#14: Lula's

So this place falls a little to the “obvious” end of the measuring stick. Lula’s. That café where they have great coffee, an even greater toasted brie sandwich, poetry readings, new-ish copies of the New Yorker, a healthy mix of English majors, professors, young kids on laptops and middle-aged groups who meet for lunch, Scrabble available to play in the corner, and the best coffee-shop atmosphere for miles around. That place in South Bend you were looking for before you found it.

But really, Lula’s is a bona-fide one-of-a-kind. There aren’t that many local coffee-shops in the area, but that doesn’t mean they accept a lower standard. They feature local art work on the walls and host local events themselves, like the poetry readings mentioned above.   I’ve met countless friends for coffee here, written 15 page papers here, and spent a couple hours in the corner chair reading a good book. A good coffee-shop can function like a second home or neighborhood hangout, and while I'm not suggesting that Lula's is exactly Central Perk, I am suggesting that you should come here if you haven't been and come back often if you have.

Location:
1631 Edison Road
South Bend, IN 46637

Hours:
Monday-Thursday 7:30am-10:30pm
Friday 7:30am-11:00pm
Saturday 9:00am-11:00pm
Sunday 10:00am-10:00pm

Drink Suggestions: Blackberry-vanilla Italian soda, the Autumn Elixir, Raspberry-quince hot tea
Food Suggestions: Hummus and blue-corn chips, the aforementioned toasted brie, really anything else
Best time to go: Anytime, all the time
Tip: Remember to get a drink card. You get a punch every time you order a drink and once you get to 10, you get your 11th drink for free. Ask for it at the register

#13: Erasmus Books

Miles away from ornate displays of weight-loss books and clear across town from cardboard cut-outs of Edward Cullen and Rachel Ray, lies an old prairie style home…where books live.  Erasmus Books, nestled in a residential neighborhood just east of downtown South Bend, is the absolute foil to the big box booksellers of Grape Road.  Featuring old, used, and tenderly loved books on all topics, Erasmus is the book worm’s paradise. No florescent lights, no marketing gimmicks, simply room after room filled to the brim with books and nothing else.  The owners of this literary haven understand that you don’t need any fluff to entice bookstore purist – simply good authors and great titles. 

Upstairs in the living room you can find literature, poetry, and some philosophy, while the basement features every topic from American history to art history, from African American lit to feminist lit, and from cookbooks to language books.  My favorite section, architecture and urban planning, is up on the first floor - along the back wall of the “check-out” room (if you can call it that), but I won’t map out this entire house-o-books.  Quietly exploring walls filled with nature guides, bottom shelves of pop art books, and tables piled high with poetry has made Erasmus Books my favorite book shop in the area.

Location: 1027 East Wayne Street, South Bend, IN 46617

Hours: Thursday – Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm

2 Tips:

• This place has a quality collection of academic books.  The owner is a retired Notre Dame professor and so I think that other profs often sell their old books to the shop.


• Make sure to look on the front few pages to see if it’s a first edition.  I’ve found a few Vonnegut first editions there for unbelievably good prices.