My favorite coffee shop has light and green, is serene. The food is one of the biggest draws, a tortilla breakfast sandwich for $2.99, and it has bacon inside and a poached egg, cheese, lettuce, salsa. The best dish is a red chile tamale with a poached egg on top. I’m not a poached egg fan normally, so I know I love a coffee shop when it’s got me loving poached eggs.
Oasis is a furniture shop, also, an odd combination: coffee and outdoor and indoor furniture. If there were a theme to the furniture it would be serenity. Second time I’ve used that word when talking about Oasis. Several fountains throughout the place, wind chimes, wicker and bamboo chairs and tables, statues. Some statues are giant Buddha heads, another is Saint Francis of Assisi, the guy known for his love of animals. If Jim were a modern-day saint, he’d be St. Francis.
I like the color of the place, dark wood tables and the wind chimes and bird feeders come in all colors of blown glass. I like that my favorite coffee shop gets all manner of people, old, young, single, couples. Here, at the Starbucks where I’m hanging out while Em is getting a Math tutor lesson, 85% of the people who’ve come in don sports outfits, like they’ve just stopped in after a game of tennis or a jog. If this Starbucks were a city, it’d be Boulder—young, fit, and blonde.
I’m a loyal coffee shop consumer, a patron, I suppose. I will go to my favorite coffee shop at least once a week, not as frequently, I realize, as the loyal Starbucks patron. Some people stop in daily, drop that $5 every single day. I’ve seen stats that show how if you invested your coffee habit dollars into a good mutual fund you could within a few years have several thousands of dollars.
I am of that ilk, I’m afraid, the person who rather than fuel a coffee habit every day at my favorite coffee shop will save the money and drink my morning drink at home most days. But I’m still loyal, I still try to do my part to keep a coffee shop solvent. I’ll take my daughters to Oasis most weekends and together we’ll order drinks, breakfast, and if we’re real hungry, a couple of pastries to share. Oasis has the best pastries.
If I lived in Albuquerque, I’d hang out at Java Joe’s, which is across from Robinson Park, that old part of downtown where Mom used to shop at Arden’s. For all I know, Java Joe’s is the old Arden’s. Or there’s that newer shop in LoDo, the lower downtown district, that is so cool, it has a hidden patio that reminds me of being in another country. I’ve only been there once, last summer, and I hope it survived. Just like I hope Oasis survives.
Hard to imagine any of these Mom & Pop places competing with this Starbucks, though, the steady stream of jogging-suit-clad men and women. I swear at least 40 coffee drinks have been sold in the 40 minutes we’ve been here.
–related to Topic post: WRITING TOPIC — MY FAVORITE COFFEE SHOP
redravine.wordpress.com 
This is so true: “If Jim were a modern-day saint, he’d be St. Francis.” 8)
Your fave coffee shop sounds kind of cool. I like the Buddha statues and what an odd combo to sell furniture there, too. I’m kind of like you in that I don’t buy coffee out every day anymore. I make good coffee at home now. But when I go to my fave coffee shop, I try to drop some cash, eat and drink, to help keep it solvent.
When I had a corporate job, there was a period where I ate lunch out every day and also stopped in the morning and got a large Latte every single morning. It took a while before I realized how much I was spending! I’ve changed a lot of habits since then. I live a lot more simply.
Do you have a fave coffee shop from your travels abroad? Do you find they are places to write and hang out like they are here?
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I like the sound of your favorite coffee shop. I used to wish I was the kind of person who hung out in coffee shops. Problem is, I don’t like coffee and most coffee shops don’t know how to make a good tea. They’re improving, but they tend towards chai loaded with sugar and creamy goodness which I can’t afford to indulge in very often.
But I do love the Mom and Pop places, be they coffee shops, restaurants, book stores or hardware stores.. My husband and I rarely step foot in the chain type restaurants, shops, etc. Only out of desperation for the most part.
Having spent a week cycling and hanging out in Boulder last summer, not sure about the “young, fit, and blonde” parts. I saw such a variety of people that I felt like I could fit in and I’m not young, fit, and only blonde because it hides some of the gray. lol! But a week is only a week and nothing like living there so I could be wrong.
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I like to go bike riding around town then stop at Winning Coffee Shop by UNM and sit outside on Harvard Ave. You see mostly students there but also lots of people who like to revisit the university area . I even see John A. occasionally. WOW FUNKADELIC!!! They have very good inexpensive coffee with free refills and the best grilled cheese sandwich ever. I don’t really like Starbuck coffee. It’s too strong or bitter. I like one of a kind places. Oasis sounds like a cool place.
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We should meet at Oasis, Neece. You’d love the tortilla sandwich. Hey, I mailed your pendants today, including two gifts for your birthday. 8) Funkadelic, eh?
I’m not a Starbucks person, either, but now I’ve gone to the same one twice, only because I don’t know the neighborhood and so that’s the only one I found. Oh, there is a Flying Star close by, but that’s more restaurant than coffee shop.
Robin, I didn’t know about your cycling adventure. Sounds like fun! I hung around Boulder a bit when one of my good friends moved there, but it’s been years. I’m sure your impressions of Boulder are more accurate than mine. When I did go, I was pretty intimidated by the good bods and youthful vibe of the city. Also very upscale. I’m more of a sloth. Ha!
This one Starbucks did have an inordinate number of exercising people. It was noticeable. But they were also middle age, which made me wonder why I wasn’t exercising on a Saturday morning. Need to get back into that routine. I can’t seem to keep my weekly workouts. I’m sure I’m feeling guilty.
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Hey QM, it’s an easy habit to pick up, buying a latte every day. I honestly could if I weren’t so cheap. Ha. But I love the foamy milk. Although, since I switched to soy (and right now I’m trying rice milk because I don’t really like soy) I’m not as fanatic a latte drinker.
I do have a favorite coffee shop in downtown Saigon. It’s the Gloria Jean’s (a chain, I’m sure) across from the hotel I often stay at. Although, when I’m with my Vietnamese colleagues, they take me to the BEST Vietnamese coffee houses, and those are amazing. Usually in an old French colonial villa-turned-coffee house, they have elaborate walled in patios/yards with ponds and fountains, and at night you sit outside, listen to music, and drink Vietnamese iced milk coffee and eat other things. They usually serve wonderful juices and smoothies, alcohol, and this type of Vietnamese drink that is made of tapioca, I think, but it’s like jello in a coffee/malt drink. Very heavenly although kind of different.
Those are the places I love best, but there mostly in the district of the former French wealth, now often near embassies (District 3) so they’re not usually an easy walk from my hotel. And they’re really only fun with others. I wouldn’t sit there and write, for example. For that, there’s Gloria Jean’s. BTW, in Vietnam, the big chain is Highland Coffee, but what I like about this particular GJ is that it’s small and I feel comfortable there sitting alone and writing or doodling.
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Hey, btw, my latest essay for the local daily newspaper — women’s insert on the first Sunday of the month, that is — features an excursion with some of my Vietnamese friends. The coffee house experience is mentioned, although not the main focus of the essay. I think it will come out in June.
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I did get the pendents and they are beautiful. I’m wearing two right now – the sunflower and the ojo. I really need the ojo. You’re the best Ybonsey! Let’s do go meet at the Oasis. It would be fun to hang out there with you.
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Awesome, Neece Lorraine! I’m glad the ojo was a good pick for you. I’ll call you bout getting together.
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