John and I went to my favorite coffee house in Sarasota, called “It’s A Grind,” only to find out they went out of business last week. I don’t understand why they closed, as they always had a good crowd, and coffeehouses offer good margins. ”It’s a Grind” was a franchise, but had a really mellow sense of individuality. The coffee was first rate, they had fast wifi, and great music. The employees treated their customers like family, and Denise and I spent a lot of time going there, and got to know the help. I’m really going to miss that place.
Jeff
We just lost a nice place here as well in the village a few months ago, the Jazzoo. In addition to excellent coffee, they served delicious hot panini and soup lunches.
I find quality from one coffee shop to the next varies hugely. I’ve had $4 coffees served to me that were literally undrinkable - the guys that were in the same location before Jazzoo were like that. (One time I just handed it back and walked out - it literally tasted like ash-tray). Cindy and I just stopped going there - even though it had been a favourite of the kids as well. (Do coffee shops ever bother to try their own product?) I think the quality issues (typically manifest as bitterness) have to do with the cleanliness of the machines - but I don’t know for sure.
My other pet peeve at the chains is when I order a cappucino and it comes out as a latte anyway. Cappucino = coffee + foam; not a bucket of warm milk (uggghh). Smaller mom and pop outfits that “get it” tend to serve the best coffee. Of the chains, Starbucks seems to be able to still (barely) maintain fairly consistent quality (though it’s not the best). In airports for some reason, nobody gets it right - 90% of the time I get the usual latte-no-matter-what-you-ordered.
For some reason the Latins cannot make a bad cup of coffee. I had out-of-this-world wonderful coffee everywhere I went in Buenos Aires, and pretty-much everywhere in Europe as well. I once laughed hysterically when someone suggested that Tim Horton’s (equivalent to Dunkin Donuts) would do well to expand into to South America. The people would burn down the first one and call in the Columbians on anyone who attempted the second.
Having ranted about all this, my point is that I hear ya when you finally find a cafe you really like, and then it goes out of business or moves.
Cheers,
George
Comment by allocator — May 21, 2008 @ 3:49 am
George,
I’d like for once to find a place that feels like home. I thought I found it at that place, but I guess I was wrong. A banker friend of mine told me that the owners skipped out, leaving everyone(employees included) in the lurch. Such a shame.
Jeff
Comment by masteroftheuniverse — May 22, 2008 @ 10:52 pm
Why don’t you buy it? All you need is a good, trustworthy manager.
Cheers,
George
Comment by allocator — May 23, 2008 @ 1:41 am
George…..that’s all I need is an albatross around my neck. Since I know nothing about owning and running a retail business, that would be as dumb as if I decided to practice brain surgery. As for finding a good manager, in Florida, most people don’t really want to work hard. My friends that own businesses tell me that good honest, reliable help is extremely hard to find in this area.
By the way….I have two chapters written in my book
Jeff
Comment by masteroftheuniverse — May 23, 2008 @ 1:46 am