Cafe culture

[rebeccmeister]

After my third Bay Area "Bike-Friendly Friday" coffeeshop bike ride, I feel as though it may just be that this area doesn't quite hit my sweet spot in terms of what I'm looking for in a coffeeshop. Meadowlark, in Lincoln, was just too good. They had a reasonable selection of food offerings (mmm, good pie), plus great espresso (including affogatos), and they had great hours for both the morning people and the night owls. They were also within easy biking or walking distance of my apartment and had ample seating for those looking for a place to sit and work for extended periods. Plus they were next door to the grocery co-op.

There are places in Seattle that fit this category, too. Cafe Allegro, for example. Also the erstwhile Someday Cafe in Davis Square in Medford, MA. If Lux in Phoenix hadn't started to spray for pesticides, I'd be even more highly enthusiastic about them, too.

Out here, there isn't anything within easy biking distance (~1 mile), although there are things within moderate biking distance (2-3 miles). Places that could be good seem to keep really limited hours, catering towards the morning crowd, perhaps because there's no business advantage to staying open late.

One place that stands out to some extent is the People's Cafe, which strongly reminds me of the Oxfam Cafe on the Tufts campus where I used to volunteer on Sunday nights. Ahh, the Oxfam Cafe. Usually there were only a couple of people who would visit, so mostly it was a chance to hang out and listen to various jazz CDs in the collection while learning to use a little home-use espresso machine that would regurgitate a reasonable beverage (according to my as-yet-unsophisticated college student palate).

We'll keep trying, though. One place a week. Maybe once we start venturing further into Berkeley I'll find something more to my liking.

Comments

[ivy]

Frustrating! I share your sadness; I was super annoyed when Remedy cut their hours to close at 7 PM. They were always full at nights; that was the majority of the time when I went there. Now I get there maybe once a month rather than a couple times a week. They also did away with half their food menu. I'm glad a Solstice opened up near me... their tea menu is less than a tenth of Remedy's, but they open at 6 AM and close at 10 PM and one can usually find a place to sit.

[bluepapercup]

The greatest deficiency of most coffeeshops in the Bay Area is that they close early, some as early as 5 pm!

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

Seriously! S has been going to the People's Cafe, which is open later and seems to cater to students and those looking to laptop-camp.