i just went into the Shoreline location tonight and it's quite quite nice. great atmosphere, clean, spacious, nice tables/lights/decor. quite fancy actually. i think it's up on Greenwood/145th. ... More

i just went into the Shoreline location tonight and it's quite quite nice. great atmosphere, clean, spacious, nice tables/lights/decor. quite fancy actually. i think it's up on Greenwood/145th. if it weren't sort of in a strip-mall i'd go here for a date. as it is, a meeting or study break here would be a good idea. Greenwood/80th location is much more used and a bit on the beat up side. it fogs up in there pretty good on some days and is usually pretty crowded...not many tables and they are the 'bump my knee into it and spill my friends coffee' kind of tables. hasn't been too clean in there when i've stopped by in recent months. super nice people though and coffee seems good. probably 7 or 8 out of 10.
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Their coffee is pretty good. Their coffee cake is okay. This is really a place you go if you want to buy from a local place instead of a big chain. The staff is friendly and they usually have a... More

Their coffee is pretty good. Their coffee cake is okay. This is really a place you go if you want to buy from a local place instead of a big chain. The staff is friendly and they usually have a trivia question up everyday, which is kind of nice. It gets the brain working a little bit.
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A city this size allows/forces one to construct one’s own categories of particular food/beverage experiences, and there are enough solid coffees/coffeeshops/cafes that you can micromanage exactly... More

A city this size allows/forces one to construct one’s own categories of particular food/beverage experiences, and there are enough solid coffees/coffeeshops/cafes that you can micromanage exactly the outcome you want. You trade down two percentiles in one category to trade up in another. Here, the categories you trade down in include (a) quality (maybe five percentiles below the best); (b) depending on the time of day, seat availability—as a function of being very, very friendly; and (c) quiet—also as a function of friendliness. You generally trade up in comfort/friendliness and value. Depending on your perspective, you trade either up or down vis-à-vis the number of noisy young children and study groups of various sorts. Miscellany: overhead music and art available for purchase vary by location/barista; they roast their own and blend a zodiacal series (if I remember correctly, their prior roaster was Batdorf & Bronson, makers of my favorite Harrar); while unobtrusive, their vibe is much more collegiate post-hippyness than urban hip.
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