The Mandolin Cafe

This place is a prototype for what a "coffee house" should be. And thankfully it has not been made formulaic and duplicated across the country.

Consistently friendly staff, amazing coffee and a great assortment of tasty menu items.

And to top it off, lots of live music choices.

On my half-dozen visits here I have seen and made it a point to return to see the T-Ville Swing band, whose Django-gypsy music always blows the roof off the place.

Free and peppy Wifi, interesting people to study in captivity, and great ambiance. And like a previous reviewer said, large but still cozy.

My kind of place.

(Originally posted to Yelp 04–04-2010)

(Edit 12-27-2018: Right place, wrong location. The place I described was in Tacoma, WA and is also now permanently closed, sadly.)

Like a little slice of Pacific Northwest in the Midwest. Great coffee, authentic espresso, cool laid back space and really friendly folks.

This place is really good. The service is great, the coffee great, and the owner and staff are extremely nice and great to talk to. I definitely recommend this place to anyone. Great atmosphere too.