Coffee & Crema was a little hole in the wall in a building in Greenville, South Carolina

I had an espresso there before they closed.  It was a little hole in the wall at the entrance of a building in downtown Greenville on Main St.

coffee and crema greenville sc

I wonder why they closed – they had another location in a mall that they closed a number of months earlier.

coffee and crema greenville sc

According to GreenvilleOnline, they closed because of the weather and additional competition.  It’s a bit of a sad end for a place that “helped create a true coffee culture in Greenville”, but former owner Shannon Hudgens leaves a glimmer of hope: “I may not come back as Coffee & Crema in the same form that people are used to, but it doesn’t mean that I’m dead either.”

Coffee at Betterday in Santa Fe and then a trip to Albuquerque

I had only one chance to get coffee the morning we left Santa Fe.   I narrowed my choices to The Betterday Coffee Shop or Iconik and opted to go with Betterday.

Interestingly, according to yelp, their rating has been dropping since 2014, sadly.  I wonder what happened?  Digging through the reviews, it seems that more people have been unhappy with their customer service.  It had a neighborhood vibe when I was there, and I didn’t have any problems.  But this was back in June, 2014.

The decor at Betterday was a mix of wood and old rustic highway signs:

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.. with a couple of bicycle frames hanging from the wall.

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They do indeed serve Stumptown, and my espresso was fine.

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We didn’t stay too long, because the rest of the day’s itinerary required us to stop in Albuquerque, Petrified Forest, and then end in Flagstaff.

It was really hot that day in Albuquerque.  We didn’t explore as much as I’d like since it was such a short stop, but we checked out the historic old town plaza and its shops.  We saw some really neat images in one of the photo galleries, which seemed to be run sort of as a co-op.  I stopped in the San Felipe de Neri Parish for a moment to see the interior:

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and then ended up eating a quick lunch at the Albuquerque Museum.

Then we drove for a while along the train tracks and ended up taking a break in Gallup, NM.  It was a fun stop. My dad really really wanted to stop on Route 66.  We checked out the Rex Museum and talked at length to the guy working there, who wore a bright neon orange shirt, striped tie, black vest, and cowboy hat.  It was full of items from Gallup’s history, including these city directories dating back to about 1923.

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we didn’t stay too long though, because we still needed to visit the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park and then make it to Flagstaff at a decent hour.

Sweatshop cafe, Williamsburg

Sweatshop Coffee, Williamsburg

Sweatshop coffee – what a nice minimal interior with muted greyscale tones.  Matching walls and t-shirts.  Non-minimal decorated tables and coffee-cup art.  Located at 232 Metropolitan Ave.  Two people were working with their laptops on the main table, I chose to have a quick seat on one of the small square tables.  Recommended by our generous hosts, we passed by the cafe almost by accident.  Beans once again by Counter Culture.

Sweatshop Coffee, Williamsburg Sweatshop Coffee, Williamsburg Sweatshop Coffee, Williamsburg Sweatshop Coffee, Williamsburg

Cafe Devocion in Williamsburg

Devocion Coffee, Williamsburg

Oliver Strand and the Scoop weren’t kidding.  Beautiful indoor space, bathed in flowing light, with a bright green living wall and exposed brick.  Bright yellow signage and demitasse cups and saucers.  The coffee was darker than I’d like but it was fine.  I think the barista was in a bad mood as he made a face and seemed annoyed at me for asking about their coffee options.  Yes, they are all Colombian.  I don’t want to knock on their service completely, though.  The other staff member behind the counter, she smiled in warmly and wished us a nice day as we were exiting that left us feeling like we started the day right.

Devocion Coffee, Williamsburg Devocion Coffee, Williamsburg

Brooklyn Roasting Company

brooklyn roasting company

Stopped by Brooklyn Roasting Company in Dumbo for a meeting and some coffee.  Paper cup, what?  It was pretty good.  It’s a surprisingly big space.  I got some food there as well and wasn’t a huge fan of the prepared food in the fridge.  I should have gotten more donuts.   There were a lot of people there, a number of small groups of people who looked to be in meetings with once another.  Yellowy lighting, neat spot.  Some roasting was happening, which is always fun to be around.

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Southside Coffee in South Slope

Espresso at Southside Coffee in South Slope

We met up with friends whom I see far too infrequently at Southside Coffee in South Slope, Brooklyn at 19th St and 6th Ave.  We have babies now, but the barista and the patrons were cool with that.  The woman next to us hanging out with her young son offered us an extra chair.  I had a George Howell espresso, and it was excellent.  The croissant not as great but that’s not why I visited.  Friendly barista, cozy vibe.  Wish I lived there, because that’d be my neighborhood joint.  Thank you Southside, for a fun visit.

 

Espresso at Southside Coffee in South Slope

Coffee Bar DC

espresso from the coffee bar in dc

We met with my sister and her family at The Coffee Bar in Washington, DC on 12th & S NW.  Neat place, rustic, reclaimed distressed-wood type interior, beans from Ceremony, and the normal crowd of young folks on their laptops in the hip U street/Logan Circle neighborhood.espresso from the coffee bar in dcWe got the usual, an espresso and a latte.  Heart-shaped rosetta this time around.latte from the coffee bar in DC