Where can I get the best coffee in the Square?

[davis-denizen.livejournal.com]

Inertia carries me to Dunkin Donuts, but I want to expand my horizons.  I want a good cup of coffee, not a Grande Triple No Moo Latte Smackaccino.  What do you recommend?

Comments

[x-bluerose-x.livejournal.com]

Diesel Cafe, hands down.

[ohohiloveyou.livejournal.com]

i second diesel. i'm a regular there.

[eclecticavatar.livejournal.com]

I would have said Someday Cafe, but alas. Diesel, I guess, is the next best thing.

[temvald.livejournal.com]

What kind of coffee do you like? I'd suggest trying the Diesel, Au Bon Pain, Starbucks, and Carberry's, and find out which one you like most. I think that they all serve coffee that at least someone likes, so there's a chance that any of those would be to your tastes. (As opposed to, say, McDonald's, which, even with their new heavily-advertised coffee change, still nobody likes.)

And if it turns out that you find that the coffee quality of all of these places are pretty much equal to you, then buy from the Diesel. They're locally owned, have a great atmosphere, and all that other good stuff.

McDonald's coffee

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

I haven't tried it, but if it's not good McDonald's must be doing something wrong, 'cause the Green Mountain coffee they use is a pretty good starting point.

(PS: O'Natural's, not Carberry's, right?)

Re: McDonald's coffee

[sarah-raz.livejournal.com]

>>>>I haven't tried it, but if it's not good McDonald's must be doing something wrong, 'cause the Green Mountain coffee they use is a pretty good starting point.


For reals. But trust McD's to fuck up a good thing.

Re: McDonald's coffee

[temvald.livejournal.com]

I haven't tried it either, actually. I've heard that they leave it on the burner after it's been brewed, but I don't know if that's true or not. I just remember that people remained unimpressed after the switch to Green Mountain.

(Right. O'Natural's.)

Re: McDonald's coffee

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember someone saying it was more complicated than that - I believe while they are using Green Mountain beans, they are using their older style of brewing (which is not the proper way to brew something like Green Mountain).

No clue, though, as I do not drink coffee.

Re: McDonald's coffee

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

There's a Carberry's towards Central. Delicious coffee.

Re: McDonald's coffee

[ron_newman]

Right, and the Arlington Center one is also still Carberry's. Ours is the only one that changed over.

Re: McDonald's coffee

[ron_newman]

Yes, our Carberry's became O'Naturals at least a year ago.

Let's not forget La Contessa when listing coffee places in the Square.

Re: McDonald's coffee

[ron_newman]

I see no reason to patronize McDonald's when we have several local or at least regionally-based businesses in the Square. I never see anyone in McDonald's and wonder why it remains open.

Re: McDonald's coffee

[simplicitynow.livejournal.com]

>> wonder why it remains open

Maybe because it's way cheaper than everything else in the square? I don't eat at McDonalds, but my boyfriend loves it because he can buy 5 sandwiches for $5.

I often hear people say the same thing about the McDonalds - that no one is ever in there. Well, whenever I accompany my boyfriend to McDonalds, there's always a long line. This is NOT an attack on YOU, as I don't know you, but those that I DO know who say that they never see anyone in there - maybe it's because the majority of people that I have seen in there are minorities or homeless. So maybe it's a matter of not wanting to see them?

Re: McDonald's coffee

[ron_newman]

It may depend on the time of day, too. In the evening, I see a long line and full tables at Anna's, while McDonald's across the street is open but deserted.

Re: McDonald's coffee

[skate97.livejournal.com]

really? i walk by it several times a day, and i've seen like 2 people in there, total, in the past 10 months. no one, not minorities or homeless either. weird.

Re: McDonald's coffee

[simplicitynow.livejournal.com]

Yea, weird. I go INDSIDE at least once a week, in the afternoon, and there are always at least 10 people on line and 5 tables occupied. There must be some sort of crazy rip in the fabric of space time that preventing everyone from seeing inside the McDonald's. That McDonald's must be an anomaly altogether, since it has miraculously stayed in business despite having only 2 customers in the past 10 months.

Re: McDonald's coffee

[skate97.livejournal.com]

guess so! whatever, i don't eat there, and goody for you for seeing so many people willing to poison themselves on a daily basis!

Re: McDonald's coffee

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

When you use pee instead of water, it doesn't matter how good the beans are.

[watercolorblue.livejournal.com]

Diesel rocks. Someday was my favorite, but it's gone now. *sniff*

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Diesel. Don't be a Starbucks fuck.

[skate97.livejournal.com]

i heart diesel, but starbucks has pumpkin spice lattes, and sometimes that wins.

[nalz.livejournal.com]

OMG SHAME on you for patronizing an American owned company that pays its workers fair wages and gives them healthcare!! SO BAD!!!!!

/sarcasm

[skate97.livejournal.com]

heh. i don't hide my starbucks love, no worries.

[prog.livejournal.com]

I too hit the Diesel a lot, but if you are ever on the Mass Ave side of Davis, down at the other end of Day Street, visit the Grand Prix cafe as well. I find their dark roast to be tasty, and I hope that little place sticks around.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Ooh, good to know, I've been meaning to make it over there.

[ron_newman]

Great sandwiches too! They usually have sports on their wide-screen TV with the sound turned off, so you can watch it or ignore it as you prefer.

Rankings?

[davis-denizen.livejournal.com]

OK, for anyone who has tried more than one, how would you rank those that have been mentioned? (Diesel, ONaturals, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Au Bon Pain, La Contessa, Grand Prix)?

Re: Rankings?

[ron_newman]

We all forgot one more place -- Blue Shirt.

Re: Rankings?

[skate97.livejournal.com]

i was just thinking that...

Re: Rankings?

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

They have Fair Trade coffee (Equal Exchange brand? I forget) which is cool, but unfortunately, the couple of times I've gotten coffee there, it's been sitting in the pump-thermos (what do you call those things?) for way too long and wasn't very good.

Re: Rankings?

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

I've always heard those pump-thermoses called "airpots."

Re: Rankings?

[skate97.livejournal.com]

yup, that's what they're called. it's interesting, because that's supposed to make them taste fresh and not burnt (i was a coffee slave back in the day). they have to stay in those pots a looooooooong time to taste bad...

[fanw.livejournal.com]

If you're willing to walk up to Ball Sq (two blocks east of Powderhouse on Broadway), check out True Grounds. The coffee is better and MUCH cheaper than Diesel. Plus the place is wonderful, food is fab, and the owners are great.

True Grounds

[cos]

And they have free wireless, and they play lots of local folkies like Kris Delmhorst and Peter Mulvey over their speakers :)

Re: True Grounds

[ad-lib.livejournal.com]

ohhh good to know as i just moved to the neighborhood and have yet to get internet hooked up. :)

[ron_newman]

but it still closes at 7pm, no?

[fanw.livejournal.com]

True enough. It's their one downside!

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I was going to mention them. Best espresso ever. And they sell Terroir beans...mmmm.

[ludimagist.livejournal.com]

Add my vote for walking up to Ball Sq for True Grounds.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I am going to be the lone voice of dissent here. I don't like the Diesel's coffee. Okay - cappuchino; I don't drink regular coffee, so I can't comment on that. I find it way too bitter, almost burned tasting. I do like the espresso that O'Natural's and Bhoja ("The yellow place," as my SO and I call it, because its walls are YELLOW - it's right next to Martsa on Elm, and owned by the same people, I believe) make, so I hit one or the other of those when I want my espresso-based fix. Bhoja makes a pretty wide variety of coffee drinks, so if you're going to try out a variety of places, might as well add them to the list.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Bhoja also has an alarmingly wide variety of food in a very small space, from Indian soup to absurdly appealing pastry.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Yes, and very tasty :) (Though, sadly, they did not have soup while I was there this summer, and we mourned the absence of the chicken noodle.)