Mother Fool's Coffeehouse

Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse opened in Madison, Wisconsin in spring 1994, a block from the Isthmus bike path, under Jean Lister, who ran it for about a year and built it into a homey community space. In June 1995 she sold it to Stephanie Rearick and Jon Hain, who had met her when their band, Your Mom SRO, played there. Its tagline is “Coffee makes me nice”.

The bakery has been entirely vegan since 1995, and the coffeehouse carries no dairy: every milk drink is made with oat or soy. One of its missions is to show that treats can be wonderful without animal products, and it keeps fish off the menu too, citing the damage commercial fishing does to ocean ecosystems, the problems of factory fish farms and the human rights abuses in parts of the industrial fishing trade. Scones, coffeecakes, cookies and cookie sandwiches come from Heirloom Bakery two blocks away, with gluten-free cookies, bars and breads from 1146 Vegan in Sun Prairie and gluten-free breakfast cookies from Sweet Eats.

The coffee is Colectivo. The drinks list is brewed coffee, Americano, red eye, café au lait, cappuccino, latte and mocha, plus a cold brew that is also sold as a concentrate by the bottle. The general store sells Colectivo coffee by the pound, including a Mother Fool’s House Blend, Co-Optiva, Colombia Paso Fino, Ethiopia Kebero, Mexico Kulaktik, a dark Sumatra and a decaf, beside bulk teas and AeroPress, Chemex and French press brewers. A new visual artist is shown in the café every month, and the Mad City Story Slam runs monthly. Colectivo roasts the coffee Mother Fool’s serves.