My Kind of People

March 15th, 2026

I was at The Daily Bird a couple days ago. I had to drop off somebody who had an interview at Meta House a few blocks away. I didn’t know how long the interview would take, so I wandered into the café to get a cup of joe and a breakfast sandwich. I also brought a paper tablet with me so that I could write a snail mail letter to a friend in Pennsylvania. I like doing that sort of thing.

The Daily Bird is a scruffy, working-class kind of place. It’s totally not Starbucks. It’s not much like anything else either. Years ago, that coffee shop was called the Fuel Cafe. That particular business was also rather informal. The Fuel Cafe had a strong motorcycle vibe to it (the owners of Fuel sponsored the annual “Frozen Snot Ride” at the tail end of the Wisconsin winter). Daily Bird keeps a bit of the biker motif, but the proprietors lean heavily into the theme of drug prevention and recovery. That makes total sense to me, and it is timely.

Daily Bird has all the old tables and ancient wooden booths left over from the Fuel Cafe. The only real difference now is that the new owners painted damn near everything, both inside and out, in a godawful bright yellow. I will grant you that the color scheme makes it easy to find and recognize the coffee shop. A person can see it from blocks away. It’s definitely an upbeat hue. It’s hard to be depressed in the café. However, I think it might be rough on a person who is already wound tight. I have to believe that they got the paint for free. I can’t imagine paying money for gallons and gallons of lemon-yellow paint.

Next to the counter is a table covered with brochures and pamphlets. On it there are free samples of Naloxone (Narcan), an opioid receptor antagonist. Narcan can save somebody who has overdosed. There are also free fentanyl test kits. And there are pregnancy tests available. As I mentioned, this is not a typical café. The owners are concerned with wellbeing of the local community in a very hands-on sort of way. I think it’s kind of cool.

I had to use the restroom halfway through my mug of coffee. I noticed quickly that there was no mirror in the room. Instead, written above the sink in bold, black letters was this:

“You look GREAT! Now, wash your hands!”

Sage advice.

The coffee was good. The breakfast sandwich made fresh, and I appreciated that. The music played in the coffee shop was eclectic. The baristas probably picked it out. I took some time to observe the folks who came into the place. I suspect that they were almost all locals, denizens of the Riverwest neighborhood. I bet that the customers all have interesting stories to tell. They looked intriguing. They looked real. In other places, say in a Starbucks, people sometimes come in dressed to impress. Not so at The Daily Bird. It seemed obvious to me that the clientele has no desire to put on a front. They are who they are and that is kind of refreshing.

A portion of the customers got a coffee and immediately went out the door and lit up a cigarette. Keep in mind that it is still winter here in the north country, and the weather was cold on the morning I visited the café. I have to assume that at least a few of them were down to their last two acceptable addictions, and they were making the most of the opportunity to feed their need. So be it. Caffeine and nicotine usually don’t result in a fatal overdose. The long-term effects are a different story.

I sat for a while and then I had to pick up the person with the interview. I had finished my letter and my coffee. I enjoyed the time at The Daily Bird. I plan on coming in again. They are my kind of people.