Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "java city"

A need for caffeine, coffee shop roundup

2011-10-07T02:28:39Z

Nothing beats the rich aroma of a fresh cup of coffee while you settle into a deep armchair, ready to conquer the territories of essays, math problems and debates that students face each semester or quarter. There are dozens of coffee shops splashed across Sacramento, and The Sacramento Press put together a list of reliable study havens.

A delicious and caffeinated beverage, free Wi-Fi and a welcoming space are the characteristics The Sacramento Press looked for on the hunt for Sacramento study spots.

Old Soul at Weatherstone
812 21st St.
443-6340

Hours:
Monday through Sunday 6 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Free Wi-Fi: Yes

Old Soul at Weatherstone is located in an early 20th-century brick building with a warm and inviting atmosphere. It has character that carries from the front porch, with wooden benches and round tables, through to the café that is filled with art and the smell of warm roasted coffee and baked bread. Out on the patio, vines climb up the walls of the building and people of all ages can often be found playing chess and working on their laptops.

“(Weatherstone is) community-based with a younger hip crowd. We have our regular customers and students that always come to study because of our free Wi-Fi and calm atmosphere,” said Jeramy Robison, manager of Old Soul at Weatherstone. With a café and porch that can easily accommodate 100-plus people and an abundance of electrical outlets for laptops, Robison said,it makes for a popular study spot.

The coffee shop’s baristas specialize in serving “traditional” and “homemade” drinks, Robison said.

Weatherstone directly trades with farmers from around the world and roasts down the street at the Old Soul Alley location, 1716 L St. They make their own vanilla and caramel syrup and pride themselves on being “traditionalists” with their coffee, Robison said.

Weatherstone serves bakery items such as croissants, muffins and scones as well as salads, sandwiches, cheeses, breads, dips and combination plates.

“Our cappuccino is our favorite drink,” Robison said. “It complements the flavor of the espresso. It is a tougher drink to make and takes a special focus, and we like to show off.”

Drink prices range from $2 to $4, and food prices range from $3 to $12.

Broadacre Coffee
1014 10th St.
442-1085

Hours:
Monday through Sunday 6 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Free Wi-Fi: Yes
Broadacre Coffee only opened its doors on Sept.30, but it has already become a hub for students to work and a place for social gatherings.

The newly remodeled old Levinson’s Book Store building, which previously housed Temple Coffee, has been brightened up with a fresh coat of paint, new seating and bright lights.

“We are open and inviting, bright and fun,” said Andrew Lopez, one of the four owners of Broadacre Coffee.

Broadacre’s baristas specialize in different brewing methods, and they focus on interacting with the customers.

“We want to connect with customers on an individual level,” Lopez said. “You talk with a barista first instead of a cashier. It is more of a one-on-one experience,” said Jacob Elia, one of the owners of Broadacre Coffee.

Doughbot Donuts and Freeport Bakery pastries are served fresh every day, according to Elia. All of the drip coffee is prepared via French press, he added.

The café can seat roughly 35 customers, and there is an outlet for laptops at nearly every table, Elia said .

Drink prices range from $2 to $5, and food prices range from $2 to $3.

Naked Lounge
1500 Q St.
442-0174

Hours:
Monday through Sunday 6 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Free Wi-Fi: Yes

Dim lighting, warm red walls, rich coffee, baked pastries and deep armchairs create a calm and relaxing environment for students and friends at Naked Lounge.

“We are called a lounge because that is our goal,” said Jeremy Tollefson, operations manager of Naked Lounge. “We want this to be a place customers can sit down and study or read a book and feel at home.”

“We have been recently experimenting with more exotic combinations and flavors. Right now we have a caramel sage latté made with sage-infused espresso,” Tollefson said. “We are always trying to come up with new combinations.”

Naked Lounge orders its beans from all over the world but roasts them locally in Sacramento, Tollefson said.

The café can seat around 50 people, and the patio can hold nearly 30.

“There are a lot of plugs in the café, almost one for every table,” Tollefson said .

The average price of drinks is $3 and the average price of food is $2.

Coffee Garden
2904 Franklin Blvd.
457-5507

Hours:
Monday through Saturday 6 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Sunday 7 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Free Wi-Fi: Yes
Coffee Garden is filled with green plants, local art, couches and plenty of seating: perfect for study groups to meet and for students to plug in their laptops, inside or outside, and get their work done.

“It is a casual coffee shop, and everyone comes here. We get all types of people, and are community-based,” said Michael Madsen, co-owner of Coffee Garden.

The back patio is filled with tropical plants that create a calm and natural environment. “We wanted to make it a little oasis out back, and I think we have achieved that,” Madsen said.

Coffee Garden specializes in making espresso drinks and tea as well as serving soups, sandwiches, pizza and pastries.

“We have a little bit of everything,” Madsen said. “We serve Tony’s fair trade organic coffee out of Seattle.”

During every Second Saturday Art Walk, Coffee Garden features different artists in the café, and every Thursday night, Coffee Garden hosts an open mic night.

Drink prices average $3, and food prices range from $2 to $7.

Temple Coffee
2829 S St.
454-1272

Hours:
Monday through Sunday 6 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Free Wi-Fi: Yes
Temple Coffee, voted one of the top 17 roasters in the United States by CNN and Fortune Magazine, is known for its quality beans, roasting techniques and well-balanced coffee.

Warm red beams stretch across large brick walls, and small wooden tables are staggered throughout Temple Coffee, creating a friendly and welcoming environment.

The café seats nearly 50 customers now, but the outdoor patio is being expanded to accommodate more customers. The patio will have bright lighting and vines that crawl up the terraces, said Sean Kohmescher, owner and founder of Temple Coffee.

“Temple on S is a modern warehouse that is covered in 100-year-old brick. It is very warm and inviting. Both Temples are really great places to study,” Kohmescher said.

1010 9th St. is the other Temple Coffee location.

There are outlets throughout the café for laptop usage and pastries available for snacks.

The average price of drinks is $4, and the average price of food is $3.

Java City
1800 Capitol Ave.
444-5282

Hours:
Monday through Friday 6 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday 7 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sunday 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Free Wi-Fi: Yes
Cream-colored globe lanterns extend down to illuminate the exposed brick inside Java City, creating a warm and cheerful atmosphere.

“Our goal at Java City is to make everyone feel welcome and at home,” said Jamie Mason, manager of Java City.

“We specialize in various brewing styles. We serve French press, siphon drip (and) cone drip along with our regular drip coffee and espresso drinks. Right now, our featured drink is the Great Pumpkin Latté,” Mason said .

“We get our coffee from all over the world, but we roast it locally in Sacramento. It is nice to know our beans are fresh. We can even tell you the date every cup was roasted on,” Mason said.

The café seats 30 customers, and there are outlets available at most of the couches and tables for laptops.

Drink prices range from $1.50 to $3.50, and food prices range from $2.50 to $7.75.

Which coffee shops are your favorites? Please share your suggestions and experiences below.

River Rock Tap House to open

2011-07-05T02:06:28Z

Two restaurateurs with a love of fine beer and coffee plan to open an alehouse in Midtown with a possible cafe and coffee-roasting operation next door.

Tex Mex Bar and Grill owner Mike Keolanui said he and his best friend, Anthony Priley, expect to replace Keolanui's restaurant at 2326 J St. with a joint venture, River Rock Tap House, July 9.

They decided to team up again, about 17 years after they opened River Rock in Citrus Heights featuring 40 craft beers, on-site roasted coffee and food. Priley and his father, Steve, who co-founded Java City, owned River Rock. Keolanui was the general manager.

Within a month, they also hope to sign a lease for the space next door at 2330 J St., which most recently held a well-known breakfast spot called Cornerstone Restaurant, Keolanui said.

River Rock Cafe could open in a year focusing on coffee, tea and breakfast, but possibly offering over-the-counter lunch and dinner as well. A costly interior and exterior renovation would be done first.

The restaurants would be beverage-driven yet feature different menus. Keolanui would oversee the food at both spots. Steve Priley, who sold his interest in Sacramento-based Java City in 1993, would manage the coffee-roasting operation and its wholesale and retail coffee business. His son would manage the tap house's craft beers: 40 to start and another 30 down the road.

"Tony has always been a visionary and sort of a 'Rain Man' when it comes to beer," Keolanui said. "If Tony's the Rain Man of beer, his dad is the guru of coffee. He's the Gandhi of coffee. That guy has got a huge following. He talks a different language."

He opened Tex Mex on J Street about nine months ago as a new location for Texas Mexican Restaurant, which was facing closure as part of a K Street Mall redevelopment project. Tex Mex did well, but Keolanui wants to try something new, he said.

"I got kind of burnt out on the Mexican food scene," he said. "There are so many Mexican restaurants down here."

He said he knew he wanted to feature craft beers. Brian Bennett, who co-owns Paul Martin's American Bistro Restaurant in Roseville, came up with the idea for the "tap house" name and other ideas for the business, Keolanui said.

The list of beers is still being finalized. At least 80 percent will come from California and Oregon microbreweries. Classics like Guinness will also be on tap, Anthony Priley said.

West Coast brewers are developing their own style of high-quality beer using fresh hops grown nearby and more hops, which imparts more bitterness. Craft beer from the West Coast is gaining respect after developing its own style, just like California wines did in the 1970s and 1980s, he said.

"There's such quality and diversity right on the West Coast. It's a more aggressive style of beer than you find on the East Coast, in the Midwest or even internationally," Priley said.

"The flavor profile of traditional English beer is smoother and sweeter – less bitter. A softer mouth feel than something with a lot of hops. The difference would be sweetness compared to a bitter flavor profile."

They'll include many local beers from microbreweries such as Rubicon, Sudwerk in Davis, Roseville Brewing Company and Two Rivers Cider.

"I'm excited about the beer culture that's developing here," he said. "Sacramento is becoming a very well-known beer culture throughout the region."

Priley has persuaded six former employees to come back one or two days a week as tap masters – sort of beer sommeliers – at a small second bar to be added. They will help train and educate customers as well as Keolanui's existing staff about fine beer.

"It's going to be this crazy restaurant Brady Bunch kind of thing. Tony and I are the parents and we just got married," Keolanui said.

River Rock Tap House hours will be 11 a.m. to midnight daily.

The tap house will start with a small menu that may include some food from Tex Mex and the original River Rock, such as a fresh fish sandwich and smoked salmon salad. They'll introduce two or three new items each month and have food events driven by beer, such as ribs or brats and beer.

Items may include fried oyster nachos, crispy calamari with poblano sauce, summer grilled sausage with stone-ground mustard and a butcher's board of meats and cheeses.

"The food itself is going to pair wonderfully with the beer," Keolanui said. "I think people will be surprised at how well beer goes on the palate with those items."

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.