Co-op Creamery Café

The Co-op Creamery Café celebrated its Grand Opening as a part of Open Streets/ Franklin Avenue on Sunday, Aug. 16.  The Co-operative Creamery Building got a modern annex built on its eastern side, which has housed the office space for Seward Co-op since the spring. In addition to the cafe and offices, the building will also accommodate some of the food production—sausages, baked goods and takeout salads from the deli case, sold in the main store on Franklin and to be sold in the Friendship store when it opens. The Co-op Creamery Café looks to be a welcome addition to daytime eating options in Seward, with a similar mix of foods as found in the deli of the store. Coffee drinks, sodas, sandwiches, salads, baked goods and snacks are ordered at the counter, then delivered to your table by wait staff. Uniquely, there is no tipping in the cafe; staff are all paid a living wage and if you want to leave a little extra, it will go to the current SEED donation recipient. Prices reflect the higher wage for wait staff, but are still reasonable for the daytime cafe. In the evenings, though, the cafe becomes a fine dining restaurant with full table service (still no tipping) and selling a locavore mixture of elegant, pricey dishes, as well as wine, ale and cider. There are some vegan and gluten-free options on both menus.