In 1960s Del City, Oklahoma, my mother had a daily coffee at the only place within walking distance of our apartment: Perry's Coffee Shop. It was great. They had plush booths and a bar-type counter (a la Denny's) and they let you sit and sip your coffee as long as you wanted. They were way ahead of their time. It was at Perry's where my mother let me try my first teaspoon-ful of coffee. "Yuk," I thought. Today I love coffee and coffee shops. I went back to my childhood apartment (part of an eight-building megaplex) and discovered they had all been torn down. In their place I saw my old school bus stop, many free-standing houses and a self-storage unit. But guess what remained of my childhood home? Perry's coffee shop.
I am from Alaska, a state whose coffee consumption makes Seattle look like teetotalers. If there isn't a coffee stand on each corner of every intersection in Anchorage, it is because one is being built, and three are in the planning process once the office building gets torn down.
"Venti" quad latte? Sissy drink. I take nothing less than 26-ounce, 6-shot latte, thank you. Eight, if I am going to have a bad day. Starbucks tried to make a go there; most of them are in grocery stores, not stand-alones...and there aren't that many for a city as large as Anchorage. That should tell you something.
Meanwhile, the APD is on scene of a 2-mile long line of cars waiting for their morning brew from the stands on the corner...
A useful point re Starbucks. I think their shtick has become providing a coffee shop experience for people who basically don’t drink coffee, particularly hot coffee.
I've loved coffee shops ever since the 90s when my housemates made so much noise having sex Sunday mornings (that was the only time I was home at the time I guess) that I had to leave the house to get away from it. Luckily, the coffee shop in Tacoma Park had great lattes and non-dubious pastries, as well as free NYTimes (usually) and Washington Post newspapers to read. I didn't write anything very interesting, but often got in some sketching done. As for my favorite these days, I lament that nothing much exists in the suburbs of my semi-rural Arizona town except Starbucks and a few drive-thrus. The slightly less rural town nearby has a nice one where I used to get a lot of sketching in, but they installed harder benches to discourage people from parking themselves there for more than an hour or so. Or maybe my backside is not as resilient as it used to be. But yes-- I love me a good coffee shop wherein to park and be alone in the crowd. As long as it's not too crowded. Then people notice I'm drawing them and then it gets awkward.
Well I do declare I am visiting Savannah currently and my son (a fine southern gentleman for the time being) and I have hit up 2 of those coffee shops so we will try the rest.
The Suzanne Vega bit killed me.
In 1960s Del City, Oklahoma, my mother had a daily coffee at the only place within walking distance of our apartment: Perry's Coffee Shop. It was great. They had plush booths and a bar-type counter (a la Denny's) and they let you sit and sip your coffee as long as you wanted. They were way ahead of their time. It was at Perry's where my mother let me try my first teaspoon-ful of coffee. "Yuk," I thought. Today I love coffee and coffee shops. I went back to my childhood apartment (part of an eight-building megaplex) and discovered they had all been torn down. In their place I saw my old school bus stop, many free-standing houses and a self-storage unit. But guess what remained of my childhood home? Perry's coffee shop.
I am from Alaska, a state whose coffee consumption makes Seattle look like teetotalers. If there isn't a coffee stand on each corner of every intersection in Anchorage, it is because one is being built, and three are in the planning process once the office building gets torn down.
"Venti" quad latte? Sissy drink. I take nothing less than 26-ounce, 6-shot latte, thank you. Eight, if I am going to have a bad day. Starbucks tried to make a go there; most of them are in grocery stores, not stand-alones...and there aren't that many for a city as large as Anchorage. That should tell you something.
Meanwhile, the APD is on scene of a 2-mile long line of cars waiting for their morning brew from the stands on the corner...
I only drink tea. Coffee tastes like burnt water.
Nice piece!
Also: because they [could] not compete with Starbucks
A useful point re Starbucks. I think their shtick has become providing a coffee shop experience for people who basically don’t drink coffee, particularly hot coffee.
Apparently Agatha’s tea house on MLK is great too. Never been but I’m excited to try it
Gonna give it a go!
Whoa. You live in Savannah? I do too. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime!
We used to have a totally hipster coffee shop in Houston in the 90s, pre-latte days. Cafe artiste. It was cool and very near to the Rothko Chapel.
Lots of bands I played in had their impetus at Cafe Artiste. Great vibe.
Where do people go nowadays? We often visit friends who live around Rice.
I don’t know. I moved to Atx nearly 20 years ago.
PS: I don't care for coffee. Do you know any good tea rooms?
I rarely drink coffee either. I get matcha, tea, or every now and again, an iced latte.
"Plus, the girls there didn’t seem to care how many existentialist philosophers I “read;” none of them ever expressed any interest in me ..."
Impressive. This is the joy of a well done semicolon, and with the quotation marks after, not before it.
Thanks, Greg G, for liking my semicolon comment. It takes a special person to do that.
I've loved coffee shops ever since the 90s when my housemates made so much noise having sex Sunday mornings (that was the only time I was home at the time I guess) that I had to leave the house to get away from it. Luckily, the coffee shop in Tacoma Park had great lattes and non-dubious pastries, as well as free NYTimes (usually) and Washington Post newspapers to read. I didn't write anything very interesting, but often got in some sketching done. As for my favorite these days, I lament that nothing much exists in the suburbs of my semi-rural Arizona town except Starbucks and a few drive-thrus. The slightly less rural town nearby has a nice one where I used to get a lot of sketching in, but they installed harder benches to discourage people from parking themselves there for more than an hour or so. Or maybe my backside is not as resilient as it used to be. But yes-- I love me a good coffee shop wherein to park and be alone in the crowd. As long as it's not too crowded. Then people notice I'm drawing them and then it gets awkward.
Well I do declare I am visiting Savannah currently and my son (a fine southern gentleman for the time being) and I have hit up 2 of those coffee shops so we will try the rest.
You do declare! I used to hear that often. Made my Texas day.