Saturday, May 28, 2005

Coffeeshop rants

Here's the answer to the previous sucker bet's question: SPELL out all numbers from ZERO to NINE HUNDRED NINETY NINE and you'll get one thousand English words that do not contain the letter "A." The letter first appear in the word "one thousand" but definitely not before then. Haha, suckerzz!

Speaking of coffeehouses and being a caffeine connoisseur myself, here's my take on some of the major java spots in the city:

Rochambo: Still my favorite haunt after all these years; rather youngish crowd but still a very good mix of people; very extensive tea menu; cool atmosphere; smoking upstairs; kaleidoscope of eccentric yet interesting characters; live music/poetry; free WiFi; sidewalk tables but too close to the uppity HiHat, Mimi's and Vucciria's crowd; I hate to bring this up but it's also where I first met Jess.

Anodyne (formerly Brewed Awakening): Nice cozy place (read: small); WiFi not free; nice sidewalk tables with views of the Brady Street hubbub.

Node: One of the two 24-hour coffeeshops in the city; great menu (food and drinks); plenty of couches in the back but somehow always dominated by high school kids who stay late past their curfew time; WiFi not free but I still like this place though.

Mocha: The other 24-hour coffeeshop, right smack in downtown Milwaukee; free WiFi; not a whole lot of people after midnight except for bar-crawlers and a few homeless people; the coffee is not that great but a good place for that last-minute late-night studying.

Alterra (various sites): The most dominant quasi-independent coffeeshops in the city; a Starbucks with social conscience; roasts its own coffee and supplies to most of the coffeeshops in the city; a bit yuppie-ish but definitely not as pretentious as Starbucks.

Fuel Cafe: The heart that pumps caffeine into the wonderfully diverse Riverwest neighborhood; nice atmosphere; mostly punks on skateboards and gearheads with cool cafe racer bikes; its Kervorkian Krunch (quadruple espresso shots in a mocha) is simply to die for--no pun intended.

Comet: A cozy corner coffeeshop; good menu; good coffee; haven't been here in a long while, so couldn't comment much.

The Grind: Can only be found on the UWM campus (the library and the Student Union); uses Alterra coffee (good coffee, though.)

Stone Creek Coffee: Chain of coffeeshops that give Alterra a good run for their money. I've been here a few times but never stay long enough to soak in the atmosphere. Seems like a nice place, though. And good coffee too.

Starbucks: The Lucifer of all corporate coffeeshops; the coffee is not that great either; WiFi not free--you greedy corporate bastard! Very pretentious and yuppified atmosphere; full of coffee novices who like to order some hoity-toity drink without any full appreciation of the coffee itself; avoid it like the plague if you wish to maintain your independent spirit but once in a great while, you just have to sell your soul simply because of the convenience factor (they're everywhere.) I'm speaking of myself, of course. Guilty as charged.

Notice that almost all of these coffeeshops are located either on the Eastside or Riverwest, both areas where I usually spend most of my time. I'm sure there are a lot of other cool coffeshops in the Southside, especially in the Walker's Point and Bay View areas. I personally know Hi-Fi Cafe in S. Kinnickinnic is a great little place.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a helpful guide for the lost souls of coffee lovers. But you aren't very flexible. Where do non-coffee drinkers have to go to have a good time and 'hang out' and 'soak up the good atmosphere'? - RQM

Fido Dido said...

Hey, it's been long while since I hear from my worthy critic. How the hell have you been? Anyway, the title of the post did say "coffeehouse," right? Hence the inflexibility. Still, there are lots of places where non-coffee drinkers can go to hang out and soak up the good atmosphere but most of them only allow people over 21 yrs of age since they're alcohol-serving establishments. Some like Mad Planet and The Rave offer live shows/parties for all ages but most hang out places here are geared toward the 21-and-above crowd. Kids here have almost no other option beside coffeeshops, unlike kids in M'sia, with the abundance of all-night "marpleh" and all.

Anyway, it's a social place for me and where a lot of my friends hang out. It's more of a routine for me than anything else to go to the coffeeshop--I just like the feeling of familiarity, kinda like "Cheers" in a way.

Jom gi makan nasi lemak bila I balik M'sia hujung bulan ni... apa benda la.. cakap tak serupa bikin.. takut apa?? takkan dah surrender kot? I sampai M'sia hari khamis june30th, so, weekend tu jom gi makan nasi lemak antarabangsa.. I belanja! Nanti pepahal I call ler.. oh btw, you're cordially invited to my sister's wedding on Aug 5 at my house in Ampang.. ajak si zero tu sekali..