The Java Break — Restaurant in Lawrence

I have been coming to this place my whole life and this is the first time i have had such a horrible experience here. my partner and i came to get drinks and food and the first person who helped was nice while we ordered the drinks and a different person named hunter came to get our food order. I asked to do a separate transaction for our food and they were incredibly rude and rushed us to tell them our food order, after that they asked us if it was for here or to go and we replied to go. They then said inside or outside? Me and my partner did not understand what they meant at first because we have never been asked that anywhere for a to go order and my partner said nicely oh no its to go, he thought they might have misheard us or something and the worker replied with, well i need to know where you’re going be at so i can give you your food but this was in a very aggressive and mocking tone and using aggressive hand movements. She was literally talking to us like we were dumb, my partner apologised and said he just did not understand what they meant and they just said yeah, its fine in the same disrespectful manner. That is when my partner handed me the money that he was going to use for our food and quietly stepped outside as this interaction had become extremely upsetting and he didn’t want to cry or cause a scene inside. At first we just assumed they might’ve been having a bad day but while i was waiting for the food about 3 more people came in and they were very nice and talkative with every other customer. once we received our food i asked the other employee for the rude worker’s name and they told me and then asked if there was an issue. I said yes and told them that person was very rude to us and made my partner cry. They only responded with that they were autistic and that is just how their tone is, I told them thank you and have a nice day and left. What was also upsetting is that the other person did not seem to care either way that a customer was left crying after an interaction with another employee. Importantly me and my partner are also both autistic and we very much know the difference between just tone and straight up attitude. We are both currently downtown workers in the service industry and have been for many years so we always try our hardest to be nice and understanding towards other service workers, but their behaviour was completely unacceptable. Neither of us even ate our food because this interaction was so stressful. My partner also informed me that three girls came out while he was sitting outside and said “well that was fun, makes me not want to go back” in a sarcastic tone, and after this interaction...

Make no mistake--this place is a dump. It looks like the common room of a poorly-funded frat house or maybe a community house build out of scavenged materials. And that's EXACTLY why I like it. It is NOT a yuppie hangout, thank God. After my old hangout remodeled it became a magnet for cell phones, suits, and loud marketing meetings at 10 a.m.

Java Break ain't like that. There's a funky, studious vibe about the place; kids hanging out in the Free Speech room, students and artists with laptops in the back booths, and a weird circular antechamber with a TV and lots of board games. None of the light fixtures match; they and the furniture are all mid-century rejects (ugly but well-built)--it's kind of like hanging in the props trailer of an Austin Powers movie set.

Anyway, the coffee is decent, the baked goods are first-rate, and their panninis look and smell terrific though I haven't sampled one yet. There is a microwave in which to warm your bagel/muffin, and sprinkles to put on your cupcakes. There are electrical outlets near every booth so you can plug in your laptop. The lighting in the back room is low, perfect for screen viewing, and there is plenty of seating. Yes, the staff expect you to buy drinks if you're going to hang out there. Yes, you have to get a web access pass with a 4-hour time limit (which is included in the cost of your coffee drink). But I ask you, are those unreasonable requirements for a business that stays open 24/7 and will make you breakfast after midnight? Keep in mind, this is downtown in a college town--there are a lot of homeless people and local characters who would wander in and stay all night if they were allowed to. And yes, sometimes those characters can get a little intrusive and creepy, but that's one of the hazards of a vibrant downtown community.

There are a lot of coffee shops in Lawrence and I think it's safe to say there's an ambience for every taste. I salute the owners of Java Break for doing...

Just a quick jog from Liberty Hall, we stopped at The Java Break for a caffeine boost before a Sunday night concert. (Open until 9pm daily, current regular hours.) Stepping downstairs into this shop felt like I'd entered a delightfully quirky vintage parallel dimension with a unique menu to match. Staff were welcoming to us first-timers and seemed to have a good rapport with the regular ahead of us.

I had the drip Daily Origin Brew coffee, and the barista was able to describe flavor notes, with and without cream. Great for sipping! (Too bad we couldn't stay longer.) So many things on tap that I'd love to come back and try, like house-made chai and cold press Nitro A.M. (almond milk) flavored drinks. Variety of soda fountain flavors too (like lavender+lemon). JB also will fill bottles of many of these things if you want to bring home more for later.

The space is a series of small rooms, each with its own character. Almost missed the bathrooms, the doors camouflaged among the writing on the walls in the Free Speech Zone (which I first misread as "speech free" aka "quiet" area, but there was a group chatting away while playing a board game, cluing me in). We sat for a bit in the quiet rotunda with a spiral staircase, sadly closed to customers, but cool to peek up at the stained glass above it. After watching what was on the display of a rigged up old TV for a bit, we exited outside and up to the surface, complete with some nice outdoor seating, and ventured up the corner to Liberty Hall. Definitely could become a...