Exploring Coffee Shops: Roy’s Station Coffee

Roys-Station-JapantownI don’t mean to go all hipster on you, but I prefer checking out the small local coffee shops around rather than going to regular chains for my hot cuppa. I enjoy scoping out my new city, and places I wouldn’t have known existed if I didn’t explore. I have been trying to go to a new-to-me coffee shop once every two weeks — but sometimes I tend to go back to the places I’ve found because I enjoy the ambiance, the drinks and food, and warm welcomes.

Roy Murotsune is now 89 and owned Roy’s Gas Station since 1946, his family re-purposed it and turned it into a coffee shop.  It had the coolest concept for a coffee shop, and saw it on Instagram and knew I had to pop in for a visit.

White-pupAlthough I do have a particular drink I like to order at coffee shops, I still like to head over to Yelp to see what people recommend or dislike from a place before I visit. What I didn’t realize was that Roy’s Station Coffee & Tea is DOG FRIENDLY! I tweeted to them, making sure they were so Alfie could come on a mid-morning adventure with me, and sure enough their patio was perfect for your pooches. Although I’d normally bring Alfie with me to a place like this, I didn’t like the idea of tying him up outside while I took photographs and ordered. He would panic, and bark like a maniac, so I left him at home for an hour or so while I checked this spot out with Megan before she moved back to Toronto.

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Roys-Station-Japantown-San-My drink is on the right, it was a barista’s PFox’s special which was called Mocha Joy (kinda like Megan Joy, ha!) and it had mocha, almond syrup and coconut syrup. So good.

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Roys-station-coffee-makingThe barista who created the PFox special and mixed our drinks!

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Megan-snapping-picsSpy Megan out in the corner snapping pictures for her blog and Instagram :)

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Roy’s Station Coffee & Teas

197 Jackson Street, San Jose, CA 95112
Hours: Weekdays: 7am – 8pm, Saturday: 8am – 8pm, Sunday: 8am – 5pm

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Exploring coffee shops: 85°C Bakery Café

85C-CupertinoI was craving a mid-day pick me up, so I popped by 85°C Bakery Café in San Jose around 1:30 last Friday. I pulled up to a gigantic building, expecting a small coffee shop — I didn’t realize it was a chain. I didn’t do too much research on it, I simply found it on Yelp. 85°C Bakery Café isn’t your typical chilled out coffee spot. This coffee & cake bakery means business, and the customers know it. Flowing in and out constantly with multiple drinks in hand and large brown boxes of goodies.

Vanilla-Latte-85C-BakeryPer usual, I placed my order and got a vanilla latte. So while waiting for that I grabbed the last table and waited for my drink to be made.

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85-CupertinpThe ambiance of this spot is like being in a cafeteria. The building itself is nice and clean, but the place has an echo, it’s incredibly busy and loud with customers talking. Not the place to come and quietly drink your coffee in peace, especially with the staff yelling out peoples orders like at Starbucks, but instead “Guest number 449 please!” I guess that’s what I get for heading out to a popular bakery and café during lunch time on a weekday. At one point the place seemed a little less busy, so I decided to count the number of customers in the shop (because what else am I supposed to do when people watching by myself at a coffee shop?), and there were 43 people and it felt empty. Hoo wee! So imagine how large the spot really is.

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Big-ol-latteThere were 7 tables for seating, all but one table was taken which was later snagged after I placed my order. First sip of the latte and I already said I’d be back (in my head – ha!). The whipped foam on top was great, but not the place to go for a fancy latte art, not that it really means much. It’s just to impress the customers a bit. Quite a bit of latte for the money, since I paid $3.50 for it. Which in practice is a dollar less than any of the other spots around, and I felt like I received a larger portion than usual.

I noticed the customers ordering snazzy looking drinks, many of them being bubble tea (I’m not a fan of tapioca in drinks), but some of them had real chopped up peaches in them. Many of the people were there for the cakes and pastries. Every couple of people walked out with a large box of them.

I’ll be back for sure but next time instead of hanging around the noisy spot, I’ll take it to go.

85°C Bakery Café

1183 South De Anza Blvd, San Jose, CA 95129
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Exploring coffee shops: Voyageur du Temps

Voyageur-du-TempsI’m always looking forward to my next exploration of a coffee shop that gives off cool vibes, or a sweet spot to chill out and relax. It’s starting to become a series on my blog, and I’m liking it.

Last week I went to Los Altos with Jessica and her son. We checked out the cities converted train station now turned french bakery and cafe for breakfast now called Voyageur du Temps. Those of you who are familiar with the Los Altos area, knows it’s a great spot to find quaint boutiques, and fantastic one-off restaurants to eat at, like Bumble! It’s also a crazy expensive place to live, one of the most prestigious places in Silicon Valley. You’ll often find rare luxury cars parked out on the streets as people pick up their morning coffee, or do a bit of shopping in the area. I can’t help like act like a constant tourist around these parts, snapping pictures for instagram or let’s get real, to send to my husband.

I received my latte (they didn’t have vanilla lattes, my usual) and a fancy bread thing which I later discovered is called the Star Ring pastry. As you’d expect from around these parts I paid $7.99 for my coffee and pastry, however it was a great little treat to have once in a while. I savored every last bite of that star ring, it was excellent.

Voyageur du Temps has a beautiful interior with a glass window where you can watch the pastry chefs and bakers work their magic in the kitchen to satisfy you of those artisan baked goodies you are craving. I will definitely head back for lunch some day at this little gem!

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Voyageur du Temps

288 First Street, Los Altos, CA 94022
Hours: Monday-Sunday 7am-8pm

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