Acanthus Cafe, 05-2012 Acanthus on a summer night. (06-2012) Acanthus Cafe was a cafe and coffeehouse in the East End. The name Acanthus refers to a tropical flowering plant found in the Mediterranean region and is also Latinized Greek for "thorny." Coffee options included French Press and Chemex.
All coffee is Fair Trade and locally roasted. On the culinary side, Acanthus specialized in South Pacific meals served on skewers, with limited-run specials each week. They also served salads, chicken dishes, nachos, and unusual tacos. They did not offer sandwiches, however, pursuant to a non-competing agreement imposed by the Subway next door.
There was an ATM is onsite. Outdoor seating was also available. Acanthus opened on April 18, 2012. According to owner Christopher Hilfiker, Acanthus was founded to "offer more community-based events that would bring together people who normally wouldn’t hang out with one another."
He and business partner Allison Mayer traveled to Portland, Oregon to study the coffeehouse culture there and were impressed that so many people knew one another, despite the city being three times the size of Rochester. For the summer of 2012 Acanthus will be hosting a variety of cycling events, including a weekly Espresso Express ride. Other events are planned for the future, including happy hours with Santiago Cigar Factory next door.1 Hilficker and Mayer also owned the Living Room Cafe in Upper Monroe.
They decided to close this business in June 2012 to focus on running Acanthus. Acanthus closed in October 2013.