Downtown shop poll results
We forgot to post this when it appeared in April. Downtown Boulder Magazine posted the results of a poll (page 37 of the pdf) about the best downtown coffee shop (presumably from this list of 18 shops). (We posted during the poll’s run).
Here are the results (actual screenshot from the magazine pdf is below the fold, but we had the full results emailed to us), and I have to say I’m scratching my head on a couple of these:
1. The Cup (18%)
2. The Unseen Bean (15%)
3. Laughing Goat (10%)
4. Great Awakening (8%)
5. Tee and Cakes (7.5%)
6. Amante (7%)
7. Trident (6%)
I’m good with the top-3, but Great Awakening? Are you kidding? And Saxy’s or Sidney’s didn’t make the list? And while I like Tee and Cakes, Spruce Confections is roughly 346 times better. One of three explanations are possible: 1) all of 14 people responded; 2) Readers of Downtown Boulder mag are not representative of actual coffee shop denizens; 3) ballot-box stuffing. Either way, more grist for the mill that public polls like this are next to useless, which is exactly what one of our commenters noted on the post announcing the poll.
two woodwork shops
As in, “in the woodwork.” As in, how the hell would you ever find these places unless you were there in the neighborhood buying drugs? Funny what lurks in the nook and crannies of Boulder….
First is Great Awakenings. They co-locate in Art Cleaners’ front on 15th between Arapahoe and Canyon (1715 15th Street). As we noted in the “by roaster” post, they serve Cafe Solé coffee, which is halfway decent. They have free wifi but they’re not set up as a work space. They have one long bar-height counter along the front windows but no tables. One wouldn’t normally think to work there because of the shared space with a dry cleaners, so the feel is of a walk-in/walk-out shop. That said, it’s probably a good place to sit for an hour when you absolutely need a coffee shop space with free wifi and no other patrons sitting around you (how’s that top-secret business idea coming?).
Second is Shamane’s (co-located with Rustica Baking?). This is probably our find of the century because the location is so damn random. Shamane’s is not a coffee shop but a craft bakery that has a retail front serving coffee. It’s located deep within a slate of warehouse businesses on Wilderness Place and if you’ve never heard of Wilderness Place, don’t worry, your knowledge of Boulder isn’t being severly challenged. Wilderness Place is the right turn off of Valmont when driving east towards Foothills Parkway, just after you pass over the railroad tracks (map). It’s not a retail or residential destination but a chockablock full of random warehousey shops and Rustic is buried deep within, a “Suite 800″ sign right above the door. I won’t tell you why I was in the area and stumbled upon it, but it was a worthy find. They serve Cafe Solé (must be a coincidence) and damn fine pastries right out of their craft workshop in the back. Absolutely no working environment as this is a tiny, opportunistic retail front clearly set up to cater to the local employees of the Wilderness Place “office park,” but worth a visit if you’re already there.
