Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea is adding an eighth location in Ann Arbor at Pierpont Commons, the University of Michigan’s North Campus student union.
While an exact opening date is yet to be announced, the company plans to open its doors before the beginning of the fall semester in late August. Sweetwaters will take the place of Hibachi-San in Pierpont’s lower level, which closed during the 2025-26 academic year.
U-M alumni Lisa and Wei Bee founded the first Sweetwaters in 1993 on Washington Street, and the cafe has since become a staple for both Ann Arbor locals and U-M students. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Sweetwaters brand manager Dan Fairbanks said Lisa and Wei’s University roots made choosing the company’s next campus location a no-brainer.
“Any way that we can deepen our relationship with U-M and Ann Arbor, we were going to hop at that opportunity,” Fairbanks said. “When (Lisa) was a freshman, one of her favorite places to go was North Campus, so as soon as an opportunity came up to open in North Campus, she was super pumped about it.”
Fairbanks said regardless of location, creating a unique sense of community is crucial to Sweetwaters’ mission.
“We foster a sense of community at each of our locations, whether it is one within U-M, or one that is even out of the state,” Fairbanks said. “Within U-M specifically, I think Sweetwaters is great for students because we have ample space, a ton of different things to choose from on the menu, so anybody can come in and find something that feels specific to them.”
North Campus is home to the College of Engineering, Stamps School of Art & Design, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Fairbanks said catering to students across diverse disciplines is an exciting opportunity for the cafe.
“Within North Campus, because there’s such a variety of students studying, and even some who go up there that prefer the gym, we are excited to see students who go in between campuses,” Fairbanks said. “We are catering to that North Campus market, which is Engineering students, musical theatre and artists, so I’m excited to see what that type of community will bring to our location.”
For Engineering rising sophomore Ashleigh Montle, all of her classes will be located on North Campus in the upcoming semester. Montle told The Daily she is looking forward to a new dining option at Pierpont Commons.
“I do see a new Sweetwaters in Pierpont being popular,” Montle said. “A friend in all of my chemical engineering classes (and I) are already thinking of where we are going to study after class. We always do coffee shops, but most are a twenty minute walk off of North Campus, so if there’s a Sweetwaters in Pierpont, I feel like we would go to it a lot.”
In an interview with The Daily, LSA rising sophomore Aniela Palmer, who worked as a Sweetwaters barista at the Michigan Union during the winter semester, said she loves the atmosphere of the cafe.
“My favorite part of working there was all the staff, because we were all students and we were all really cool with each other,” Palmer said. “The cafe is usually pretty quiet, even though it’s in the center of the Union, so it is a really good study spot.”
Despite the constant influx of customers at on-campus locations, Palmer said Sweetwaters employees always prioritize student patrons with discounts and efficient service.
“I think Sweetwaters is really good at appealing to the student population,” Palmer said. “Especially on our mobile app, there’s a lot of discounts like where you can get a sandwich and a drink for a relatively low price, and we try to go as fast as we can in the mornings so people can just get out to class.”
Fairbanks said that Sweetwaters is continuously growing — opening new locations in various states — it still remains deeply rooted in the city.
“Sweetwaters is constantly expanding and we are catering as many different customers and demographics and markets as we can,” Fairbanks said. “We do have some new locations opening this year, our drive-through-only location, which will be in Texas, but with Sweetwaters itself being founded in Ann Arbor, we are always looking for different ways we can open within our home market, then expanding that to different places all over the country.”
Summer News Editor Reese Kizy can be reached at reesekiz@umich.edu.
