Remember in the ’90s when independent coffee shops were everywhere? And they all had mismatching furniture and wierd ashtrays and a big stack of board games? And people used words like “funky”? And then Starbucks came along and most of them disappeared? (At least that’s what I assume happened. It seems right, anyway.) Well, I remember them, and I miss them. It was nice to sit in those places and read or play chess or whatever with friends. It’s not the same at the chains.

Starbucks never has girls like this working there.

Lucky us, we have Metropolis Coffee (Granville and Winthrop). Besides roasting their own uber-delicious coffee on-site, they sell tasty sandwiches from Southport Grocery, spinach pies that are actually moist, and a variety of non-Ocean Spray drinks, like my favorite Natural Juice Company grapefruit juice, which is just that: grapefruit juice–nothing else. During the summer I rarely get coffee at Metropolis. I go for lunch. Plus, it’s always full (as a coffee shop should be) of people hanging out or working. There’s free newspapers to read and art for sale on the walls. All that good stuff.

Things We've Eaten