Food+Drink

Acoustic on the Move?

downtown Eau Claire café could be opening in a new location

Emily Anderson, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

The Acoustic Café, one of Eau Claire’s busiest coffee shops, could be on the move. Since 1994, the café has been located at 505 S. Barstow St., providing great food, live music, and an excellent dining atmosphere. Now, the possibility exists that they could be relocating a few blocks down Barstow to 6 S. Barstow St. The business purchased the building at 6 South Barstow (between Scandinavian Imports and “The Mural Building”) about a month ago in hopes of using it for a new location. However, with their lease not ending until 2015, this plan is only tentative. It will take a while for official plans to be made and it may be a few years before anything physical is started. The biggest reason for the move is simple: to own rather than rent. Acoustic owner Lois Heymans said that the business would prefer to stay at its current location, but that particular building is only available for lease. She cites one particular advantage of a new location a business owns – the ability to decorate and design however they choose. Management hopes to make the move as seamless as possible. In a perfect world, there would be no time lapse between the current location closing and the new one opening. And when all is said and done, the Acoustic Café will be the same great downtown eatery, just in a new spot.