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My siblings and cousins in
Massachusettes would chide me if I complained about our odd
"winter storm" that blew into Silicon Valley yesterday, in the
middle of what should be our "Indian summer".
But it's a little cold here.
 It
was 65 degrees in the Handy house this morning (and in the high
forties outside). The heater had to go on or this blogger wasn't
getting out of bed. The dust burned off and smelled the place up
initially. After flipping the thermostat back onto "sensing
mode", I flipped on the coffee. This time it's Peet's. But when
that's gone I'll be dripping something from Burundi that my
brother got while at a theological conference there a couple of
weeks ago.
In college and grad school
especially, I spent a lot of time at coffeehouses. Some of my
friends today really don't make coffee at home - they always go out
for it. Several Realtor colleagues of mine bring along their laptop
or tablet computers and socialize with the regulars while catching
up on email, or reading news online. For me, visiting a coffeehouse
is a treat.
Last night I was invited to
join the Bay Area Ghost Hunt folks at
Starbucks in Los Gatos at 6:30. Personally, I
prefer mom & pop shops, locally owned ones, but I do love
getting a latte with sugar free hazlenut syrup - yum! That
is also available at Seattle's Best inside of
Border's in Old Town, a bookstore we can't seem to stay away from
for a week at a time.
Independent, Locally Owned Los
Gatos Coffeehouses
 But
let's talk locally owned coffee stores. In Portland, where
coffee is as serious as it is in Seattle but chain stores are
shunned, you hear people joke that "friends don't let friends drink
Starbucks". And they mean it! Mom and pop shops all the
way.
So here in town, where do you like to go? Here are my
three favorite ones:
* Yogurt Delite at 464 N Santa Cruz Ave
(older
article about this neat shop)
* Great Bear
Coffee Roasting 19 N Santa Cruz Ave
* Los Gatos Coffee
Roasting at 101 W. Main Street near University
Yogurt Delite has a name that does not imply
coffee and breakfast munchies, but it does provide those along with
free wireless internet. It is a smaller shop than my other two
favorites, so if you are looking for a quiet place to enjoy your
cuppa joe, this is it. Parking is easy as it's close to Safeway and
Petco.
Great Bear has cool art, both mural art and local
framed art on display. (No, the art isn't all good, but it is
all interesting.) It's a larger shop and centrally located in the
"main drag" area. Parking is not hard on N. Santa Cruz in the
morning (afternoons are another matter) but there's also a parking
lot in back, off Main Street.
The Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company really does
roast its own coffee - you can smell it. It is the largest of my
three favorite coffee places in town, with tons of seats. If you
live in town and are at all involved, it's impossible to go there
and not know or at least recognize someone. But parking
can be an issue in this congested part of town. It's easiest to
stop in there if you're doing several store visits in the area, or
if you can arrive on foot or bike. It's not too far from the Los
Gatos Creek Trail so many patrons here seem to be motor-vehicle
free.
As for me, my kids have just left
for school and my mug has managed to get empty. Time to fill 'er
up. And maybe today I will swing by one of my favorite coffee
houses for a little decaf. Actually, I had some serious insomnia
last night. Maybe it will be regular.
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