Linda Falkenstein
Grace Coffee in Sun Prairie is pleasant but lacks outdoor seating options.
How has Grace become the coffee shop of the moment despite, apparently, a raft of health code violations detailed in a recent Wisconsin State Journal story? Most stemmed from an inspection at the East Washington location on Sept. 28. The majority had been rectified by the next day, according to a report of a re-inspection conducted by Public Health Madison and Dane County (although the remaining violations had still not been solved by the time of a second re-inspection on Oct. 22). Ownership announced on Facebook last week that the chain would be hiring a sanitation manager and had “implemented a bunch of new day to day procedures and protocol to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
That’s good to hear. Because Grace has reliably good coffee, and it’s a nice place to set up a laptop. And it’s been one of the success stories of the pandemic, growing from one shop in 2019 to six today; a Verona outlet opened in October. For this review I did most of my dining at the Sun Prairie location and noticed nothing amiss.
Grace locations have a mostly consistent look and feel, with black chalkboard menus, flowery murals drawn in white on black walls, green velvet couches and wood-top tables. When Grace first opened, it used beans from Heart Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon; it now roasts its own. The house brew is good and I’ve had more than one perfect cappuccino here. A recent special “apple pie” latte failed to carry any apple pie flavor but was enjoyable and boasted a laudable froth.
Grace now bakes its pastries in-house, too; co-owner Carlos Falcon’s sister Claudia is the pastry chef and creates scones, muffins, cookies and danishes, along with massive filled croissants. I took home a chocolate almond croissant one day and thought they’d given me two, the bag was so heavy. I weighed it — over half a pound of croissant. It was good, with a buttery almond paste in its gooey interior — but there’s no need for it to be so big. I’m dropping by for breakfast, not feeding a family of four.
The menu from Grace to Grace is mostly consistent, but there are differences. State Street has the most limited options yet is the only location with crepes; East Washington and Middleton serve cocktails and drinks like a cold brew White Russian; Sun Prairie and Middleton have french fries; Verona has a mortadella sandwich not served elsewhere.
The menu is divided into entrees and mostly sandwiches, with breakfast wraps, acai bowls and french toast, too. Sandwiches range from a spicy crispy chicken to Italian; there’s also a quinoa bowl.
On a recent Sunday brunch visit to the Sun Prairie location the place was packed, but my order came out promptly — much faster than it had any right to, really, considering the line at the drive up window for coffee. That said, I’ve found service from the East Washington kitchen has been slow even when there’s a modest number of customers, but I realize that it’s a hard time for restaurants to stay fully staffed.
The ham and cheddar sandwich on fresh crispy focaccia is perfectly balanced, with ham that has actual ham flavor (as if left over from a Sunday dinner), tart mustard, and the bite of arugula. A side of broccoli salad combines crisp salty bacon bits, the sweet pop of raisins, and a not-too-aggressive vinaigrette, and leaves the broccoli with a bit of chew. The hefty avocado toast with street corn and queso fresco is good; the optional addition of an egg is unnecessary and just makes it hard to eat.
On the other hand a caprese sandwich, which should be simple — showcasing tomato, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and balsamic — was almost without tomato and dominated by pesto spread. But it still tasted great, and the side of fries was truly a surprise, done up in best crisp frites style.
All dishes at Grace arrive boxed for takeout, and this results in some less than favorable plating. The tasty huevos rancheros arrived in a heap, with fried egg and salty chorizo crumbles buried under a mellow ranchero sauce and a tangy, oniony pico de gallo-style salsa. At the very bottom were the tortillas, which would be fairly easy to wrap separately.
The sausage and gravy also comes with its egg smothered in the gravy, but worse, it comes on a croissant. True, the menu does say this but I didn’t notice and thought I was ordering biscuits and gravy because, why would this dish come on a croissant? The twist is not an improvement.
Of course that didn’t stop me from eating it because it was still pretty good.
Maybe that’s the thing about Grace — even when the kitchen goes astray, its heart seems to be in the right place.
Grace Coffee Co.
• 417 State St.; 608-286-1560
• 1216 E. Washington Ave. 608-298-7464
• 1004 S. Park St.; no phone yet
• 1261 Cabela Drive, Sun Prairie; 608-318-5328
• 1824 Parmenter St., Middleton; 425-625-7961
• 150 West End Circle, Verona; no phone yet
Gracecoffeewi.com
$3-$15
