At the end of 2022, Sip Coffee & Cocktails joined the Alger Heights neighborhood, right next to Urban Jonny’s Salon.
Co-owner Jonathan Farman had been running the salon for years alongside business partner Jon Frantz (hence the name) when he noticed a local niche to be filled: A coffee shop. Now, Sip is open and offering both coffee and cocktails, alongside alcohol-free drinks and bites to eat.
The hybrid café and bar is bright and inviting, serving up every coffee drink you could hope for, coffee cocktails, mimosas, bloody mary, beers, wines and more. They also have non-alcoholic cocktail options like the Pina NA-lada and the Bloody Maria.
We chatted with Farman about what Sip is up to in Alger Heights.
How did Sip come about?
My past is a blend of nonprofit, consulting, and I’ve been a licensed hair stylist for 15 years. My business partner Jon Frantz and I own Urban Jonny’s Salon next door to Sip. Urban Jonny’s is 5 years in business. Not having an office for many years, I’d frequent coffee shops and always enjoy the sense of community that a coffee shop can bring to a neighborhood. After our neighbors kept mentioning their desire for a coffee shop in Alger, we thought it would be a great opportunity to open up a cafe. When we started crunching the numbers, I noticed that coffee shops are usually closed in the evenings. Adding cocktails was the only way our business plan made sense to us for this endeavor.
Can you talk about your approach to cocktails?
Most of our ingredients are made fresh and from scratch. We have housemade syrups in our coffee and cocktails, and fresh triple sec in my new favorite N/A margarita - the Spicy Agave NArgarita. We just released a cocktail and N/A cocktail portion to our daytime menu. In 2023, not everybody has a traditional 9-5, Monday-Friday work schedule with evenings or weekends free to enjoy cocktails at Sip. We love that folks can get coffee, spirit-free cocktails, and fully loaded cocktails any time we’re open. We always encourage responsible drinking, but no one will judge you at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday if you have one of our juicy, housemade Vanilla Bean Paloma in front of you.
And tell us about the food!
During the day, we have locally baked scones from Wealthy Street Bakery and bagels from Bagel Kitchen. We have some savory bagel breakfast sandwiches and are working on a morning flatbread for this spring.
During the evening, we have flatbreads that offer plenty to share with a friend or date, and some tempting warm dips that come with flatbread. My favorite is either our Spicy Feta Dip with a sweet honey drizzle or the BBQ Chicken Flatbread with pickled onions. I can’t decide, because both are great! You can also find some sweet desserts and Affogato too.
Anything exciting we should know about the coffee side of things?
Bold and Gritty has been an incredible mainstay for espresso drinks and fresh brews during the day. We are really stoked about the B&G Espresso Martini we just added to our evening menu! Enjoying Bold and Gritty in a martini is perfection in a stemless martini glass.
What is Sip hoping to offer to the Alger Heights neighborhood?
A place to relax. A place to chat. And mostly a place to sip tasty beverages. Sip is walking distance to the Alger and Garfield community, and we can’t wait for the patio coming this summer! We’ve started talking about the layout and will be ready to open up our hospitality outdoors.
SIP COFFEE & COCKTAILS
806 Alger St. SE, Grand Rapids
sipalgerheights.com
