We opened a coffee shop in 2020. On purpose.
Coffee, bakery, and kitchen on Sierra Madre Blvd — plus the full, slightly unhinged story of how we got here.
The year was 2020.
We came from 2019, where things were already getting a little weird — we had a feeling. Then the pandemic happened and, well, things got really weird. Was it a good idea to open a coffee shop the same season the entire world decided to stay home? We've had better ideas, surely. We just can't name one at the moment. We opened anyway, partly out of stubbornness and partly because you cannot return an espresso machine. (We looked into it. You can't.)
What we actually are.
A coffee shop. And a bakery. And a kitchen. There are three nouns in the name because we couldn't choose one, and committing felt like a trap. So: coffee strong enough to have opinions, pastries the San Gabriel Valley keeps insisting are some of the best around (we won't be arguing), and a kitchen making burritos, crownies, and at least one thing we invented on a Tuesday.
About the bathroom.
Let's address the bathroom, because the internet has. We don't have one. The nearest one is the Starbucks across the street. We know. We know. We are a coffee shop — an enterprise historically famous for making people need a bathroom — and we have built the entire operation around not having one. It is a choice. It is not a good choice. But it's ours, and the Starbucks has been very gracious about it.
About the seating.
There isn't a lot of it. Reviewers have noted, correctly, that it gets packed and that it's hard to get a full workday in. Yes. That's the bit. If you came to spread out a laptop and four spreadsheets for six hours on one drip coffee — we love you, but the table behind you is plotting. Order another croissant. Make peace with the room. It's cozy, which is a word that means “small,” but with feelings.
The salty burrito incident.
Once, a pork chile verde burrito was, by one account, “very salty.” We won't comment further, except to say we've spoken with the burrito and it has agreed to do better. The chorizo burrito and the s'mores crownie have no notes and would like that on the record.
Come by.
We're at 18 W Sierra Madre Blvd, up in the foothills, open early. Bring a friend, bring a laptop you promise not to abuse, bring a full bladder if you must — just go in knowing the Starbucks situation. We'll have the coffee on.