668 Euclid Avenue, a downtown apartment building with a months-long waiting list for its popular refurbished apartments, recently welcomed a new coffee house and cafe that aims to be a community hub for residents who have chosen the city center.

Operator Mickey D'Angelo says he co-founded Nexus Cafe with Gateway Church of Downtown Cleveland to act as a "third place," those spaces outside of work and home that bring people together. There currently are few options outside of bars, he says.

Although the evening coffeehouse has been slow to catch on, lunch business is booming. The full service menu includes grilled flat bread pizzas, wraps, sandwiches, salads and soups. The kitchen staff makes almost everything from scratch, and much of the food is sourced locally from area farmers.

"We make almost everything in house, down to the mayonnaise," says D'Angelo. "For example, the whole wheat flour that we use to make our pizza dough comes from a farmer in Ravenna, and then we finish the pizzas to order in our oven."

D'Angelo has traveled to Sumatra to buy coffee directly from farmers, and the church plans to reinvest profits back into the community. A 170-seat venue exists in the back of the cafe, and Nexus will begin hosting concerts there this month.

Source: Mickey D'Angelo
Writer: Lee Chilcote