Escaping from the bubble of college life can be as thoroughly challenging as an Orgo exam or getting a date to an SYR. Luckily, South Bend offers a number of bastions of sanity for Notre Dame and Saint Mary's overworked and overtired student bodies. An escape from the snow and 900-page Bible readings is as near as South Bend's off-campus coffee shops.

Lulu's Café

Students that want to take a quick break from the daily grind will find that Lulu's Café is as economical as it is enjoyable.

Lulu's features a wide array of international coffees offered on a rotating daily basis. The New Orleans Community house blend is offered daily and is a superior cup of joe for coffee drinkers who like their coffee with a strong earthy flavor.

Even better, Lulu's coffee is priced well for the penniless college student; a small coffee is $.75 (with one free refill), comparable to Dalloway's but much less expensive than a $1.29 cup of Starbucks-standard swill at Recker's.

Lulu's most enticing aspect is its charming atmosphere. The café is adorned with comfortable couches and love seats for extended study sessions and the walls are covered in local artwork and quasi-hippie paintings. The leisurely ambiance is a refreshing break from the daily mental grind of class work.

Students in need of corporeal nourishment are in luck at Lulu's as well. Although the prices are higher than the "deli" or "recycled dining hall" food offered on campus, Lulu's has a surprisingly gourmet selection of munchables. The grill-toasted Brie and veggie sandwiches are worth the five spot for hungry studiers. The humus with toasted pita bread is perfect for a light or late snack.

For those students who can only scrounge up meager change from their futons, a peanut butter and jelly bagel is available for just $1. Patrons should also be on the look out for daily specials such as chicken-avocado wraps and New England clam chowder, which tend to be especially tasty.

Lulu's Café is owned an operated by '93 Notre Dame alumnus Steve Egan. Egan opened the coffee shop to better caffienate the Notre Dame and Saint Mary's community in 1995. Named after a mythical world adventurer who crossed paths with Amelia Earhart, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway, Lulu's lives up to its rhetoric and attracts a diverse range of patrons, from students and professional business people to bohemian artists.

Egan manages Lulu's along with his faithful "coffee experts," the self-proclaimed "Lulu's Pals," who not only serve customers, but are actively involved in preparing new menu items. Egan think that his employees are one of the reasons behind Lulu's success.

"Our staff will bring new things to the table. We try to keep things fresh and new," Egan said.

Lulu's also offers opportunities to local musicians and artists whose work can be seen and heard at the coffee shop each week. Egan is always looking for artists to feature.

Lulu's is located at 1631 Edison Rd. (on the corner of Angela Boulevard and Edison Road, across from the Linebacker Inn) in the Edison Plaza. Lulu's is close enough to the Notre Dame campus to take a five-minute bike ride or a 15-minute walk to. The café is open from 7 a.m. to midnight from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to midnight on Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.

C. Spencer Beggs

Molly McGuire's Coffee House

This is the stuff of legends: all those cherished stories from older brother's and freshman-year resident assistants, telling of Molly's predecessor and older sister, the bar known as Bridget McGuire's Filling Station.

Alumni still remember well the tale of Bridget's infamous downfall: on a cold January night in 1998, a police raid busted and ultimately shut down the popular underage watering hole

Today, the familiar building still stands on the corner of South Bend Avenue and Eddy Street, but now its once-traditional cups of beer have been replaced with mugs of steaming coffee.

Molly McGuire's Coffee House entered the South Bend scene in 1998 and has since established a solid reputation for its eats, drinks and comfortable atmosphere. Yet this slice of Notre Dame history may have passed its heyday of appeal for the undergraduate population.

For starters, entering the bar-turned-coffee house feels a little like walking into grandma's place or that sweet old neighbor's living room. Rocking chairs, lace doilies on the armchairs, old family portraits mingled with antique toys on the walls makes Molly's a far cry from the Filling Station of yore. The atmosphere is quiet, no music and few customers on a weekday afternoon.

But before writing Molly's off as simply a safe place to sedate the relatives on Junior Parent's Weekend, a mosey up to the bar-turned-lunch counter reveals a variety of interesting fare.

Molly's drink and food menus offer an solid selection. Italian sodas and iced coffees are a cool choice, while every Starbucks-schemed concoction of caffe-mocha-latte-americano to warm up these chilly February days. Chai, hot chocolate and freshly brewed pots of tea round out the list for those who have yet to develop the coffee addiction. This is what Grandma's kitchen nook was always best for, anyway: cradling a warm mug while all wrapped up in an afghan?

When hunger strikes (and it always does) the kitchen at Molly's boasts an impressive menu: lots of salads, soup, homemade sandwiches and tortilla wraps. Vegetarians will be (pardon the expression) happy as clams here as well, with options like veggie sandwiches and hummus plates. The prices are just right for a student's budget, ranging from $4.95 to $5.95, and most dishes also come with sides like bread, soup or a muffin to make it a full meal.

Clearly Molly's knows how to cater to the starving, caffeine-addicted college student. But as far as providing a trendy hangout or a haven for late-night studiers, the coffee house falls short. For starters, it closes at 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and isn't open on Sundays — a tough sell for those who camp out at java huts to keep their bleary eyes open as they struggle through book after book.

The atmosphere isn't specifically tailored to a college crowd either. This is more of a place to relax and have an intimate chat with good friends, or a peaceful escape for those Saturdays when the second floor of the library gets a little too crazy. Molly's has its charms, but it's more subdued and laid-back than other area coffeehouses.

Above all, there is the site's inescapable history. Despite the new homey décor of perfectly worn couches, eclectically mixed chairs and tables, Molly's former identity as Bridget's is still all-too-obvious. Its setup still looks just like a bar longing for a tap and a close listen might still reveal the strains of "Sweet Caroline" or "Oh! What a Night!" echoing in the corners.

But lingering too long in nostalgia leaves an unattended cappuccino to get cold.

Laura Kelly

Higher Grounds

"The Tazo was our most popular tea until Starbucks started selling it," said a Higher Grounds clerk. "Then we switched to [selling] Numi because we wanted to do our own thing,"

Located beyond BW3's on Washington Road, Higher Grounds is a coffee shop that prides itself on being off the beaten path.

The clerk also noted that the Chai Tea has probably eclipsed the Numi in popularity since Higher Grounds began selling it. The shop offers a plethora of espresso drinks ranging from the sweet to the all-nighter strong, including an enticing drip coffee, their House Blend.

A quick survey of the shop shows that most of the tables and chairs have reached that comfortable state of wear. Yet on the way to its current condition, the furniture may have also absorbed enough second-hand smoke to have a regulatable nicotine content. The lighting is conducive to study, if staring out the large windows or at the art that is occasionally exhibited on the walls doesn't prove too distracting.

By day Higher Grounds is a docile, meditative establishment. Most customers appear to be locals on lunch breaks looking for a place to read the paper while indulging in a sandwich.

For those who enjoy more exotic cuisine, the mushroom pita is an excellent choice. It features a grilled portabella mushroom on a wheat pita with lettuce and tomato. Other enticing lunch options include the slightly spicy southwestern sandwich and the Caesar salad. A cinnamon twist will fulfill that after-lunch or study break sweet tooth.

To wash down lunch with a non-coffee drink, Higher Grounds also offers a large selection of Italian sodas, juices and Jones sodas.

Nights at Higher Grounds are far livelier than the afternoons. On Thursdays, an open mic is extended to all poets and prose artists alike. The response covers a range of subjects and inspirations that generally offer something to everyone.

Friday and Saturday nights showcase live bands with music beginning around 7 p.m. Admission is $5 and the band generally determines the crowd. Faster paced music like punk will attract younger South Bend natives.

Campus bands usually ensure that the crowd will be mostly University students. The rock band The Groove Side will play today and Jah Restoration, a reggae-influenced group, will play tomorrow.

Be sure to check the table on the left as of the entrance to Higher Grounds, as it is usually stocked with flyers on upcoming live performances by local bands.

The biggest drawback to Higher Grounds is that they close at 10 p.m. For a relaxed, late-night spot to sip on a mocha and hear live music, students will have to look elsewhere.

However, to escape the bubble for a little while and hear something other than Dave Matthews, Higher Grounds will be sure to have a heavenly cup of coffee waiting.

Amanda Hughes

Contact C. Spencer Beggs at beggs.3@nd.edu, Laura Kelly at lkelly@nd.edu and Amanda Hughes at hughes.41@nd.edu

• Coffee Bean Dreams