The Duquesne Duke

Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Features

Media Credit: Brad Morocco

Devil Dust. Archangel. The Gargoyle. Typically, these words do not conjure visions of brown sugar cinnamon mochas or butterscotch lattes. But that is exactly what makes the Asylum Coffee Bar special; it's not typical.

The Asylum Coffee Bar opened its doors on Oct. 10, 2009. Located at 1919 Forbes Avenue in Uptown, Asylum does not have a look that mirrors that of a Starbucks or Caribou Coffee.

When new customers go into Asylum, they will not see what they might expect of a coffee shop. Leather stools surround a bar, and a high-definition TV sits up in the corner. The menu also features drink titles that would be more likely to appear in a horror novel than a coffee shop, like a Harley Monster or a Reaper.

But Matt Hoover, co-founder and general manager, said this is the entire attraction of Asylum.

"We hope to brand ourselves in a way that you'll see that it's a really cool product that you can't get anywhere else," Hoover said. "You can get a toasted marshmallow mocha at Caribou Coffee. You can get a banana mocha at Crazy Mocha. It's going to be hopefully more about the fact that people like something because how it's presented to them in addition to how it tastes."

Non-coffee lovers have a menu to look forward to as well. Asylum serves sandwiches and a variety of desserts from locally owned restaurants such as Dozen Bake Shop, Gullifty's Resturant and Enrico Biscotti Company.

The shop started when Hoover had a discussion with Chip Fetrow, owner of the RiverCity Flats apartment complex in Uptown, after Hoover had quit his job as an admissions recruiter. According to Hoover, Fetrow had a storefront attached to the complex that he had wanted to do something with for quite some time. After a discussion, Hoover said the two decided to open a coffee shop together.

"We sat down, and he offered partner, and I said sure, as long as I can do it my way," Hoover said.

Hoover said they decided to make the storefront into a coffee shop because of the potential positive impact that it could have on the community.

"In most urban areas that are blighted … one of the first things that goes in is a coffee shop because it brings residents together, it builds a community's character and it gets people out and about on the streets," Hoover said. "It just opens up lines of communication and starts to build a bloodline so to speak for an emerging area."

Continued...

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