When I first moved to Cleveland and I started to look into the coffee houses in the area, I found that Phoenix coffee was popping up all over my search. They have 5 locations and customers that swear by their brew so I have been wanting to check them out for a while.
Phoenix Coffee started back in 1990, founded by Carl Jones. Now after a little bit of searching, I also found that Carl Jones also founded the first Arabica cafe in 1976. Now I will get to Arabica later on but if you're from cleveland, most of you know that Arabica doesn't exactly have the best reputation for good coffee, or even tolerable coffee...But the good news (well I guess it wasn't exactly good news at the time) but back in 1985 he sold the chains of Arabica Coffee houses due to bankruptcy. One year later after some generosity from friends, he started roasting coffee again and selling it to...Arabica. Well as the cutthroat coffee business goes, partnerships can turn sour on the drop of a dime. And Mr. Jones went his own way and Phoenix Coffee was born.
Chad and I went to Phoenix on Valentine's Day, he was buying dinner so it was the least I could do to buy some coffee. The location on West 9th was the one closest to us so we found a parking spot on the street and went in. I rarely look at the menus anymore when I go into coffee houses, so I just ordered my regular soy vanilla latte and chad had an americano. It looks like they have some lunch items as well as a small selection of bakery. Now this is where I was a bit disappointed. I love my sweets, LOVE my sweets. But their selection was small, very limited. I thought maybe they had just sold out, but when I looked closer, I saw that the trays were full for the most part but the items were just not very appetizing. Give me something chocolate or don't even bother. There was nothing chocolate in there, a small complaint but if you are a chocolate fiend like I am then you'd understand:) There were 2 baristas working. One young girl who I am pretty sure was sick with a cold or something and another older man with the typical coffee house artsy guy attire. On a side note, Chad asked me what "look" he was going for (mostly black, back rimmed glasses, and a stocking cap) and I said it was the cookie cutter coffee house look for guys. I am not saying it's a bad thing, but I have to control myself to not roll my eyes when I am confronted with that look. Oh well...I am sure he is a good barista and I am just harping on something that has nothing to do with what I am talking about...so I digress.
Well first off I will say the coffee was good. I watched her pull my shots, it took a little bit *ok a LOT* longer than I thought since there wasn't anyone ahead of us, but maybe she was new or maybe she was just plain slow. When you work in a drive thru environment like Coffease like I did, it's all about the quickness ALONG with quality. You need to have both and it needs to be done in 2 minutes or less because people are going to work and if you're slow then your tip won't be as good if you get a tip at all. So you learn to be fast. But since we were not in our car and we weren't in a huge hurry, I was ok waiting around a bit. It gave me a good excuse to walk around. The layout of the place is pretty open, I really liked the way they decorated it as well. It was totally my style. Old diner tables paired with antique chairs. Paintings on the wall and on the ground (some used for tables) it was an eclectic mix. There was a huge mixing station with a pitcher of ice water and glasses. I am sure that helps the barista out a lot, something so simple but so smart. Because the majority of coffee drinkers (if they are hanging out) once they are done with their coffee are going to need some water. Simple but helpful. The only thing that threw me off was the color scheme. Orange and Aqua Blue. I just didn't get it and it kind of hurt my eyes to look at the whole place for too long. The blue was nice, very beachy, and the orange was cool and quirky. But together? I don't know...
Anyway when we got our coffees (with a bit of latte art on mine) I have to say it was pretty good. I could tell the espresso shots were pulled correctly and the latte wasn't too hot or too cold. Chad liked his Americano as well but he said there was nothing too exceptional about it. It was a bit pricey but for that downtown area I figured it was pretty average.
I can see where parking would be an issue since there is no dedicated parking area but when you're in a downtown environment sometimes you just have to deal. But since I am talking about parking, I will say that the owners of Phoenix are even trying to help with that. They have a curbside to go program, where you call ahead and in 15min you can drive up and the barista will run it out to your car for you. I thought that was very smart. They are also very much integrated into the community, helping such organizations like Ohio Coalition Against the MisUse of Pesticides and certain Women's Advocacy Groups like Womankind.
All in all I would go back to Phoenix. The coffee was well made, the seating was somewhat comfortable and the decor always gave you something to look at. You can rest easy knowing that your coffee is being locally roasted by someone who really loves coffee and loves what they're doing.
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