Cafe serves up atmosphere, coffee

Wendy Back had never worked in the coffee business when she decided to open her own cafe, but knew she wanted to create a place she and others could call home.

“It was the place that I wanted to go to, where I would feel comfortable,” Back said. “The place you go to meet your friends or because you want to be alone. Kind of a Cheers bar and Friends atmosphere.”

Now, 12 years later, Back’s Grounds For Appeal Espresso Bar and Cafe has become a mainstay of Berwyn’s Depot District. In that time, Back has watched her clientele grow and the neighborhood change with the times. There have been ups and downs, she said, particularly when Berwyn Finer Foods closed its doors two years ago, removing one of the area’s only destination spots.

“That was brutal,” Back said.

Business slowed with the weakening economy but is now picking up again as Berwynites wake from another winter’s hibernation.

“The weather always helps and you see a change in people,” Back said. “Spring is around the corner and more people are on the street, so I think it will be fine.”

Beyond caffeine, Grounds offers regular Saturday night musical performance by mostly local artists. Books and memorabilia paying homage to Chicago sports teams and old time gangsters adorn nearly every inch of the shop’s walls. Ample comfortable seating and music from the 50s and 60s help recreate the atmosphere she fell in love with during a trip to Italy nearly four decades ago.