LaJava Roasting House

Drive-thru only at Velp. That is the first thing to know before pointing a car at LaJava Roasting House's flagship Green Bay location. No dine-in, no chairs, just a window and a line. The other LaJava stores at Howard, Cardinal and W. Mason offer dine-in, so anyone wanting to sit and drink inside should choose one of those. Seven days a week, beans roasted in-house, a Wisconsin operation that has grown beyond a single shop without selling out to a national chain.

The white raspberry latte is the drink customers keep ordering. Seasonal specialty drinks rotate through and pull in regulars looking for something new. The white chocolate mocha is a standard pick. Bags of the espresso blend are available for home brewing. Gluten-free baked goods are stocked, which is not a given at small drive-thrus and matters to the customers who need them.

Prices land below national chains for comparable drinks. Commuters grab a flavored latte at a real saving over the green-mermaid alternative and don't feel like they are slumming. That economic gap is part of why the place has stuck around.

The honest flag is preparation consistency. Whether the drink in the cup matches what was ordered varies across locations and shifts. The drive-thru speed makes it harder to fix a wrong order on the spot. For a quick pickup at a fair price and a local owner, LaJava at Velp does the job. For drinking on premises, head to Howard or Cardinal.