Born and raised in Griffith, local Hoosier Gabe Mauch, along with his sister Kate Mauch-Sheehan, are the proud owners of Grindhouse Cafe, serving coffee across the greater Northwest Indiana area from three locations.
Getting their start at the flagship Griffith cafe, however, was anything but a cakewalk.
“Opening the first cafe was super low-key. I don’t want to say we had no idea what we were doing, because I had worked in a bunch of restaurants, been a chef and sous chef, and worked at maybe five coffee shops before opening Grindhouse Cafe. It wasn’t totally off the cuff, but it was definitely do-it-yourself (DIY). When we realized, ‘Oh, we need to build a wall,’ but we didn’t know how and couldn’t afford to hire someone, we just checked Google for how to build walls and figured it out,” Mauch said.
Through trials and tribulations, the cafe officially opened in 2012 to early success. Eventually it led to new locations in Whiting and, most recently, Highland in 2024. For the brother-and-sister duo, this has always been the dream.
“When we were in culinary school, we realized we didn’t want to go the full-blown restaurant or bar route. We’ve always been really passionate about coffee, so we knew that was the move for us,” Mauch said. "I’m just over the moon excited about our new location in Highland, which opened last September. It’s the cafe I’ve always wanted to build. It’s in an old dive bar with a big back room, so we’ve been throwing all sorts of events back there.”
Make no mistake: the name Grindhouse is a tongue in cheek reference to grindhouse cinema, a term often associated with low-budget genre B-movies, particularly horror.
“I don’t really keep up with horror movies these days, but I’ve always loved the cheesy ’70s and ’80s horror flicks. They’ve always really appealed to me,” Mauch said. “I love a good pun, so the name was kind of a match made in heaven.”
Keep an eye out for the references at all three locations, with each space channeling Troma energy and old pop culture through band posters, video games, and comic books.
Outside of work and coffee, Mauch makes time for leisurely enjoyment with friends and family.
“We play ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ (D&D) every Monday, which is kind of adorable,” Mauch said. “My D&D group is made up of me, my sister, my brother, my dad, my cousin, and Jess, who used to live at my house in high school, along with their husband, Nick. I own a business with my family, and my favorite thing to do outside of work is play D&D with my family.”
While running a business with family may seem daunting, it’s been a pleasure for Mauch and has created memories that will last for a lifetime.
“One of my favorite memories is from years ago. Before we had room for concerts, I secretly booked one of my sister’s favorite bands, Maps and Atlases, for an acoustic show at our Griffith cafe. They played with a local band, Cloakroom. It was a magical night—friends gathered in a room, and that’s one of my fondest memories with my sister,” Mauch said.
Reflecting on the successful launch of their newest location and looking toward the future, Mauch remains optimistic and takes great pride in what he and his sister have built together.
“Having a room for the community to gather has always been the goal. Now that we have it, the plan is to keep doing it,” Mauch said. “We never planned on having more than one location, but now we have three. For at least the next couple of years, we want to just do what we do well. If an opportunity for expansion comes along, maybe we’ll take it, but for now, the goal is to just keep crushing it.”
For more information on Grindhouse Cafe, visit grindhouse.cafe.