first in a series of four posts
I recently met my brother in Arizona for spring training baseball. It was my first visit to the Grand Canyon State, and while we didn’t venture beyond the Phoenix metro area we did see and do a lot. Of course, for me that included visiting a lot of cafés.
I came in without expectations one way or another about the coffee scene in the Valley of the Sun, but I was pleasantly surprised with the consistently high quality. I guess that shouldn’t be a surprised, given the city’s official logo looks like latte art.
If you look at my café guide, you’ll find that all 10 places I visited made the list, 9 of which earned the Coveted Asterisk of QualityTM. Rather than indulging my usual proclivity to babble on and on (and on), I’m going to lean more on the pictures to tell the story, with an occasional touristy intervention. Let’s go!
XOLO COFFEE, Phoenix
- located in an unassuming retail strip in Phoenix’s Calle 16 neighborhood
- brightly designed, including a small performance space, local art, and an influence of custom muscle cars
LET’S MEET UP, Phoenix
- a multi-purpose meeting space opened to the public for coffee on weekends
- much like Xolo, it’s in an open space in a generic retail strip fronting N. 16th Street, has several comfortable seating areas, and a polished concrete floor
TOURISTY INTERLUDE
The main thing that brought us to Phoenix was spring training baseball. 15 teams, 10 stadiums, all within the metro Phoenix area. Perfect weather, nice yet intimate stadiums, a chance to see stars and top prospects. No wonder it’s such a big draw.
Back to the coffee, in the next post.