The Review

Issue date: 5/20/08 Section: Mosaic

Media Credit: Melanie Hardy Brew Ha Ha! serves a variety of caffienated drinks.

Just call them "coffee-evangelists," Brew Ha Ha! proudly states in its motto.

The coffeehouse with a fun name to pronounce has 12 locations in Delaware and Pennsylvania. It was opened by founder Alisa Morkides after gaining inspiration from a trip to the Tuscan countryside in Italy years ago. Intrigued by the charming Italian coffee bars and the number of people who gathered together to drink cappuccinos, Morkides wanted to bring this same ambiance back to the Delaware Valley.

"My vision was to recreate the experience I had in Italy back home in the Delaware Valley, where I believed I could fulfill my life's purpose - to create heavenly coffee beverages, equal to or superior than those of the finest cafes in Italy," Morkides says on the Brew Ha Ha! Web site.

Andrea Fakis, the general manager of Brew Ha Ha! in the Main Street Galleria, says what makes the coffee unique is the special roasting process that only this shop can offer.

"We do all of our own roasting under our own specifications," Fakis says. "We get our beans from a single farm and create many blends that other coffee houses won't be able to offer."

Fakis says along with distinct blends, Brew Ha Ha! baristas get innovative with their creations, taking simple coffee beans and making various flavors to intrigue taste buds.

"We try to make coffee into an artisan craft," she says. "We want to make our drinks personal for each of our customers."

Fakis says they constantly change their menu to offer customers new kinds of drinks. This summer, Brew Ha Ha! plans to expand beyond coffee specialty drinks, creating a menu with ice cream floats and milkshakes in flavors like espresso or chai.

"The summer menu will bring us to a new level of specialty," she says. "We are constantly making unique drinks to offer to our customers."

With the mix of the college crowd and local citizens, Brew Ha Ha! brings together people from different communities in Newark.

Fakis says this attraction may be from the customer service, which is what she believes makes Brew Ha Ha! stand out from the rest of the coffee houses on Main Street.

"We want to make sure we are people-friendly and keep that small-town feeling alive," she says. "We throw in that extra ingredient of love with the espresso."

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