Let’s face it. The food at coffeehouses is typically boring, sugary and overpriced. Muffins and biscotti or those pre-made sandwiches available at Starbucks just don’t cut it if you’re crawling the streets for warm and unique sustenance.

But entrepreneur Tim Hagan dares to change all that since purchasing Urban Grind, which for many people over the last five years has equated to a place serving only java and incidental nibbles. Technically speaking, Urban Grind is now a full-fledged café boasting imported beer and wine, crafty hot meals, French-style desserts and, of course, a stable of perky tea and coffee drinks. Yet judging from the clusters of people angling for entry into nearby eateries on a recent Sunday morning, not everyone has learned yet of Hagan’s brimming coffeehouse menu.

Daily offerings include such fare as Rosemary-Mushroom Lasagna, Sloppy Joes, Macaroni and Cheese with spicy sausage, Reubens, paninis and a whole lot more that you wouldn’t expect could be cranked out from a rather smallish kitchen. Mosey in for weekend brunch and your options expand even further.

The Trailer Park, for instance, is a chicken-fried-steak beef patty smothered in sausage gravy that benefits from the addition of white wine and mushrooms. The dish deviates nicely from the classic “white trash” version, and quickly became my companion’s favorite.

A piling of scrambled eggs hiding lean Polish sausage and clumps of sharp cheddar cheese comprise the El Caliente. Some serious hot sauce squiggled on the lip of the plate offers unexpected and welcome bursts of heat reminiscent of those swooped-up breakfast presentations at Hash House A Go Go (rosemary trees notwithstanding). As with other “egg scrambles” on the brunch menu, such as The Betsy with brie and sun-dried tomatoes or The City Slicker with roasted chicken and goat cheese, it’s made with three eggs and easily constitutes your main meal of the day.

Eye popping and delicious was the Bananarama, a stack of golden French toast topped with chocolate chips, whipped cream and sliced bananas. In yet another gourmet twist, it comes with honey-lavender butter that added a winsome, perfumed quality to the fruit and chocolate.

From the regular menu, we dove into a lineup of ciabatta paninis. The one made with sausage, eggs and cheddar was ordinary on its own until we slathered on the accompanying honey-jalapeno sauce. Another made of turkey and brie was unappealing because the meat was sliced too thick and carried that wet, glossy sheen plaguing many of today’s processed turkey products. Yet the grilled chicken breast and pesto panini was fresh and addicting, as was a fourth panini capturing grilled veggies, eggs, Swiss cheese and a snappy red pepper sauce.

Four different salads in the offing include Classic Greek, Seasonal Garden and a sprightly Walnut-Pear that is as good as any that you’ll find in upscale restaurants. The Chicken Caesar, though cheesy and tart, is given a shot of Russian dressing for color. A sprinkling of paprika might be a better, less befuddling solution, we thought.

Oversized mugs are used for a variety of specialty espressos. For the sweet tooth, the Black & White mocha is like liquid dessert, with concentrated flavors of dark and white chocolate steaming beneath melting whipped cream. The Caramel Sutra is just sweet enough, with a fine aromatic bite from the coffee beans. Or for the extreme bleary-eyed, Dead Man Walking made with a quadruple dose of espresso could prove stronger than prescription amphetamines.

Beverages also include a potpourri of loose-leaf teas – the greens, blacks and herbals – which for non-coffee drinkers pairs swimmingly with Urban Grind’s splashy desserts that include muffins, cupcakes, truffles and some decadent, tall-standing cakes made by a local French pastry chef. And from the booze selection, there’s Spanish champagne, Chimay ale and Argentinean malbec wine.

Healthier, simpler options include bagels, fresh-fruit bowls and “oven roasted” granola with milk, soy or yogurt. We didn’t try the latter, but a granola-loving friend later complained to me that he couldn’t detect the roasted essence of his granola, saying that it tasted like Nature’s Valley straight out of the box.

But it is Hagan’s hot café meals that raise the bar on coffeehouse concessions. He’s also brightened up the space with contemporary lighting, stone columns and a boldly colored series of paintings by local artist Christopher Coggan that pop with politically correct and incorrect titles: Share Tobacco, Savour Sugar, Spread Wealth, Trust Alcohol and Honor Nature. A raised performance stage in the back ushers in live music on the weekends.

The casual coffeehouse concept remains evident only through the lack of full wait service – and perhaps by the availability of power outlets for laptop junkies. During weekend brunches, the food is brought to your table after ordering at the counter and seating yourself. On weekdays, you fetch it yourself from the counter if the place gets busy. Either way, there are a lot more consumables brewing here than your average cup of joe.