Plain Talk Books & Coffee

Plain Talk Books & Coffee has anchored Des Moines' East Village since 2009, when it opened in a building whose printing-press history it wears on its sleeve. The shop takes its name from Plain Talk, a Des Moines newspaper once produced by Plain Talk Publishing Company on the same block; its logo is redrawn from a cartoon found in the paper's own archives, paired with a line from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream about the power of writers to give shape to the intangible. The building's earlier tenant, Hammer Pharmacy, left its own mark: Plain Talk's lunch counter is modeled on the pharmacy's soda fountain and named "Al and Lew's," after Alvin G. Hammer and Lewis G. Hast, proprietors of neighboring shops from that era. A ghost sign advertising "Alvin G. Hammer, Druggist" is still visible on the building's west facade. Inside, new and used books share space with an espresso bar, deli sandwiches built on house-baked bread, and locally roasted coffee. The East Grand Avenue shop doubles as a neighborhood gathering spot, hosting live music and author events that keep the East Village's small-press and pharmacy-row history in circulation rather than behind glass.