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• Old school coffee shop with modern vibe

When I was growing up, small towns would have a little restaurant called a "coffee shop," which was less like the Starbucks model we have today and more like a diner. It was the sort of place that my bachelor uncles would go into once or twice a day for a meal, a cup of coffee (one kind offered only), and to socialize. On the surface, Beerline Cafe is nothing like that. It's decor is modern, it serves a variety of coffee and tea drinks, it has beer and doesn't have meat, and it's in a city. And yes, it's definitely the kind of place you can go to work on your laptop. But maybe because it's surrounded by a residential neighborhood, I felt an underlying vibe that reminded me of those older style places. I ate here twice while I was on a weekend trip to Milwaukee earlier this winter. The food is good, and the atmosphere is really inviting. Street parking was easy, even right after getting several inches of snow.