Coffee Shop Reviews
- dmcolli2
- Nov 20, 2019
- 4 min read
By Chris Schwanke
CREATIVE COFFEE & SUPPLY
Location:
309 Smithfield Street (corner of Smithfield and Third Avenue)
Hours:
Monday: 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday to Friday: 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Just one block away from campus is Creative Coffee & Supply on Smithfield Street. A quick jaunt down Third or Fourth avenue brings you right there. If you commute to campus, there is a parking garage conveniently located right there, caddy-corner from the shop.
Walking in, you are immediately greeted by the typical elements of a modern coffee shop or restaurant – high ceilings with exposed girders, air conditioning vents and pipes. Lights hang low from the ceiling providing a soft, elegant warm light with large windows to provide plenty of natural light during the day. Relaxing, yet not too dark. A great, chill place to take a minute.
Roomy and trendy
And there is a decent amount of seating, too. A couple high-top tables for you and another person, and a bunch of small round tables for three to four people. The space is roomy, so everyone is not too packed in. However, the acoustics are a little echo-y, and voices travel and reverberate very easily. When the place is busy, it’s easy to imagine it getting kind of noisy. When it isn’t, your conversations may not be so private.
But the music is nice and low, your typical selection of soft indie music you’d expect at a restaurant. The décor is very minimalistic – black and white, with faux wood floors. Not flashy, not boring. And there is a neat antique record player, which you must admit is pretty darn cool. Pretty diverse selection of vinyl to choose from, as well.
But what we really want to know about is drinks, right? One word: cheap. Drinks come in small and large (except for espresso, which comes in one size). The most expensive thing is a $6 large frozen latte or dirty chai tea. But a lot of the basic coffee drinks, in the small size, are just two or three dollars. The selection is pretty basic – just fourteen drinks, half of them coffee, half tea. They’re your usual suspects: straight coffee, espresso, latte, cold brew, iced, hot chocolate, basic tea flavors, and more. There are some drinks to choose from a cooler as well. There are no pastries, however, and one cannot buy a bag of goodies to go.
There are a couple kinds of biscotti, some Cliff Bars, and some Larabars available if you are feeling peckish – but that’s it. The price of those items aren’t listed, however.
While not an ideal place for a bite, it is a great place for coffee and tea and an attractive setting. The prices are good for a student on a budget, and its proximity to campus makes it totally accessible. If you do want some food, there are a couple sandwich shops nearby. The service was totally friendly, too. If all you’re looking for is a nice place to sit down with some joe, Creative Coffee is a good option. Here’s how we rate it:
Proximity to campus: 5
Prices: 5
Seating capacity: 4
Décor/environment: 4
Check out Creative Coffee online here:
FORT PITT COFFEE
Location:
1 Market Street (Corner of Market and Ft. Pitt Boulevard)
Hours:
Monday to Friday -- 6:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Saturday -- 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
If you’re looking for a short hike to a place that’s cozy and inviting, head on over to Fort Pitt Coffee on the corner of Fort Pitt Boulevard and Market Street. It opens nice and early at 6:30 a.m., and what better way to start your day than feeling like you’re in your own living room?
As soon as you walk in, it feels like you’re walking into your dream study nook.
Once you walk in, to your right is a cozy little nook if you want to chill and sip some coffee or tea while reading your favorite book. There’s even a fireplace! All that is missing is the dog at your feet. The decor is very rustic, with lots of wood, brick, and old-timey photos and drawings of Pittsburgh from many years ago. It really gives the feeling of being in an old tavern from the days of the shop’s namesake. The view ain’t so bad, either! When this author visited the place at the wee hours of the morning, shortly after opening, it was dark out. But the lights of Station Square across the river and the speedy cars of Fort Pitt Boulevard still provided a serene view.
Coffee shop or colonial tavern?
There isn’t a ton of space. Just a few high-top seats over in the corner. But its location in Downtown makes it a well-kept secret (although you’ll still see a lot of Fort Pitt cups around campus, for sure). That’s because it is still a great place for a quick on-the-go cup of joe.
Your author is weird and likes his coffee black
If you want to snag a cold brew to go, you can grab it out of a cooler in a neat little glass jar. Not only can this be re-used for whatever you like at home, if you bring it back, you get $1 off your next refill.
The prices are about average for your local coffee shop, and not too bad. It’s almost three dollars for your usual latte, and only $2.70 for a large-size, normal, everyday coffee. They also offer hot cocoa and hot tea if you’re feeling chilly, with various flavors. The flavors are somewhat run-of-the-mill, but tried and true.
Lots of tea flavors are available. Flavored lattes and macchiatos, however, start to get up there, about $3.70 plain, $4.30 for some flavor. If you get there early, there won’t be pastries available, necessarily - but that’s because they are baked fresh daily. Select from your usual breakfast goodies: cookies, muffins, cinnamon rolls and honey buns. You can even grab a bag of chips for later. You can take a bag of coffee home with you as well.
Rustic chic without being hipster kitsch
If you are looking for a neat, cozy little place to start your day, or to grab a cup with a friend around brunch or lunch time, check out Fort Pitt Coffee. Here’s how we rate it on a scale of 1 to 5:
Proximity to campus: 4
Prices: 4
Seating capacity: 3
Decor/environment: 5
You can check out Fort Pitt Coffee online here:
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