There's a new coffee house in the neighbourhood, and so in my capacity as the Roger Ebert of Denver coffee, I checked it out today.
It's beautifully decorated and stocked with some mighty fine chairs and sofas. The music was upbeat Euro-techno, and the barista was cute, if a little stand-offish.
Bear in mind, I took all these pictures surreptiously, by swtiching my flash off, switching the LCD screen on the camera on, and glancing down, as I snapped away from waist-height. I did this because I didn't want to freak out or annoy the already bored-looking young lady who worked there.
Click each thumbnail to enlarge.
The coffee was OK, but served with such a lack of enthusiasm, it might as well have been instant coffee. Also, there was no Internet access. Purrrlease! It's the 21st Century, people! Get a clue!
Update - May 2003
I've recently been back there. The same snooty girl is working there. She's very cute, tall and thin, but that doesn't excuse her awful attitude towards customers, especially female ones (which I observed just after I'd sat down). It was like everything was a real hassle for her, including making me a coffee.
This time I had a sandwich as well as coffee. The sandwich was very exotic sounding but very expensive, considering it was just a sandwich. My latté and sandwich came to nearly $10!
At that sort of price, I'd expect eye-contact and maybe even a smile, from the staff. Apparently, though, I'm not worthy of that. I'm "just a customer". Hmmmm.
Update March/April 2004
Whilst a friend from the UK was visiting me, we went in search of a different coffee house than my usual two or three haunts. Just for a laugh, we went back to Cafe Europa, if only to show him the snooty lass that had caused so many comments on this website.
What a pleasant surprise awaited us! New ownership. Not only that, but free WiFi Internet access. The new staff/owners were very friendly, and the coffee was very tasty. The place was busier than I'd ever seen it before, partly due to the friendlier serivce, but mostly (I suspect) due to the free Internet access.
The same cool sofas, chairs and décor remained, but at least this time, customers weren't made to feel like they weren't worthy of such a place.
I'm thinking on my next visit, I may take my camera back again, and take some better, less covert, photographs.
Posted by Max at October 28, 2002 08:26 PM"Your still just a SHOP GIRL" - ROTFLMAO.
Too Olive Oyl didn't leave her NY attitude behind.
Always did think she was hot sh*t...
Posted by: Yeah, right on June 11, 2003 08:29 AMIt is very unfortunate that the cafe did not work at as well as i thought it would. I went to the cafe everyday back in sep./oct. of 2002. I had just moved to denver from orlando. I found that it was a nice place for me to meet people. I started hanging out with the tall girl(as you call her)
I do agree that Beatrice's (the tall girl) attitude did change as the weeks went on. I started being ignored every time i went in. I spent a good deal of money there, and i was new to the city with no friends. I would like to go back sometime. As i am back in florida (a year). and see how the place is now.
New owners took over recently at Cafe Europa. Much cooler! The last owners ruined the atmosphere. Seems like the current owners are making a bunch of improvements -- if nothing else in customer service. Best cappuccino I have had anywhere (damn that girl can foam). Now they have free wi-fi access. Had problems finding a seat on sunday morning... place was packed. Usually great place to study and read.
Posted by: Brian on April 17, 2004 06:28 AMCo-incidentally, I recently returned there, and was delighted at the changes. The WiFi access was a big plus, but the biggest improvement of all was the friendliness of the service.
I even mentioned it to the guy behind the counter, and he said that he'd had several people mention how unfriendly the previous barista/owner/skinny blonde was.
she is the biggest bitch I have ever come across.
Posted by: boopoo on November 11, 2004 11:14 PM