What Makes a Good Café

Some of you have probably noticed that I mostly write favorable reviews for cafés. That’s true, I do. I try to find as many redeeming qualities in a café that I can. I’m not interested in making a cafe look bad. If there’s a place I really don’t like, I don’t bother writing about it. I’m not out to make enemies and I’d rather use my time to write about places that I think are worth visiting. 

So what makes something a good café? Here’s a list of things that I look for, so that you can have an idea of my criteria.

1. I tend to like places that give a damn about coffee and about service. If a place cares about both, it’s likely to get a good review.
2. I like places with personality. The café doesn’t have to be weird, but having something that distinguishes it from other cafés is a good thing.
3. I drink my coffee from a ceramic cup. If a café only has paper cups, it ought not be in business. Not only is it wasteful to use only paper cups, but I also hate putting paper in my mouth. I’ll do it if there’s no other option, but it doesn’t make me happy.
4. On a similar note, any self-respecting café ought to have metal stirring spoons. If you only have plastic stirrers, or even worse, only wooden stirring sticks, you lose major points. A wooden stick transfers its flavors to the coffee, and how am I supposed to clean up the sugar at the bottom of my cup? The only time I want to put wood in my mouth is when I’m using a toothpick to clean steak out of my teeth.
5. Music volume is important. I like music. I listen to music. I write music. I play music. When I’m in a café if you want to play music, that’s great. However, if it is so loud that I can’t have a conversation or if I can hear your music over the music coming through my earphones, you ought to turn your music down. 
6. Friendly service makes me happy. I don’t expect you to be super-smiley, but polite and friendly is not too much to ask. 
7. If I come in to a café and you don’t want to pause your conversation with a co-worker to help me, that’s a bad sign. I promise not to be on my cell phone when I order, and you should offer me similar respect. If you don’t, you’re not getting a tip and you’ll probably lose a customer.
8. Show some enthusiasm for the coffee, for crying out loud!
9. I tend to prefer places that have just a touch of class. I’m not expecting high society, but I prefer things to look neat. It’s a bonus when the baristas dress similarly as if they were all part of a team. 
10. Your employees ought to know something about the coffee. I don’t expect everyone to be coffee experts, but if you ask an employee “What’s your coffee like?” and he or she says “Um, it’s good," you are losing an opportunity to educate me and create more interest in your coffee. 
11. Wi-Fi is nice to have. It’s not a requirement, but as a writer it’s one of the tools I like to have available.
12. Finally, there’s the most ambiguous criterion of all: vibe. Some cafés have it, some just don’t. I don’t know how to explain this one. It’s like trying to explain what “cool” is. Fonzie was cool, Richie wasn’t. Same goes for cafés.

That’s what I look for when I go to a café. Anyone care to add anything? One of these day’s I’ll write up what makes a good customer. We have a few responsibilities too.

World Cup Coffee and Tea

After checking out the Sterling kiosk on Glisan, I decided to head toward downtown to find a place to sit and write. I didn’t make it very far. A few blocks down Glisan, I came across World Cup Coffee and Tea. I had been planning to try World Cup coffee, but I thought I would go to their café in Powell’s Books. However, since the opportunity presented itself, I decided to stop and check this one out. It turns out that the store on Glisan is World Cup’s headquarters and main café. The company has its offices and its roasting operation there.

World Cup from the outside

While waiting in line, I read some of the company’s literature and I thought I was at another café for coffee enthusiasts. Having visited many similar places, I expected the people in the café to be knowledgeable about the coffee. I walked up to the counter and asked the barista what their espresso was like. She paused for a second.

“It’s really strong. Have you had espresso before?”

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Sterling’s Kiosk

I intended to give Coffeehouse Northwest a review the other day, but when I arrived and asked what espressos they had available, the barista informed me that they only had Hair Bender (from Stumptown) available. Actually, they had two different Hair Benders available, each with a different roasting date. While it might have been an interesting exercise to compare how the roasting dates affected the flavors, I was hoping to try something different. The barista suggested I go to Sterling, a few blocks away on NW Glisan. She said it doesn’t have any tables, but that if I wanted to I could bring my drink back from Sterling and sit down at the café and hang out. Though it was a nice offer, I decided to come back to Coffeehouse Northwest another day.

It took me about five minutes to walk over to Sterling, and when I arrived, I found what appeared to be an old-fashioned coffee bar, built in the style of the 1920s (at least that was my impression). The kiosk was sandwiched into a small space by the entrance to a flower shop.

Small but classy (dressing up is optional)

Tim, the barista, greeted me and I asked him about their espresso. He recommended that I try the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (YUR-guh-chef) coffee. It was a little more expensive than the house blend they had available ($2.50 for a double), but it was more interesting too. He described the espresso as beginning with blackberry flavors, continuing with a smooth middle and creamy finish that was like Baileys (Irish cream). That sounded interesting enough for me, so I ordered one and watched him prepare the espresso.

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Park Avenue Café

Of all the cafés  I have visited in Portland, there is one for me that feels like home more than any other. Located on the corner of Park Avenue and Market Street near Portland State University, Park Avenue Café has become something like a second home to me. The past two years I have spent many hours in there studying, hanging out with friends, drinking coffee, writing and just thinking about where to go next in life. It is the place my wife and I were drinking coffee one hour before my son was born and the first place we took him when we left the house the next day. The baristas know me well enough that they often have my drink ready when I get to the counter. The other day, instead of waiting in a long line, I sat down to write a little to wait for the line to clear. While I was sitting there, Jodine, one of the baristas, brought me my drink without even ordering. She made my day. 

Look for the red umbrellas

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The Honorable St. Honoré

I went back to explore Portland’s “Trendy-Third” (23^rd Ave) area this week. When I had earlier asked for café recommendations, one of my MIM classmates (Badih) recommended the St. Honoré Boulangerie. Had my French been a little better, I would have realized that it was more of a bakery, but since they have coffee available, it’s close enough for me.

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Is it the Coffee or Is it the Café?

In my travels around the area, I have found that there are two main types of café. The first type is focused on the coffee. Places like Barista, Coava, Nor’West, Ristretto, Extracto and Heart, some of which I have yet to visit, are run by coffee purists. These people want the coffee to always be at its top form. If you ask a question about their coffee, they can tell you about the coffee’s origin, its roasting profile and all of the subtle flavors it has. They can list you their top five favorite coffees of all time, who the leaders of the specialty coffee industry are, what makes a single-origin espresso unique, etc. Above all else, the owners and employees of these cafés care about coffee quality and they want you to share their passion.

The second type of café is focused more on the café experience. Palio or Caffè Umbria are examples of cafés that fall into this category. Coffee is important—no question about it—but these cafes want to be a meeting place for more people, a place where students, writers, and bloggers go to study or write. They often have a wider food menu or more comfortable surroundings. Some people are really drawn to one type of café or the other. Before I started to learn about specialty coffee, I would have said I preferred the café experience (as long as the coffee was drinkable). After talking to the coffee enthusiasts, I now appreciate both types.

How about you? Are there other types of cafés that you like to visit? Are you a regular at a certain café? Why do you like that particular one so much?

Caffè Umbria

With its high ceilings, large windows, hardwood trim and modern chairs, Caffè Umbria fits in well in the heart of Portland’s Pearl District. The modern coffee bar, decked out in brushed stainless steel, contrasts with the antique pottery sitting on top of it. These elements, modern and antique, combine to give the café an new-world feel with just a bit of the old.

At the corner of 12th and Everett

Caffè Umbria is a Seattle-based coffee company that has “invaded” the Portland coffee scene.

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