Although Bay View has an abundance of coffee shops, the java slingers become scarce along the South Shore once you get into the first-ring suburbs. However, La Finca Coffee House, which opened this past October in St. Francis in a space that originally housed FIXX, and recently Jacob’s Well, is filling the void with a Mexican-inspired menu of coffee drinks, hot food and bakery. The building is just off of Lake Drive and faces Lake Michigan, providing an aesthetic view. Inside, the cocoa-toned walls, wood tables and soothing world sounds from the stereo give a warm yet sophisticated ambiance.
Finca is Spanish for “estate,” specifically rural or agricultural land. Sisters Janeth and Lizath Zorrilla, owners of La Finca, source the beans for the coffee from their grandfather’s coffee farm in Oaxaca, México. Its Facebook page proudly states that, “Every step of the cultivation and harvesting process is family operated, and it continues that way when you get your cup of coffee here in Wisconsin throughout the day.”
A sip of La Finca’s Café Oaxaca blend reveals a medium-bodied coffee that is delicate, with a light acidity that pairs well with most food and bakery. Four coffee blends, which include one decaf (sourced from Anodyne), are available by the cup or whole beans by the pound.
If you’ve had your coffee fix for the day, try the Mexican hot chocolate ($2.75 for an eight-ounce serving), a rich cocoa with cinnamon and a tease of cayenne pepper that flirts between soothing and slightly dangerous. Seven espresso choices include macchiato and cortado. Multiple drink specialties on the menu include iced coco, latte horchata, chai latte, fruit smoothies and Rishi tea. Bottled sodas and seltzer water are also available.
Breakfast croissant sandwiches and breakfast burritos come in egg and cheese or with meat. Customers can choose from savory lunch items like quesadillas—cheese; veggie with cheese, black bean, corn and bell peppers; or sincronizada, with cheese and ham. There’s also the Cubano Panini with ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, or a grilled cheese Panini. The Panini sandwiches are served with chips, and the burritos are served a choice of a fruit cup or chips.
Rotating specials include a vegetarian standout, mollete ($5.99), a Mexican open-faced sandwich with melted Monterrey Jack cheese and black beans, served on a crusty bolillo roll and topped with a generous portion of house-made pico de gallo. Sour cream is served on the side. Warning: Use the accompanying fork, because this hearty sandwich cannot be picked up without making a delightful mess.
Fresh salads, fruit cups and yogurt parfait round out grab-and-go options. Since no coffee shop is complete without bakery, La Finca makes cookies, macarons and chocolate coconut cups on site, and they offer empanadas in several flavors made by a local bakery; more bakery offerings will become available as La Finca grows.
La Finca is supportive of local artists and showcases handmade and fair trade pottery, garments and paintings for purchase. They also promoted National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this past November by letting authors drop off excerpts of their work at the shop for others to read. Although La Finca is only a couple of months old, it’s off to a solid start and destined to be an asset to the South Shore community.
