Flyover Flavor

"Making uptight people uncomfortable since 2011." This is the sign that greets you before you step into Shameless Grounds, a sex-positive coffee shop located in the Benton Park neighborhood. You must be 18 or over to enter without a legal guardian. As you can imagine, this cafe offers an atmosphere that won't appeal to everyone.

Shameless Grounds sits on the corner of an otherwise residential block. It's set apart from the small houses around it by a bright sign with a heart swirling above a large white mug. When you walk inside, you step into a large open space that looks so much like a living room that it feels like you've invaded someone's personal space. Large bookcases cover one wall and a computer desk with a hutch for a desktop computer, more books, a printer and printer paper stands against another. This little computer station is surrounded by a few beat-up pieces of leather furniture and a collage coffee table covered in interesting clippings. It's straight out of someone's funky home office.

The furniture isn’t the part that stands out the most. The bookshelves hold the shop's human sexuality lending library, which includes books on biology, history, and steamy fiction. The shelves are decorated with plaster molds of vaginas and a few decorated dildos. A poster of two nude women intertwined and open-mouthed hangs on the wall, and the desktop screensaver shuffles through photos of women's bare, greased-up buttocks. A small naked doll is tied up S&M-style and hanging upside down from another shelf. These touches add to the sense that you’ve invaded someone’s intimate space, looking at the items he or she would stash in the closet before inviting anyone over.

This décor fits the mission of Shameless Grounds: to destigmatize sexuality and create a welcoming space for the LGBTQ community. Customers are warned before walking in that this shop is not for the uptight. If you're squeemish about sex, this place isn't for you.

Unfortunately, this shop also isn't for coffee lovers. It uses Chauvin coffee and the quality of the espresso is far below par. To reach the coffee bar, you must walk through the main room, down a narrow hallway to the back of the building, which reflects the mentality of the company: sex first, coffee second. My espresso macchiato had decent foam on top of espresso that tasted burned, ashy, and almost too bitter to drink.

A little controversy can create buzz and help a place stand out from the competition, but, a coffee shop should make coffee a top priority. Coasting on the shock factor or appeal to a niche group isn't enough. Serve damn good coffee while you’re at it!

Unfortunately, the only reason to go to Shameless Grounds is for the sex-positive atmosphere. If you visit, I recommend getting beer or tea – it’s not worth drinking the coffee.