Burger King

You might be wondering why we chose Burger King, of all places, to have coffee today.  The reason is we wanted to honor one of America's best known and most elusive authors, Harper Lee, who passed away last week.  In perhaps the only authorized biography of Lee, titled The Mockingbird Next Door, by Marja Mills, Miss Mills recalls many coffee outings to Harper Lee's favorite coffee place, the Burger King in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama.  It was on those outings that Harper, known as Nelle to her friends and family, opened up about her life in a way she had never done before with any reporter.  Her novel To Kill A Mockingbird, until last summer thought to be her only novel, has touched lives for generations all over the world, and, if you haven't read it yet, we suggest that you do.  You are in for a treat.
For coffee prices, you can't beat Burger King.  They have a limited coffee menu.  A small regular coffee is only $1.00.  They use Seattle's Best Coffee brand.  It is nutty and strong and certainly worth a dollar!  Joan had a Caramel Coffee Frappe with whipped cream, which was $2.65.  It certainly satisfied her sweet tooth for the week, she said, tasting like a caramel ice cream milkshake.

Harper Lee

Seating is plentiful at the Burger King, and includes tables, booths, and counters.Think About It: "People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for." Harper Lee

House of Bagels Central Coast

Located in a small strip mall at 158 A Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo, House of Bagels offers a wide variety of sandwiches, salads, and, of course, bagels, as well as a small but adequate coffee menu. They also have a smoothie and tea menu. Sheila had her usual regular coffee, which was a 16 oz. size, and cost $2.15.  They offered a Cerro Romauldo Coastal Peaks Roast called City Roast, which was mellow and very satisfying.  Joan had a latte with sugar free vanilla syrup and nonfat milk.  She said it was one of the stronger lattes she's had.  The vanilla flavoring was light and she added a bit of sweetener to get it up to her sweet standards.  It was $3.65 with an additional .60 for the flavoring.   There was a steady flow of customers, most of whom got their coffee and bagels to go.  There are several tables for inside dining and also outside tables and umbrellas to enjoy. Parking is easy and the access to the 101 make it a desirable place to stop on the way to work or school.  Check out their menu online for tasty breakfast and lunch options.

Think About It: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." 

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Copper Cafe at the Madonna Inn

For our 30th SLO Coffee Crawl blog we went to the Madonna Inn coffee shop.   We wanted to go there  before Christmas to enjoy the amazing Christmas decorations that the Inn is famous for, but life got in the way. So here we are, celebrating the New Year, instead. We sat in one of the spacious,  yet intimate booths decorated with murals, carved wood, and a copper topped table. Sheila's regular black Apffel's brand coffee, which was $2.95, was rich and smooth.  Refills are free.  Sometimes restaurant coffee can be bitter, but this was surprisingly delicious.  Joan had a caramel latte which was $4.75.  She declared it one of the best lattes she's had on our many coffee outings.  (No sweetener needed!)  We suggest that you pair your coffee drink with one of their delicious Danish pastries.  Joan chose one to "take home to her husband, John."  We'll see if it makes it all the way there!  At the Madonna Inn, it's all about the ambience, from the cobblestone walkways to the stained glass windows, to the lavish decor, your eye never gets tired of discovering interesting things to look at.

    Think About It: You are never too old to set another goal  or to dream a new dream. C.S. Lewis

Starbucks at Madonna Plaza

Joan will be out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday and we wanted to get a coffee time and blog in before she left but morning times just didn't work out for us this week, so we broke tradition and got together in the late afternoon yesterday.  The only problem with this plan was we definitely needed to have decaf coffee that late in the day.  The first place we went was Breezeway, which we've wanted to try for awhile now.  They don't open until 10, and early morning works best for us.  However, they don't have decaf coffee, so we'll go back and visit them another time.  The next closest place is Starbucks at the Madonna Plaza, so that's where we ended up.  Sheila had a tall decaf Americano coffee which was $2.25.  It was mellow and good! Joan had a tall decaf caramel brûlée latte with soy milk.  It was $4.85.  She describes it as rich, creamy, smooth, like melted mocha ice cream, or, true to its name, liquid creme brûlée.  Yum!  Curious, we looked up the definition of brûlée, which is "a piece of burned-over woodland."  Hmmm. No hint of burned over woodland in Joan's drink, luckily, just deliciousness.                              Think About It:

This Starbucks has some indoor seating and a good number of outdoor tables and chairs.   

SLO Provisions

This beautiful fall morning we visited a new place called SLO Provisions.  It is located at 1255 Monterey St., Suite B, here in San Luis.  It is a small venue that has a delicious looking menu of salads and sandwiches, breakfasts, dinner items, and sweets, as well as a varied coffee menu.  We both agreed that we would come back to try some of the food offerings, which looked, and smelled, wonderful.  Today, however, we were focused on the coffee, since this is, after all, a coffee blog.  Sheila had a regular black small sized coffee, which was $2.50.  It was robust and satisfying.  Joan had a small caramel latte with almond milk.  It was $4.00.  The hearty coffee flavor came through with a hint of sweetness.  It is an intimate place, bright and cheery with some indoor seating in the form of counters and benches and three bistro sets outside to enjoy.  We sat outside and found it hard to leave the pleasant surroundings and morning sun.

 SLO Provisions opens at 7 A.M. Monday through Friday, which is perfect for picking up that cup of coffee, breakfast, and lunch before work!  It closes at 7 P.M. Saturday hours are 10 A.M. - 7 P.M. It is closed on Sundays.

SLO Provisions also has a catering service.

Think About It: Practice appreciation.

The New Bello Mundo Cafe

The last time we went to Bello Mundo Cafe on Monterey Street, it was much smaller.  They have expanded into a new location just a couple of doors down from the old location.  We just had to check it out! The new Bello Mundo is much larger now, but offers the same delicious baked goods and coffee, milk, chocolate, espresso, and tea drinks that were served at the old location.  It is directly across from Court Street and is an ideal location for shoppers, business people, and city workers to stop in for a cup of coffee or other drink.  The clientele, in fact, ranges from students to retired folks.  The seating is varied: there are tables for two, long tables, bar type seating, comfortable easy chairs, and window seating.
It features local artists' works, a chess board all set up and ready for play, cement floors, and exposed brick.  The ambience suggests an invitation to stay and relax over a delicious cup of coffee.  The regular cup of coffee was $2.75 and was robust and strong, yet smooth.  Joan had an iced vanilla almond milk latte with homemade, yes, homemade almond milk, and homemade vanilla syrup.  The vanilla flavor really came through with the coffee behind it. It was $4.00.

 Think About It: This may seem a bit regimented, but...think about scheduling a 30 minute block of time at least once a week to have a one on one conversation with your significant other. When was the last time you just sat and talked to each other without interruption?  Try it!

Panera Bread

With a bit of Fall in the air this morning, we ventured out to the Panera Bread at the Madonna Plaza Shopping Center in SLO.  Yes, it is a chain and might not have the local flavor and personality of independently owned coffee houses, but we are running out of those to visit here in SLO.  The advantage of a chain is you know what you'll get no matter where you are.  Sheila found the regular coffee to be quite nice.  You help yourself to light roast, dark roast, hazelnut, or decaf, and the small is $1.99.  Joan had a Pumpkin Spice Latte with almond milk, salted caramel syrup, and whipped cream. It was $4.09.  She describes it as having a rich, smooth taste with a definite pumpkin spice flavor.

Panera has a nice menu of baked goods, pastries, breakfast, lunch and dinner items, as well as fresh baked bread.

 There is ample seating, both indoors and out, including some comfortable club chairs, which we took advantage of.

 Think About It: "If it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever." David Letterman