A Luna Landing

I am at Luna Cafe, across from Vim, where my fiancee works.  Great little cafe just outside of Central Square in Cambridge, MA.  I've been here a few times now, thanks in part to the gentleman behind the counter who always remembers to call me Jungle.  Today I am siting at their tables, which have a full tablecloth and place settings, and makes me feel good about myself for reasons I can't explain.  

Cappucino - (1 - 10): 8 out of 10.  They asked me if it was dry enough.  I didn't know what that was, so I asked.  Turns out good, could be a bit hotter.  Its a triple shot.  

Ambiance - (1 - 10): 8 out of 10.  Tablecloths.  I like tablecloths.

Snootiness Level - (1 - 10): 2 out of 10.  No pretension here, but for a woman next to me asking if they have organic honey.

Staff - (1 - 10): (9 out of 10).  Really nice.  Asked me lots of questions.  Hurried my check over.  Only thing was the girl who brought me my cappuccino looked at me funny when I made a joke.  C'mon, its all about me!

Cost - (1 - 10): (7 out of 10) I've changed this category, since I'll only note cleanliness if its a problem.  $4.00 for a triple cappuccino.  Not great, not awful.

Strangest thing that happened while I visited: There's a guy in a panama hat who keeps looking at me and smiling.  He's with a woman who looks like his date (if you can have a date at 10:40 on a Monday).  I'm weirded out, which takes a lot.

Go for a Luna Landing!

Jaho, JaHey!

I am Jaho, in the South End of Boston, a coffee shop that just opened up in May.  Sonya and I are working on our wedding invitations with our good friend, Kyle Begin, a man with a much better eye for design than I.  Its a tense wedding invitation session, and I'm wondering why I'm here (why is any groom here? - the esoteric question) My job as best as I can tell is to feed the meter, nod voraciously when looked at, crack the occasional joke to earn a glare, and run for coffee, which brought me to Jaho.  


OK, only the second coffee shop I reviewed, but the best so far.  I didn't love living in the South End, so it was even more of a treat, since I was expecting the snootiness level to go through the roof.  


Cappucino - (1 - 10): 8 out of 10.  A bit of a smoky flavor, not too overpowering, delightfully hot enough.  


Ambiance - (1 - 10): 9 out of 10.  Really laid back, plenty of seats, nice people.


Snootiness Level - (1 - 10): 3 out of 10.  The woman who first greeted me was a little snooty, but it could have been a bit of shyness.  Cody is the man!

Staff - (1 - 10): 10 out of 10.  Cody the barrista was friendly, fast and welcoming.  I'd come back in here just because of him.  

Cleanliness - (1 - 10): 10 out of 10.  Very Clean (maybe I don't need this category.  There's not much you can say).

Strangest thing that happened while I visited: An older woman came over while I was cleaning up the sugar/honey/milk area after my Sugar-in-the-Raw packet had exploded (as they often do with my big old paws).  It was a bit awkward.  I didn't realize she was there, had my back to her, and she stood there and watched as I attempted to get all the little granules of sugar in the garbage hole.  All she wanted was to get some sugar, and I had boxed her out like Shaq under the basket.  Fortunately, I spotted her, apologized too loudly and scurried over to the other side of the room.  


Worth a visit!

The Evil Empire... Or is it?

My first posting happens to be in a Starbucks in Arlington, MA.  My power is out (hot day in July), so here I am.  This is the Starbucks on Mass Ave.  Let's get down to business:


Cappucino - (1 - 10): 7 out of 10.  Starbucks is usually consistent in this regard.  I like ordering my cappucino 180 degrees, though I feel slightly pretentious when I order this, as if some college hippie is going to jump out of the corner, scream "Yuppie!" and throw organically grown Kool Aid at me.  


Ambiance - (1 - 10): They have a nice set up with plenty of natural light and a wide open feel.  Its also not too crowded, and I only had to elbow one commuter out of the way for this table.

Staff - (1 - 10):  Very nice.  Cleaned my table, gave me a spoon and didn't glare at me (yet).  

Snootiness Level - (1 - 10): 3.  Very friendly conversations with two elderly people.  Only negative was when I jumped out of my chair to open the door for a Mom with a super-stroller, and she looked at me like she was doing me a favor.  Just to mess with her head I thanked her and asked me to call me admiral.  

Cleanliness - (1 - 10): 7.  Tables and bathroom were messy, but generally the rest of the place was clean.  

Strangest thing that happened while I visited: An older gentleman asked the girl behind the counter if she was Irish (she wasn't) and then proceeded to rattle off every country in Europe to try and find out where she was from.  I learned today that people from Luxembourg are called Lëtzebuerger from this gentleman.  The poor girl looked very embarrassed, as if not knowing what country your great-great-grandfather was from reflect poorly on your employment with Four Bucks (I found out from http://www.walletpop.com/2010/08/30/10-best-company-nicknames/ their nickname.  

Java Juice!

Why am I writing about coffee houses in New England?  I'm self-employed, spend a lot of time in different coffee shops across New England, and my future wife wants me to entertain her with my writing more (or maybe she's just trying to keep me out of the living room, I'm not sure).  But, like much of my life, I see some nutty stuff, and funny things often seem to happen to me.

Here's the criteria:

Cappucino - (1 - 10):
Ambiance - (1 - 10):
Snootiness Level - (1 - 10):

Staff - (1 - 10):
Cleanliness - (1 - 10):
Strangest thing that happened while I visited:

Enjoy!