Campus Coffee in Ann Arbor, MI
See the MenuWritten Down, So You Never Have to Guess
Most campus cafes have an unwritten rule and let you find out the hard way. Ours is on the wall by the door.
All Day, Almost Always
Sit as long as you like, Monday to Thursday and all weekend. Nobody will come and hover, and there is no time limit on a single coffee.
Except Friday & Saturday, 11-1
The two busiest hours of our week. Laptops away, tables for eating. It's two hours out of a hundred and it's what makes the rest possible.
Power at Every Seat
Forty-eight seats, forty-eight outlets, and USB-C at the long bench. We rewired in 2021 specifically for this and it cost more than the espresso machine.
Wifi That Actually Holds
Business fibre with a backup line, because a study cafe with flaky wifi is just an expensive chair. Password is on the receipt.
Quiet at the Back, Loud at the Front
The rear third is a quiet zone by convention and it self-polices. Take a call at the window instead — nobody minds there.
A Room You Can Book
Six seats, a door that shuts, a screen. Free for two hours if you're buying drinks. Email or ask at the counter.
Why We're Happy for You to Sit All Day
People ask how a cafe survives letting students nurse a filter for four hours. Here's the actual answer.
Twelve Years of the Same Faces
A student who studies here three times a week for four years is worth vastly more than four tourists. The whole model is repeat, not spend-per-visit.
Filter Is Cheap to Make
Bottomless filter at three dollars still has a healthy margin, because coffee is the cheap part. Someone sitting four hours also buys a bagel, usually two.
Our Rent Is Off the Main Street
We're a block off South U in a building with terrible frontage and cheap rent. That's the trade: less footfall, and no pressure to turn tables.
Two Hours a Week Pay the Difference
Friday and Saturday 11-1, laptops away, tables turn twice. That's the only period we run like a normal cafe, and it's enough.
Twelve Years, One Block Off South U
Quadrangle opened in 2014 in a unit with almost no street frontage, which is why the rent was affordable and why we've never needed to hurry anyone out.
The rewire in 2021 is the thing we'd point at. Forty-eight outlets, USB-C at the long bench, and business fibre with a backup line — about eleven thousand dollars, more than the espresso machine, and the single best money we've spent. A study cafe without reliable power and wifi is just an expensive chair.
We've had the same two managers for nine years and most of our staff are current students. If you're in your final year and you've been coming here since freshers, there is a decent chance we've offered you a job.
- ✓Open since 2014, rewired in 2021
- ✓48 seats, 48 outlets, USB-C at the bench
- ✓Open until 1am for four weeks a year
- ✓Most staff are current students
East University Avenue
A long bench down one wall, small tables at the front, and a quiet third at the back that polices itself.
What Regulars Say
I wrote most of a dissertation at the third table from the window. They know I take filter with free refills and spend about six dollars in four hours, and not once in two years has anyone made me feel like I should leave. That is a business decision they've clearly made on purpose.
The laptop rule being written on the wall is the best thing about this place. You know exactly where you stand — all day welcome, except Friday and Saturday lunch. No passive-aggressive signs, no wondering if you've outstayed your welcome.
Open until eleven in exam weeks and they don't put the chairs up around you at ten forty-five. During finals last April there were maybe forty of us in here at half ten on a Tuesday and someone came round with a jug of filter, free.
Sitting, Working and Exam Weeks
How long can I stay?
As long as you like, on one drink, Monday to Thursday and all weekend. There's no time limit and nobody will hover. The only exception is Friday and Saturday between eleven and one, when laptops go away.
Do I need a student ID for student pricing?
No — the student price is just the price. We don't check, we don't ask, and staff aren't put in the position of guessing whether someone looks like a student.
Is the filter really bottomless?
Genuinely. Three dollars, refill as often as you like from the jug at the end of the counter while you're in the building. Roughly half the room is doing this at any given moment.
Are you open late in exam weeks?
Until 1am for two weeks in December and two in April. We also do free filter rounds after ten and put a bowl of fruit by the door. Nobody stacks chairs around you at closing.
Can I book the study room?
Yes — six seats, a door and a screen, free for two hours if you're buying drinks. Email or ask at the counter. It's busiest the week before finals, unsurprisingly.
Is it quiet enough to work?
The back third is quiet by convention and it holds up well. The front is for talking and calls. If someone's taking a loud call at the back, a look usually sorts it and staff will help if it doesn't.
Can I bring my own food?
If you're buying drinks, we genuinely don't mind. It's a study room as much as a cafe and telling a student they can't eat their own sandwich has never made anyone's day better.
Are you hiring?
Usually, and we hire students first. Email us — we'd rather have someone who already knows the room than train someone from scratch.
Come and Take Up a Seat for the Afternoon
Three dollars, bottomless, no time limit and nobody hovering. It's what the place is for.
Study Room, Groups and Jobs
For the study room, tell us how many of you and roughly when. For a job, just say when you're free.