House-roasted coffee, colorful surroundings, and a decidedly local personality make RoosRoast an easy stop between campus and Main Street.
Some coffee shops could be picked up and dropped into almost any downtown in America. RoosRoast is not one of them.
The Ann Arbor coffee company operates two cafés, including its downtown Liberty Street location and its solar-powered café and roastery headquarters on Rosewood Street. RoosRoast also serves coffee at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market. The Liberty café has been part of downtown since 2016, making it an especially convenient stop for families exploring Main Street, Literati Bookstore, or the University of Michigan campus.
What to Order
If you want to understand RoosRoast, start with the coffee.
The Long Pull is one of the shop’s signatures, made from freshly roasted and freshly ground coffee with a layer of crema on top. Google reviewers frequently mention it, along with RoosRoast’s popular Lobster Butter Love beans. Recent reviewers also praise drinks such as the honey vanilla latte and matcha latte.
For something sweeter, the current menu includes a Honey Vanilla Latte, Salted Maple Latte, Mocha Latte, and Ancho Pancho Mocha Latte, plus seasonal drinks. RoosRoast also makes its own chai and ginger-lemon tea.
What Kids Can Eat
Families have more than coffee to work with here.
The Ann Arbor Famous Cheesy P Breakfast Burrito combines scrambled eggs, cheese, potatoes, a slightly spicy sauce, and salsa, with sausage available as an add-on. RoosRoast also serves Eggys, mini quiches made with eggs, cheese, artichokes, spinach, and cream cheese.
For children who want something simpler, Friday through Sunday the cafés offer fresh Bev’s Bagels with spreads. And check the pastry case. RoosRoast carries a rotating selection from local bakers, so the exact treats change, but this is where I’d let kids choose something sweet for the morning.
Come for the Coffee, Remember the Place
The downtown café does not chase the minimalist coffee-shop aesthetic.
That is part of its charm.
Google reviewers describe colorful hand-painted signs, art-covered walls, quirky merchandise, and a funky atmosphere full of personality. The Liberty location currently holds a 4.6-star Google rating from 679 reviews.
RoosRoast also confirms that the Liberty café has plenty of indoor seating, with outdoor seating available during warmer months.
For families, that makes RoosRoast less of an attraction and more of a very good travel stop: coffee for the adults, breakfast or a pastry for the kids, and enough local character to remind everyone exactly where they are.
In a college town full of polished chains and student staples, RoosRoast feels unmistakably Ann Arbor.
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