with eccentric foul-​mouthed actors washing their pits in a large basin while smoking a cigarette and sipping on coffee, I thrive on anything that even remotely conjures up the underbelly of Shakespeare. Though this place is far more sanitary, it still has that spark of magic and tawdriness that all good making-​believe and belief-​making needs.
[[ NOTE: they accept credit cards now ]]

As of recently, they’ve just started accepting credit + debit through Square! Big plus here.
They have a little bit of everything – no matter what you’re craving, you’re likely in luck. Anything from veggie straws to muffins to sandwiches to Annie’s gummy treats and more. The owner and people who work here are pretty sweet, and the hours are unreal. They’re always open, which is an awesome surprise!

This place has a lot of potential — it’s a tad dark and creepy feeling. Needs some warmer décor. Coffee is good — but I don’t want to stay and drink it there. The girl in the morning doesn’t smile much. I always feel as though I am putting her out to make my drink.
Got a yogurt parfait — it had pepper in it. Not once, but 3 times I bit into a chunk of pepper. Weird.
They don’t accept credit or debit cards — which is a drag too.

Living in downtown Detroit, while definitely getting your civic spirit juices flowing, can sometimes be a little bit of a drag. When you live downtown, you can’t really spontaneously decide to do much of anything locally. Sitting around and decide that you want to go to yoga? Time to gas up the Ford Festiva and haul it out to Ferndale (or buy a membership to the YMCA and wait for one of its three weekly yoga classes). It’s 7:00 pm and you’d like to waste some time taking in the new blockbuster movie? Time to gas up the Ford Festiva and haul it out to Ferndale (or catch one of the four most unpopular movies in current release now playing at the RenCen).
But if you want to go have a cup of coffee and a snack, hang out and read a book or chat with a friend, now that’s something you can just spontaneously decide to do. Thanks to 1515 Broadway.
All in all, there’s nothing particularly extraordinary about the place as a coffeeshop– it’s fairly standard… which to someone like me, who just about lives on coffee, is more than enough. But there is something extraordinary about the place as a place. And that’s that it also has a (live) theater inside of it. I haven’t been to a play or performance there yet, but just the possibility that I could decide to go one day, spontaneously, makes me happy.

I love this place for coffee and some snacks. The staff is always friendly, competent, and ready to strike up a conversation. This is a great place for your morning coffee and a bagel with cream cheese and they also have excellent sandwiches for around 5 or 6 bucks. I only get the coffee or a red eye but they have a whole slew of different coffee drinks.
The front area is a unique little space to enjoy your coffee, read a book, have a meeting or work on your laptop. It’s right on Broadway, which gets quite a bit of foot traffic so people watching opportunities are plentiful.
The back room has a stage and is used for all sorts of entertainment and shows, although I’ve never been.

What a great little spot! Got a very big city, bohemian coffee shop vibe to it which I love. Lots of fun fliers of local goings on up on the walls, painted all black with sweet art pieces peppering the space.
I’d read Torrie B’s suggestion to get the hot chocolate so that’s what I went for and I was not disappointed. Very tasty and very sweet. I sat and worked for a couple of hours and felt really comfortable and productive the entire time. The window seats are awesome for looking up and seeing the action downtown. The gentleman running the café that day was supes friendly and we chatted a bit which is always appreciated when I’m working on my own all day.
I discovered the huge performance space when I went to the back to use the restroom. It’s blocked off from the front part of the café by a big thick curtain. In the performance space there’s a risen stage and it’s all painted black, just as the front. It’s pretty much like every small theater and performance space I’d been to during my college days in Chicago. Apparently on the weekends they do a lot of great performance art and poetry slams, although I’ve unfortunately not been to check one of these out yet. Soon!

I love the hot chocolate and the fact that while I’m here I feel like I’m in a big city like NYC. The vibe is cool and the snacks and drinks are even better!
We stopped in before the opera and it was packed. Fortunately people drank their drinks and cleared out so we were able to secure a nice window seat.