Photograph by Bronze Photography

Coffeehouses and real food usually don’t go together. Where can you get a decent espresso and an egg? But Alreddy Coffee & Café merges coffeehouse and restaurant into an unpretentious vintage Sharonville building. No official barista, no trained chef, but somehow you get a decent cup of black venom along with your BLT Frittata. The Eye Opener Hoagie may be the ultimate power breakfast sandwich: two fried eggs, ham, cheddar, jalapeños, onions, mayo, and mustard. At the office you’ll be pumped on protein and have breath that melts red tape. Elsewhere on the menu, the peanut butter granola wrap has a cult following. With a cold milk, it’s cereal you can eat at a traffic light. Lunch is a nice collection of salads and sandwiches as well as salads in sandwiches. There are some anomalies thrown in, like the tantalizing blue beef wrap, with roast beef and blue cheese. Unlike chain coffee places, at Alreddy you don’t hear music from their own label by socially aware artists who give 10 percent of the money they don’t make to save the rainforest. They have a TV with the news, which is infinitely more useful in the morning. There’s a modern drive-through, but the place has classy pressed tin ceilings and a hodge-podge decor, including an antique sewing machine base made into a table for four. Oh—I guess I should mention: They take their coffee and tea seriously here.

Alreddy Coffee & Café, 11083 Reading Rd., Sharonville, (513) 563-4550. Prices: $8. Breakfast and lunch Mon–Sat.

Originally published in the February 2009 issue.

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