Holy crepe, Brewella’s — the popular Lakewood coffee-shop-slash-creperie — is getting an upgrade.
As Brewella's gets ready to celebrate its sixth anniversary, co-owner Chris Murphy shares that he plans to move to a new location in early 2025. But the eatery isn’t going far — just a block down the road and into a much larger space previously occupied by Lakewood Music Collective.
When Murphy and his husband, Joe Keppler, first opened Brewella’s in August 2018, they weren’t sure the community would embrace their self-proclaimed “eccentric cafe,” which is filled to the brim with vintage collectibles inspired by the stylings of a fictional grandmother (the eponymous Brewella). But they needn’t have worried: These days, their cozy shop on the far west side of Lakewood is so popular that there’s often a wait for its sweet and savory crepes, and seating is at a premium.
“Eventually, we started seeing where we could make things a little more efficient and comfortable for everyone, including our staff,” says Murphy, a former X-ray tech who now runs the cafe full-time. “We started thinking about opening a bigger space, but we knew we wanted to stay in Lakewood.”
In 2022, they started looking for a new building, but nothing felt right until early 2023, when manager Bridgit McCaffrey noticed that Lakewood Music Collective had closed its doors. She suggested that it might be a good fit for Brewella’s, and from there, the deal was made quickly.
“It was like we called it into existence,” Murphy says.
They’re not going far. The new spot is located at 16426 Madison Ave., just 400 feet down the road. But it’s twice as big, with room for a real kitchen, rather than the behind-the-counter space where baristas currently churn out crepes.
Having dedicated space and equipment also allows Keppler’s grandmother and mother to expand their culinary presence in the cafe. Right now, the two women bake Brewella’s alfajores, soft shortbread cookies with dulce de leche in the center and a dusting of coconut around the edges. They plan to establish a sister business inside the new space — an empanada endeavor called Perrella’s at Brewella’s.
“Empanadas are such a great complement to crepes because they’re both made to order, and it’s easy to have fun with the fillings,” Murphy says. “They’re both a very blank canvas.”
The new location will also have significantly more seating, which will allow Brewella’s to host events both private and public. Murphy envisions offering writing classes and craft workshops led by his “brewistas,” most of whom are artists — like Morgan Neumarker of Moonfish Studios and Ryan Frisby of Fire Baby Studio, who created the strands of felt raindrops that adorned the shop in the spring.
It’s no coincidence that Brewella’s is staffed by creatives, as Murphy, who studied theater before moving to health care, carefully curated all of the vintage finds that adorn the shop walls and goes all-out with festive seasonal decor for every holiday. After years spent working in healthcare, he says running a coffee shop — something he never envisioned himself doing — has helped him tap back into his own love of the arts.
“It’s kind of like set design, and that’s been my way of bringing the theater to it. We’ve always wanted this to be a very creative and colorful space.”
Murphy isn’t yet sure when Brewella’s will officially relocate down the road but is shooting for spring 2025. For now, the new place is being reimagined and renovated, and he’ll make the big move when the time is right. When it happens, he hopes the community will be just as supportive of Brewella’s 2.0 as it has been of the original.
“Everyone has been very gracious and excited,” he says, “and they’ve been so responsive to our whole concept and vibe.”
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