Badger Brew Express

I was looking for a place to read and hang out while my husband was working. This place was perfect. Definitely, out of place in this town. It's laid back and inviting. I was able to read, work on paperwork, and use the internet.

There was not much of a selection of eatables in the case, but the scone I got was good. The drip coffee I ordered was the best I've had in awhile, although it was a little high priced for a small town. I guess the bills have to be paid.

The 2 reviews I read were accurate, but I have a different perspective.

Depending on what you want in a coffee house, this place might or might not be for you. If a wide selection of edibles to accompany your coffee are important, this ain't the place. If low prices are what you're after, this ain't the place. If the best coffee snob coffee under the sun is what you seek, this place is better than office or fast food coffee, but it's not top of the list.

But if open mike nights, board games, casual conversation and a place to hang out with or meet younger locals are what you seek, this is a better place than Cameron Coffee across the street. Badger Brew will let you linger as long as you wish. Owner/worker(s) aren't anal retentive, which will bother some customers & refresh others. They take their time and work to live instead of living to work.

Additionally, they'll let you turn off or turn down the TV if it's bothering you & nobody else minds. Otherwise it's often on the harmless Weather Channel.

Occasionally it's a spot where groups concerned with various political causes will meet, their causes tend to be center to left of center ones.

This place is trying to be a coffee house somewhat patterned after the Greenwich Village poetry/folkie style coffeehouse. Of course it can never duplicate that, but it's not bad for a town of only 7,900 people in rural NW Wisconsin. And it's certainly better than nothing that tries to at all.

If most of that turns you off, try Cameron Coffee across the street inside Marketplace grocery store. You'll probably like it better.

They're obviously trying to pull off a big-time hipster vibe in a small town.  
Kind of hilarious.

...Perhaps to make up for the fact that their coffee & baked goods case leave much to be desired?

One time I stayed and did some work at a table, and the employee actually wandered over to the couch, made himself comfortable and started READING A BOOK when business was slow.  I guess that's part of the hipster thing they're trying to convey.  Independent way of running a business, anything goes, etc.  I

They need a nice little table or decent space where a person can customize a drink after ordering too.  Doesn't exist.  

A good amount of hype and pretention with this place, without strong product or employee hospitality to back it up.

UPDATE:  It's all a moot point, they're now gone.  Closed doors Jan. 18, 2013  Owner moved to Seattle.  A bit of a shame.  While I wasn't a huge fan, it was a local mom & pop business, a local place for the younger people.  There aren't much for hangouts for the kids in RL otherwise.  I was kind of wondering if they were just relocating.  There are a lot of vacant business buildings on the south side.  It would've made sense.  North Main has Cameron's Cafe for a coffee stop, and South Side RL could have had Badger Brew, but alas...

Maybe this is a good excuse for us to get a Caribou or a Starbucks now.