Road Crew Coffee & Cycles now open in Tower Grove South

Coffee from Blueprint Coffee and baked goods from Donut Drive-In and Whisk are served alongside bicycle repairs and cycling equipment.

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Road Crew Coffee & Cycles opened October 19 in Tower Grove South, and its Blueprint Coffee-based drinks have been an instant hit. The café and its attached cycling store and repair shop are located on the first floor of the MOFO apartments at 3172 Morganford.

The space is divided about 80-20 in favor of the café, which seats around 40 customers inside, with five additional tables outside. It’s a comfortable place to linger with a coffee, and customers who want to plug in can find a number of outlets by the window seats.

The café is operated by a group of cycling fans including co-owners Patrick Woodling, Andi Zekthi, and Christopher Green, at least one of whom is usually to be found chatting with customers or taking orders. Another key member of the team is barista Michael Butler (also known as DJ Butts), who has credentials from stints at both Sump Coffee and Blueprint.

The drip coffee is perfectly good, but there’s much to explore, with cortados, flavored lattes, and cold brew, as well as several pour-over brews. Espresso drinks are not available after 5 p.m., but drip coffee and teas remain available. “You take a shot of espresso at 5 o’ clock, and there’s a chance you’re not going to bed until 1a.m.,” says Woodling.

Five teas are also offered, as well as several sodas. One that jumps out is the cascara soda, prepared using a shrub that Butler makes using cascara, the dried husks of coffee cherries. Road Crew doesn’t have a kitchen, but sustenance is offered in the form of baked goods from Whisk, including savory scones, pop tartlets, and more. Donuts from Donut Drive-In are also regularly available.

The attached store is an official dealer for the Specialized brand but also stocks equipment, clothing, and accessories from a number of other suppliers. The gear may look like it's for the dedicated cyclist, but they can also order entry-level bikes for commuters and leisurely pedaling. Similarly, the repair shop has fixes for routine issues and more complex problems alike.

Non-riders may be oblivious, but some of Road Crew’s features—the large windows, the bike rack outside, the generous spaces set aside by the entrances—are there partly to make Road Crew as cyclist-friendly as possible.

“There’s not a lot of places that let you bring a bike inside or allow you visibility for one of your most prized possessions and lock it up in a place where you could easily see it,” says Woodling.

That said, the owners are equally keen to make Road Crew a meeting point for everyone in the neighborhood. “This is a community center,” Woodling says. “Make yourself at home.”

Blackline was the contractor for the space. The owners applied some of the finishing design touches, with a little help from friends with DIY skills. Among the inviting features are the wooden tables, which came from Refab, the local nonprofit that deconstructs buildings otherwise facing demolition and resells the reclaimed materials.

Road Crew also has its own racing team, but the café’s Monday Night Rides are a more accessible route into the cafe’s cycling community. Riders meet at 7 p.m. at Road Crew, and all ability levels are catered to; the group splits up along three routes of varying difficulty levels. And after the ride, cyclists decamp to Road Crew or a neighboring venue, such as Amsterdam Tavern.

Road Crew Coffee & Cycles

3172 Morganford, St Louis, Missouri 63116

no phone

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Daily, 6:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Inexpensive

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