Beloit-based Blue Collar Coffee Co. opened a second location last week, this one at 523 Milwaukee St. in Delafield, in the space formerly occupied by Milwaukee Street Traders.
The cafe is owned and operated by Beloit’s Geronimo Hospitality Group, which operates the Hotel Goodwin, Lucy’s #7 Burger Bar, Velvet Buffalo, truk’t and other hospitality venues in that city. The first Blue Collar opened there in October 2018.
Blue Collar is Geronimo’s fifth property in Delafield, where it also operates the Delafield Hotel, I.d. restaurant, be FITNESS and Bark River CrossFit.
Blue Collar sources its coffee from Ruby Colorful Coffees, based in Nelsonville, in Portage County. Also on the menu is Magic Mushroom Kombucha from Walworth and Wisco Pop! sodas from Viroqua.
In addition to coffee, Blue Collar serves teas and smoothies, as well as breakfast and lunch sandwiches, baked goods and soups.
"We saw a positive response from Delafield residents about Blue Collar Coffee coming to the city, so we’re excited about the opening of the coffee house," said Jeff Whiteman, chief operating officer for Geronimo Hospitality Group.
"Blue Collar Coffee is a natural fit for Delafield. Local residents and travelers will enjoy coffees and espressos made from beans roasted by Ruby Coffee Roasters, the variety of breakfast and lunch foods offered, and our cozy lounge seating."
Blue Collar in Delafield is open Monday-Thursday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
