M. Suzanne Terry

Big Mike’s Coffee Shop is great.  It’s located right across the street from UNT campus in the same location and under the same ownership as Voyager’s Dream (before The Man ruined Fry Street…but that’s another story for another time). Their website lists my three favorite things about Big Mike’s – independent, local, and fair trade. They are also ecologically minded.  They save their coffee grounds and give them to local gardeners for their compost piles. I also like how they take care of the students.  They used to be a 24-hour shop, but now they are closed from midnight to 6:00 a.m. most days.  However, during dead week and finals week, they reinstated their around-the-clock hours to support the students cramming during the wee hours of the morning. And on graduation day, they offered anything on their menu at half off for graduates who came in their caps and gowns.

Also – there are signs like this:

(I swear I waited to take the picture until after I had ordered.)

Sounds like this would be my favorite shop in the world, doesn’t it?  So why haven’t you heard about it before now?

Confession:  I only go to Big Mike’s in the summer.

1. Yes, they take care of students.  But so do I.  I take care of students 40+ hours a week.  So I don’t really feel the need to go hang out with students after work.
2. Summer, early morning, and Sundays are the only times I can find parking anywhere near the shop.  Could I walk there?  Sure.  Am I likely to do so?  Lol…no.
3. The atmosphere in summer is really laid back.  In fact, all of Denton is more laid back in the summer, because many of the students go home.  And because many of the students go home, it’s even more important in the summer to support the local shops that I want to see stay in business, particularly the shops whose clientele is predominantly students.

Summer at Big Mike’s is great.  I can walk in, order, sit at a table and stare into space, and no one thinks anything of it (or if they do, they keep it to themselves).  The baristas don’t try to rope you into small talk while making your drink.  If they talk at all, it’s to say something that’s actually interesting.  I have never been forced to talk about the weather in Big Mike’s.

I realize that this might be a point against them for extroverts or normal people or people who are uncomfortable with silence or people who have narrow views of what constitutes good customer service.  But for introverts, Big Mike’s in the summer is like Mecca.

My typical order at Big Mike’s when I’m not going to stay for long is a macchiato.

Little shot of espresso marked with foam.  And their espresso is gooooood. Sometimes, I even order them when I am going to stay for a while, but then I end up getting four of them, and that’s a terrible idea.

For a while, they had hazelnut milk, but I’m not sure they offer it anymore.  I could get a hazelnut latte made with hazelnut milk. Glorious. That was my go-to drink when I would make a coffee run for Maggie and me before HOST meetings.  Good times.

So if you’re in Denton in the summer (maybe you’re at a conference at UNT), don’t drive all the way to Starbucks just because it’s what you know.  Go to Big Mike’s.

If you would like to contribute to the Coffee Shop Road Trip, you can follow that link to the original post for guidelines.  The original deadline has been extended. The new deadline is forever.  I am having so much fun, I will forever take posts on this subject.

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Seven Mile Cafe is where I send people who don’t know Denton very well and are looking for a good breakfast or lunch.

• It’s easy to find (basically, turn east on Congress from Carroll, and in a few blocks, you’re there).
• It has ample parking.  If the lot is full, there are plenty of places to park on the street.
• Its menu starts with the coffee offerings, as all good menus do.

(Also, its cups are really cute.)

First, let’s talk about the food.  The food is good and hearty.  It took me two meals to eat the hamburger, and I can put away some grub.  I have had almost all of the Benedicts, as that is usually my breakfast-out of choice, and I like them all.  The pancakes and cinnamon rolls are good, and they can make the cinnamon roll vegan, which means I can eat it without scraping off the icing.  In fact, see all those green leaves on the menu?  Those are the vegan items.  For a restaurant in Texas, this is a pretty impressive selection.

But my favorite thing to eat here?  The loaded potatoes.  In fact, I just purred out loud thinking of them.  I might have to go get some right after I finish this post.  I know they’re not hard to make, but it’s the end of the semester, and my kitchen and I are tired.

Also, when you get the potatoes at Seven Mile, you can get them with this:

(Big ass bottomless French Press.  Maggie – sadly – not included)

The bottomless coffee is strong and plentiful, and it’s roasted right next door at Seven Mile Coffee Co.  Triple win.

(Again with the cute cups)

Seven Mile Coffee Co. doesn’t just roast the coffee.  It is a full coffee bar with coffee-shop style seating and its own coffee menu, and from 8a-3p, you can order anything from the menu at Seven Mile Cafe, and they’ll bring it over to you. Basically, they let you choose your own atmosphere.

This is the greatest idea.

This allows me to go during the lunch rush and avoid the crowded cafe.  I can cozy down in an armchair, sip my coffee, eat my potatoes, and read my book, enjoying a blessed hour of quiet before I go back to work.

Also, when you order coffee at Seven Mile Coffee Co., the people making it know what they’re doing and will talk to you about it.  Some customers might not like this, but those customers are wrong.  One should prefer to buy coffee from people who know it well and can articulate this knowledge. They also offer Stumptown coffee, which is one of my top three non-local favorite coffee companies. I usually get the coffee that is roasted in-house, but I appreciate the offer.

So if you’re driving through Denton and you need sustenance, Seven Mile Cafe and Seven Mile Coffee Co. are worth a quick venture into the middle of town.

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I am starting the Coffee Shop Road Trip with a shout-out to Stefanie, who is joining me in this endeavor to direct people all over the place to delicious coffee, regardless of where they roam.  Stefanie launched her stretch of the drive earlier this week in a fantastic post about Mudsmith on Greenville in Dallas. Believe me when I tell you that a Contessa will be mine by the end of May.  Oh yes, it will.

Denton, Texas, is a great place to love coffee.  It is home to two universities, so there are a lot of people in town in serious need of caffeination and a place to make it happen. There are at least three local coffee roasters (Bookish Coffee, Coffeewright Roasters, and Macaroni Island Coffee, coming soon to their very own post near you).  And there are quite a few coffee shops that offer their unique atmospheres and perspectives to the town.

Enter Zera Coffee Company.

This is a picture taken on my old phone of their small (yes, that’s the small) French press and the remnants of their Mexican hot chocolate. Their coffee is amazing.  I usually get the French Press or the Red Eye.  I also highly recommend their frozen and blended drinks.

One of the first times I walked into Zera, I ordered a caramel macchiato.  The man behind the counter looked pointedly at me and said, “So…do you want…” Then he paused, like he was trying to find a nice way to ask if I wanted an actual macchiato or that nonsense that is misnamed a macchiato at a popular coffee chain whose name may or may not rhyme with “car-trucks.”  I assured him that I wanted a real macchiato, and he gave me an approving nod.

I knew I had found a friend.

When you walk into Zera, it’s like you’re walking into someone’s living room.  The room is full of mismatched furniture.  You have your choice of couches, comfy chairs, and tables.  The music that you will hear will probably be worship music, as the shop itself is a Christian ministry.  In fact, it’s completely run by volunteer labor so that as much of the proceeds as possible can go to support Denton Freedom House, a church with a prison outreach as well as a men’s home and job training that helps people reintegrate into society.

I like Zera best in the afternoon.  If I need a change of scenery when I’m writing, I choose Zera.  I can stay there for hours, and it’s usually mellow enough that the environment isn’t distracting.

If worship music or financially supporting a Christian ministry are something to which you are opposed, you probably won’t be able to get past that in order to enjoy the coffee (nor would I expect you to).  But the coffee is delicious.  I have never had anything there that I didn’t like.

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(Coffee art from Art Six)

“Can we all just take off work for a month or two and travel cross country trying these delicious coffee shops?? PLEASE?! Life made.”

“YES.”

“I’m not even joking. New photo series/blog idea!”

“ Indeed. I would have to save up to travel to all these places. But I could do a blog series on coffee shops. You could do a blog series on coffee shops. We could guest post on each other’s blogs…I could host people telling about their favorite coffee shops where they live. I’m very excited about this!!!  Do you want to guest post?”

And that’s how it started.

(Ethiopian coffee from Queen of Sheba in Addison)

This idea probably should have occurred to me before now, but it took the post from Stefanie (who has an entire blog on the subject and thus is automatically my favorite blog to follow) on my Facebook wall to inspire it.  So Stefanie – I’m going to add to our list.

Best.  Road Trip(s).  Ever.

On Friday, April 25, I am going to start a series of guest posts about coffee shops across the country (or world…because I will fly for coffee).

And I’m inviting you to be a part of it.

(Nichole Latte from Bochy’s)

Here are the guidelines for guest posts:

1. Write a post about your favorite local (i.e., where you live) coffee shop.  It can be multiple shops, because as a lover and frequenter of multiple shops myself, I would never ask you to choose.  It can also be about tea shops, because while I am snobby about coffee, I also love tea (and I am going to write a love letter to Denton’s Amitea and include it). It can also be about a restaurant that makes an amazing coffee (observe the Nichole Latte from Bochy’s Bistro, pictured above), because sadly, road trippers cannot live by coffee alone.
2. I prefer that you don’t send me posts about chains (although I offer some leeway for local-ish chains, like Cafe Brazil in the DFW area).  We all know that we can walk into any Starbucks worldwide and get the same mediocre experience/drink.  We don’t need to read about it.
3. A special place in my heart and tear ducts is reserved for shops that sell coffee that is fairly traded, locally roasted, and/or organic. But if your favorite shop doesn’t (or doesn’t advertise it), I’m not going to hold that against it.
4. Feel free to include a picture of your coffee, or of you enjoying your coffee, or of friends enjoying their coffee (basically any picture that goes with the words you are writing).  Pictures are not required, but I like them.  If you want the picture to appear at a certain point in the post, be sure to clarify where you want it.  Otherwise, I’m gonna do what I want.
5. I am not super picky about word count, but if you need a guideline, shoot for somewhere between 300-1500 words.  I know that’s a huge range, but I also know that some people might be more picture-intensive, while others are text-intensive, and both styles are valued here.
6. As far as content goes, I’m going to be pretty clear that these are not my words, so feel free to write however you write on your own blog. Having said that, I have never hosted a series before, so I’m not sure what I will receive from The Interwebs, and I have some minor anxiety about it. Therefore, I will issue a blanket statement that I reserve the right not to post everything that I’m sent and leave it at that.
7. You don’t have to maintain your own blog in order to participate.  All I need is for you to email the following things to coffeesnob@gmail.com.

• Your post (.doc or .rtf or .txt files only, please)
• A short (100-ish words) bio, which can include a link to your blog if you do have one
• A picture of you to go with your bio (optional)

(probably a pour-over – my drink of choice at Seven Mile Coffee)

To start with, this series will run every Friday until forever (or until I stop having things to post). If posts start to pile up – i.e., if I end up with so many posts that it would take four months to post them weekly and WOULDN’T THAT BE WONDERFUL? – I will also offer them on Mondays, which is when I need coffee the most.

*As I hope for this to be an eternal, ongoing series, there is no actual deadline.  But if you need one, let’s just say May 31, because I can talk about coffee in Denton and the DFW area for a while, but even I will run out of things to say eventually.

*UPDATE:  The original deadline of May 31 is fast approaching, but I’m having so much fun, and I have a lot more places to go see.  So I’m extending the call for guest posts as well.  To heck with the deadline – tell me about your coffee shop!

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