Photo by Glenda Mitchell
Style Pop Café
Style Pop Café's colorful interior
Style Pop Cafe is a vibrant, fun new coffee shop in bustling Walker’s Point, located at 934 S Fifth St. Opened on April 6, the shop originated as a tent pop-up and trailer coffee business before now enjoying its brick-and-mortar space. Rosha Brister has designed Style Pop Cafe to be conducive to three things: productivity, creativity and a social environment. The shop is open Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. while closed Sunday.
As one walks in, they are immediately welcomed by a neon sign that says Coffee Time. Cerulean blue and pink walls, vintage pieces, Pride adornments and decorative flora fill the space. Folks can book time in one of several fully-furnished workspaces, hang out at the tables or couches, or chill out on the cafe’s patio.
“You get a little bit of everyone here,” Brister affirms about Walker’s Point. “There’s a lot of LGBTQ businesses over here, so I felt like this was a perfect space to call home.”
Fair Trade Beans
Style Pop’s fair-trade certified beans are roasted in California, sourced from small, artisan farms in South America. Brister describes the beans’ taste as having notes of chocolate, citrus and cream. The coffee can be purchased by the bag in-store or online.
Photo by Nicholas Mira
Style Pop Café - Drink Flight
A Style Pop Café coffee flight featuring a brown sugar banana latte, a Biscoff latte, a matcha latte and a caramel brownie latte
The cafe makes their own coffee creamer from scratch, available in dairy and non-dairy varieties. Brister came up with the idea for homemade creamer after meeting so many people during COVID times experiencing some level of mental anguish. “I wanted to create positivity in a bottle,” she says. This is reflected in the creamers’ names—Charisma Vanilla, Fab Honey, Confident Caramel and Marvelous Mocha.
In addition to traditional coffee and tea drinks like lattes, cappuccinos, matchas and chai, Style Pop Cafe offers a myriad of sweet, seasonal specialties. Current ones include their Oreo Mocha, Coconut Chai, Pumpkin Pie Spice, and Brown Sugar Banana Lattes, each available hot or iced. Lemonade, hot chocolate and Agua Fresca de Fresa are also available. Drink recipes can be found on the Style Pop website.
“We switch out the drink menu every season,” Brister explains. “For spring and summer, we wanted drinks that represent that, like with lavender, coconut, banana and strawberry.”
Breakfast and Lunch
The cafe’s food menu has both breakfast and lunch items, featuring house-made wraps, egg rolls and salads, along with locally sourced baked goods like bagels, muffins and cookies.
As a young girl, Brister would drink coffee with her grandparents. “I wasn’t supposed to have any but they would give me some, with a little bit of sugar,” she fondly remembers. “I started coming to school with Speedway coffee (laughs). My friends would make fun of me because I was the only one who had to grab coffee before school.”
In college, Brister began going to coffee shops to study, do homework or just hang out with friends. The cafe environment resonated heavily with her, and she ultimately decided she wanted to open a coffee shop of her own one day.
“I started experimenting and learning about different drinks and coffee tastes,” Brister recalls. “As I gradually got more into the coffee experience, it made me want to eventually have my own space.”
From Pop-Up to Shop
A few months into the COVID pandemic, when coffee shops were closed, Brister started Style Pop Cafe with a pink coffee tent, vending at local events and markets in and outside of Milwaukee. Eventually she created an online ordering system, and then in 2023 she invested in a trailer. The shop’s name derives from the idea of helping folks find their purpose, or why, with coffee.
“I do still have the trailer,” Brister mentions. In fact, the Style Pop Cafe trailer is at the Greendale Farmers Market every Saturday through the summer, at Enderis Park Farmers Market on July 13, and Yoga in the Park at Davidson Park on July 26.
She acquired the space around the same time she got the trailer. It took about a year and half for everything to be built out, as she explains. “This was all gravel floor. There were no bathrooms or HVAC. There were a couple plumbing lines but that was it.”
Brister has opened the cafe to hosting events. Happenings so far have included Drag Bingo, Fitness on the Patio and Pride Karaoke. Coming up next is their Christmas in July event in collaboration with Samantha Starr Events on July 19, featuring live artists, a DJ and festive cocktails. Then there is the next edition of Brister’s Live Podcast Series on July 26, featuring The Shellasphere Podcast and HER Lounge MKE.
Style Pop coffee can be found at Niche Book Bar in Historic Bronzeville. “I eventually want to get our coffee creamer into stores,” Brister notes.
