Running a café is one of those trades that is really in the "relationship business." Just ask two West Side coffee shop owners what's the most gratifying part of their jobs.

"The people are what drives us," says Al Brkich of Cranky Al's Bakery and Pizza in Wauwatosa. Brkich knows several hundred of his customers by name, and has allowed regulars who forgot their money to order a coffee and pay the next day.

"I enjoy the rapport our staff has with our customers," says Bob Olin, owner of Sherman Perk, a café in Milwaukee's Sherman Park neighborhood.

Both Brkich and Olin say this personal touch is what leads to repeat business.

"It's the way we treat our customers that differentiates us from the chains," says Olin.

"If they head to work with a smile on their face, they remember that," says Brkich, whose spirited conversation and light sarcasm ("I yell at the customers if they don't line up correctly") is reminiscent of the formula at the now-defunct Ed Debevic's chain restaurant in downtown Milwaukee.

Make no mistake about it, the coffee is important, too, say the cafe owners. In fact, they both point to the food and beverage side of the business as the source of their biggest challenges.

Consistency in the preparation of coffee and espresso drinks is Brkich's most pressing concern. Despite uniform training for the employees at Cranky Al's, beverages can vary from one employee to another, sometimes leading to cranky customers.

In deference to the orthodox Jewish community in Sherman Park, Olin offers a kosher menu. But this is an added expense and can be limiting, says Olin. "If we run out of milk, we can't just run across the street to get some more." Sherman Perk obtains its milk from a farm in Plymouth that produces kosher dairy and baked goods from La Parve, a kosher bakery in Glendale.

Brkich and Olin both bill their coffee shops as "kid-friendly," with toys, children's books and tot-sized tables and chairs.

"Surprisingly, some other coffee shops don't welcome kids, but we certainly do," says Olin.

"It gets quite crazy and loud in here. We let the kids run around," says Brkich, who adds that he doesn't mind that he may have lost a few customers in the past due to the number of kids.

Brkich and Olin both point to community involvement as an important function of their cafes.

Olin says one of his goals is to provide activities that people used to have to leave the neighborhood to enjoy. In addition to live music every weekend, Sherman Perk hosts a monthly poetry night, a weekend farmers market in the summer, karaoke and forums for local political candidates to meet citizens. Olin opens up the shop to neighborhood groups, including several Bible study groups and a job-networking group for the unemployed. Non-profit youth groups are invited to use the Sherman Perk parking lot for fundraising car washes.

Cranky Al's makes donations to local churches and schools. Brkich notes this community involvement works both ways. "We count on them to order from us. Maybe they can get something they want at another place, but they come here because they want to support us."

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