Latte Da going with flow

Let there be beer. And let it flow.

Latte Da Coffeehouse and Wine Bar really started living up to its name late last year, when owner Scott Flury installed an actual wine bar in what had been its back conference room. The place had been serving wine all along — since it opened in 2010 — but that back-room bar added a touch of class and drew some new customers, Flury said.

Now, Flury has added four new taps to that back-room bar space. Three local craft brews and one hard cider will flow, he said — because that’s what his customers wanted.

Latte Da, a charming century-plus-old craftsman house-turned-cafe at 205 East 39th Street, has become a popular gathering spot for the neighborhoods north of Uptown Village. Breakfast, lunch and light dinners have long been on the menu, and Flury said he’s recently added all-day appetizers. Wine tasting on the fourth Thursday of the month has been underway for a while.

But now that beer taps are in, Flury said, he’s looking to launch a bona fide happy hour sometime soon.

“I didn’t mean to open a bar, an actual bar,” Flury said this week while Brian Ackley of CSB Distributing worked on installing the taps. “But there was an outcry. We’ve been serving beer in bottles, but I guess people want it to flow from taps.”

Flury has other plans for upgrades to Latte Da. For one thing, there’ll be a second bathroom soon. Right now the place only has one. “I hate to see customers standing on line and that door locked,” he said.

Also crucial for customers: Flury is hoping to work out a deal with a nearby business owner whose big parking lot is usually empty. If his customers can use that lot — it’s across the street and a block away, at the northeast corner of 39th and Division — then he’ll work with the city to install a crosswalk, he said.

“Because cars on 39th just do not stop,” Flury said.