Thar's a new coffee shop in town. SONOMA COFFEE CAFE in the old Charbucks location at 3009 Poplar Level Road. This is the strip center with the Chili's, Qudoba's, and J. Gumbo's, as well as a Game Stop. Poplar Level and Hess Lane.
They have done a bit of renovation to the inside of the building with new wall print, and a private <glass walled with door> room that can probably hold 10 people comfortably. They have ten tables and a counter, along with over stuffed chairs. A comfortable facility for relaxing with a cuppa joe or writing a review of a coffee shop - why yes I am.
Sonoma has all the usual suspects in a coffee house: Lattes, Espressos, and Cappuccinos. They have hot and cold coffee and teas, blended ice drinks, frappes and fruit smoothies. They also have something you don't find around here much, Brooklyn Egg Cream - Chiradelli Chocolate, club soda, half & half, as well as sodas - club soda with choice of flavor or cremosa which is a club soda, flavor and half & half. On my first visit I had to explain to the barista how to make a cafe au lait and he got fairly close. On my second visit -this one- the lady behind the counter who had been standing and watching when I ordered my first one, took my order, rang the right amount, and remembered how I wanted it without prompting. There is something to be said for mature workers! Keep up the good work Denise!
They have a meeting pot of 96 oz., for the office or that meeting room in the store. In addition to the regular coffee and drink selections Sonoma offers: yogurt parfaits, oatmeal, Belgium waffles and most importantly to my guest on the first visit they have Gelato in 4 and 6 oz sizes. We did taste test couple of their 10 different varieties.
If you are watching your weight Sonoma has the calorie count for each item in fonts large enough to actually read. FYI, 8 oz., of cold cereal has between 670 and 1000 calories depending on what you choose, as opposed to a Belgium Waffle with Whip and Fruit Topping with only 460 calories.
They have FREE WiFi at comes in at 54.0Mbps. There are numerous electrical outlets to plug in laptops or cell phone chargers, altho the first one I tried to use was dead. I did tell them about it and will be back to check and see if they followed up to repair it. Not just for use but because a dead wall socket can be a symptom of busted wiring in the wall, a fire hazard.
Sonoma Coffee Cafe is a franchise operation out of Scottsdale AZ. The website is http://www.sonomacoffeecafe.com/. Altho not a totally local coffee house, it is not another Seattle based store.
As I was finishing this the operator offered to let me test some soup they are thinking of offering for lunch.
And, finally she told me that they have the franchise area for Kentucky and Southern Indiana, and are planning on 10 shops total.
