Exchange Cafe

Now under new ownership and called «My Soul Café», this is still a nice place to be. The coffee is very good and the gumbo even better than Dixie Kitchen (IMNSHO). Cakes — to die for!

Exchange Café recently closed, but it was replaced with a new similar spot called My Soul Café. It has the same local coffee shop vibe, but definitely has better food and coffee. Plus they have diner style cakes on the counter that are delicious! If you liked Exchange Café then you will really like My Soul Café. They gutted the whole inside and made a way cooler interior design theme. They still have free Wi-​Fi and they girl working there said they will have an outdoor patio plus spoken word and other literary events coming soon! It’s a great spot to hang out!

Well, they’re closed. I saw the orange sticker of death on the front door.

They have to improve the drinks if they want to call this place «café».
I hate Starbucks, but Starbucks is much better than this place.
Nice big loft space, but it is not decorated well. Very sad.
It was very very cold inside in wintertime… they have to fix the door, too.
I don’t go back to this place.

This place is hit or miss.
The first time I walked in here, I was completely blown away by the espresso; I’m sorry to say I wasn’t expecting the coffee to be exceptional, but it was. I also had a great panini here.
The second time, I ordered breakfast. I ordered waffles, which ended up just being defrosted Eggo waffles. Weird. I wouldn’t order it again. But the coffee is still good.
They have free wifi, and they even rent out laptops if you don’t have one with you.
But the best part is that they have a bookshelf with flyers about local events. My roommate and I had wanted to see the parade by the South Shore Drill Team, and we had no idea where it was or what time it would start. We searched online, called around, and no one knew. So we decided to just walk around the neighborhood asking people.
Finally, we walked into the Exchange Café and there it was — a huge poster with all the information we needed, including a map.
I consider this place my hotline for being «in the know» locally. When there’s a local event it’s advertised here, or the people working here know about it and can tell you about it. Many cottage industries will sell their products here.
Awesome place with excellent espresso and friendly service.

Exchange Café is a great little independent coffeeshop with a local feel. The proprietors are friendly and welcoming. The menu is standard coffeeshop food and drinks, and everything I’ve had has been fresh and good. Music is usually modern R&B (think Erykah Badu) played at a reasonable volume, and sometimes the barista can’t help herself and softly joins in. The hours are reasonable, it’s never completely empty or full, and there are plenty of books and magazines lying around. The decorations are paintings, I presume by local artists because they’re for sale and switch every so often. Wireless is free and fast, and there’s a printer and scanner which can be used for a fee. Most important of all in a coffeeshop, you always feel both welcome and anonymous.

I agree whole heatedly with James M. This is a great establishment with a lot of perks that other coffee shops don’t have. They’re still pretty new but I was glad that they decided to pick that particular spot (used to be a cleaners there) I never tried them but I heard the sandwiches are great too. This is really what that intersection needed.