Poll results: Here are your favorite coffee shops in southwestern Illinois
Since its launch on Friday, Feb. 11, more than 2,500 participants voted in our latest online poll for the area’s best coffee shop.
This poll closed Thursday just before midnight.
In the last update earlier in the week, I reported that the votes for the top five coffee shops were as follows:
Sacred Grounds Cafe: 443
The Abbey Espresso Bar & Café: 348
The Red Porch: 322
Balance Coffee & Tea: 134
Goshen Coffee Café: 101
This was two days before the poll ended. And a lot can change in two days.
Here are the favorite coffee shops in southwest Illinois, chosen by you, our readers:
First Place – The Red Porch Café
I previously wrote that everyone loves an underdog.
The Red Porch Café proves that it’s true.
The New Baden coffee shop was included in our poll, despite the fact that it wasn’t even nominated by readers. (I added a handful of places to our list of nominated contenders.)
During the first day of the poll, The Red Porch made its way to 14th place out of a list of 24 places.
Three days later they were in eighth place, then fifth place the next day.
They finished in the top spot with 1,093 votes.
When I called the café to share the news that they won the poll, manager Lynn Pannier replied, “That is crazy!”
Pannier said they didn’t even know about the poll until two days before it ended (which is my bad!).
Clearly enough people knew about it to bring in all those votes.
In addition to a selection of coffee drinks and other beverages, the menu offers a variety of breakfast yums, including sandwiches, avocado toasts, parfaits and a la carte items.
Stop by for some lunch and choose from multiple sandwiches, subs, soups and salads.
They have a kids menu too.
The Red Porch Café is a partnership between Community Link, a nonprofit organization in Breese, and Clinton Manor Living Center in New Baden.
The café’s mission is “Brew Good. Do Good,” with every purchase supporting the mission of Community Link. The Red Porch provides jobs for people with disabilities and creates a space where all can feel at home, according to the café’s website.
Pannier said they couldn’t have better partners and that a lot of participants from Community Link come to the café.
The Red Porch is a place where people can go to develop job skills and interact with other members of the community.
The good food and coffee are a bonus, said Pannier.
The Red Porch opened in November 2019 and is located at 301 E. Hanover in New Baden.
Hours are 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. They are closed Sunday and Monday.
For more information, call 618-588-5250 or visit the Facebook page.
Second Place – Sacred Ground Café
Our second-place winner should come as no surprise to those who followed the poll updates.
Edwardsville’s own Sacred Grounds held the top spot throughout most of the poll’s duration. It also had the second highest number of nominations before the poll opened.
I tried to call owner Kate Baungartner to give her the news about the poll, but she wasn’t immediately available.
Being busy is a good problem to have when you own a business.
Since taking ownership of this Edwardsville institution in January 2001, Baumgartner continues to serve customers who’ve been coming to Sacred Grounds for years, as well as some new ones.
Sacred Grounds was always a popular haunt for the college crowd, specifically students and faculty from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. (Hello, fellow Cougars!)
Baumgartner herself has a bachelor’s degree in English lit from SIUE, according to an earlier BND story, in which she said, “I probably wrote 75% of my college papers at Sacred Grounds. I was there all the time.”
In September, Baumgartner released a new menu with extended brunch items and more vegan (yay!) and gluten-free options in an effort to be “as inclusive as possible,” she said at the time.
I kid you not. If you haven’t been to Sacred Grounds, at least check out the pics of the food on the Facebook page. Everything looks incredibly delish!
And what could be better than some fine eats and great coffee in a historic building?
Sacred Grounds Café is located at 233 N. Main St. in Edwardsville.
Regular hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday-Friday and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Watch the Facebook page for special events with extended hours.
For more information, call 618-692-4150 or visit facebook.com/sacredgroundscafeedwardsville.
Third Place – The Abbey Espresso Bar & Café
The Abbey has appeared at various times among the top five spots in our coffee shop poll.
Finishing out the first day in fourth place, The Abbey made its way to the second-place spot and stayed there until the last two days when The Red Porch reached No. 1.
Jim Orlet originally opened The Abbey at 6500 W. Main St. in Belleville in the Arcades Center.
In addition to feeding and caffeinating the masses, The Abbey spent more than a decade at the Arcades and hosted many live music events and displayed the works of local artists.
The Abbey opened at its current location in January 2013 with twice as much space than before.
At the time of the move, the BND reported that “a local historian brought them photos from 1896 of the hotel that once stood on the spot. The property then was at the entrance to Lake Priester’s Park. St. Henry’s Preparatory Seminary later stood on the site.”
A quick look at the menu is more than enough to make anyone hungry.
The challenge is deciding what to order. The paninis, hot and cold sandwiches, salads and soups … take your pick.
Then quench the thirst by choosing from any number of coffee drinks, sodas and teas.
The Abbey Espresso Bar & Café is located at 5801 W. Main St. in Belleville.
The hours are 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m .Saturday and 8-11 a.m. Sunday.
For more info, call 618-277-8373 or check them out online at thebellevilleabbey.com.
Here are the rest of the coffee shops in this poll:
Balance Coffee & Tea, 732 S. Illinois St., Belleville. 618-641-9900. facebook.com/balancecoffeeandtea
Goshen Coffee Café, 6120 Shoger Drive, Suite A, Edwardsville. 618-650-9086. facebook.com/GoshenCoffee
Café de Shell, 323 Chaffer Ave. (inside Roxana High School), Roxana. 618-254-4107. facebook.com/Cafe-de-Shell-1203551839795853
Joe & Onie’s: The Art of Carry-Out, 18 E. Main St., Belleville. 618-416-4555. joeandonies.com
Sugar High Bakery & Café, 100 E. Main St., Belleville. 618-418-4040. sugarhighbakeryandcafe.com
Press Coffee & Tea, 19 W. Broadway, Trenton. 618-224-9884. facebook.com/presscoffeetea
Bean Tree Café, 219 S. Main St., Waterloo. 618-939-5330. beantreecafe.net
Verona Coffee Company, 101 E. Main St., Collinsville. 618-696-1522. facebook.com/veronacoffeecompany
Starbucks, multiple locations. starbucks.com
The CoffeeHouse Company, 1333 Central Park Drive, #127, O’Fallon. 618-624-6343. facebook.com/CoffeeHouseCompany
Germania Brew Haus, 617 E. Broadway, Alton. 618-800-5130. facebook.com/GermaniaBrewHaus
St. Louis Coffee World, 200 E. Main St. #100, Mascoutah. 618-413-4018. stlouiscoffeeworld.org
Dunkin’, multiple locations. dunkindonuts.com
McDonald’s, multiple locations. mcdonalds.com
Pour @322 Coffee, 322 E. Main St., Belleville. 618-234-4455. bellevillecoffee.com
Proving Ground Café and Roaster, 180 Columbia Center, Columbia. 618-281-6652. provinggroundcoffeeroaster.com
Scooter’s Coffee, multiple locations. scooterscoffee.com
Around the Corner Coffee Company, 1103 Mill St., Maeystown. 618-458-8088. atcmaeystown.com
The Coffee Box, 2615 N. Center St., Maryville. 618-223-8060. the-coffee-box.com
Teaspoons Café, 2125 S. State Route 157, Edwardsville. 618-655-9595. teaspoonscafe.com
Olde City Café & Bar, 292 N. Clinton St., Breese. 618-219-6661. facebook.com/oldecitycafeandbar
Now, if you missed this poll, watch for the next one.
I’m gonna try something a little different. Think of it as our own little “Taco Tournament,” when we run an elimination bracket for the area’s best Mexican Restaurant.
Only the top 16 nominated places will make the bracket, so make sure to nominate your favorites.
Stay tuned.
