P

ast the deer and occasional 
wild turkey on North Campus, 
beyond the research complexes 

and Environmental Protection Agency 
field office, lies a stretch of strip malls 
with grocery stores and gyms with vacant 
parking lots. Along Plymouth Road, among 
stores with yellowing signs and mounds 
of snow taking up parking spaces, there’s a 
place that is always full — the Songbird Cafe.

The first time I came here was a little less 

than a year ago. I came with my roommates 
to escape the back-to-school campus craze 
on a Sunday morning. We sat among 
families on their way back from church, 
graduate students and other groups of 
friends like ourselves.

Today, I’m here to enjoy the atmosphere 

and let the coffee meddle with my thoughts. 
I start with a spicy ginger tea and order a 
dirty chai latte. The Songbird Cafe is one 
of the cafes that has realized good coffee 
needs good food with it. My green tea 
muffin with candied ginger and walnuts 
makes my latte taste even better.

The American eatery serves brunch, 

lunch and baked goods with a full coffee 
bar. The Songbird Cafe is creative, without 
trying too hard — it feels like home, and 
less like an Instagram showroom. Chestnut 

brown tables and chairs are lined along 
the window, comfy couches and stools 
filling the inside. The pale wallpaper 
balances the darkness of the wood. The 
lamps are splattered in a rusty silver that 
lights the artwork and dry flowers on the 
back wall. Natural light floods the other 
half. As it gets darker outside, the lamps 
feel brighter.

Artisan sandwiches and lattes are written 

on a chalkboard up front that makes you 
want to read the entire menu because the 
cursive handwriting is fun to follow with 
your eyes. They have omelets with Gouda, 
bacon, mushrooms and caramelized onions. 
The grilled cheese comes with apple butter 
on Italian bread. The tangerine-lavender 
hot chocolate always catches my eye. Fresh 
muffins, cookies and bundt cakes are lined 
by the cashier. I want to try everything on 
the menu.

The Songbird Cafe turns off Wi-Fi 

on weekends during brunch and lunch 
hours. I like that the cafe isn’t all clatter 
from keyboards and sound leaking from 
headphones, 
but 
conversation. 
When 

conversation stops, there’s music instead. 
They are the only cafe I know of that does 
this in Ann Arbor, and it works. People fill 
the space, the way the smell of coffee and 

baked goods do — they come to enjoy each 
other’s company.

There are families and couples, people 

that come alone with a good book. It feels 
like a cafe, the way it’s always buzzing, 
but mellow at the same time. The workers 
are friendly and I always ask what their 
favorite pastry is before I order. I don’t 
know if it’s a uniform, but I like that they 
dress in earth tone sweaters and lots of 
grays. They seem happy here, unlike the 
baristas I’ve encountered at some other 
coffee shops.

The cafe makes you warm from the 

inside, like it’s Christmas year-round. 
Coming here, sitting in the corner and 
watching families talk, couples play thumb 
games with Louis Armstrong’s “What a 
Wonderful World” playing in the back, 
takes me home with my family.

It’s nostalgic. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe 

it’s because my grandma’s mountain 
house is different shades of brown with 
dried lavender stems in white ceramic 
vases. Maybe it’s because my mom used 
to wash, cut and fry potatoes from scratch 
like Songbird does. Maybe it’s because I 
come from a family that never allowed 
electronics at the dinner table. Maybe it’s 
because my brother is in the hospital on 
the other side of the planet and I can’t do 
anything but sit here and write and drink 
my latte. Seeing siblings trade bites of 
their sandwich, old married couples share 
coffee, people on the phone laughing at 
jokes I can’t hear, makes me miss home. But 
maybe that’s OK too.

Songbird Cafe is a people place. It’s 

special in the way it values its customers 
and gives them space to breathe — it’s 
hard to find places like this. For students 
and faculty on campus, it’s a getaway. It’s 
further from the noise and competition, 
but sure worth the hike. It’s a nook in a 
strip mall I’m happy I found.

There are medical students talking 

about their first rotation, old friends 
reuniting, people talking about the future, 
others journaling. It makes me appreciate 
the company I’m with, the communities 
I’m a part of. It’s calming, the way cafes 
are in movies and books, the way I picture 
them in my head.

2B

Managing Statement Editor:

Brian Kuang

Deputy Editors:

Colin Beresford

Jennifer Meer

Rebecca Tarnopol

Photo Editor:

Amelia Cacchione

Editor in Chief:

Alexa St. John

Managing Editor:

Dayton Hare

Copy Editors:

Elise Laarman

Finntan Storer

Wednesday, January 17, 2018// The Statement 

Brews Through: Songbird Cafe

statement

THE MICHIGAN DAILY | JANUARY 17, 2018

BY YOSHIKO IWAI, COLUMNIST

Courtesy of Yoshiko Iwai
Courtesy of Yoshiko Iwai

