Places: The Ugly Mug

Let's face it, you want to be hip enough to hang out here but maybe you're worried you aren't pierced in the right unmentionable places, or able to quote freely from McSweeneys. Just remember this is Ypsilanti not the West Coast. The barista-owners may have been trained in the Seattle but even they can't get around the fact that the Michigan Firehouse Museum is right down the road. Still, pound for pound, this is the place for bean juice. They roast their own, are cappucino foam artistes and offer a true GFE (great friggin' espresso). The snacks and pastries are imported from faraway Zingermans (inches better than standard cafe fare) but the atmosphere is pure authenticity. Read Satre, edit your YouTube masterpiece or brood with the regulars. This the kind of cafe that makes coffeehouse culture proud. Warning: parking is a bitch.