Gainesville is a town with tremendous potential and, within the last six years of living here, I have had the fortune of watching it flourish. It’s a comforting city that caters to all types of lifestyles. I am happy to call it home.
However, there seems to be an ongoing trend that doesn’t sit well with me.
Many locals will be very vocal about this anti-progression; it is the rotation of up-and-coming restaurants with blatant lack of any sort of know-how. Oftentimes it is because the owners aren’t as savvy with finances as they thought themselves to be. Other times it is because they cannot cook a good meal to save their life.
But there are places that do it right.
Via: Daily Coffee News
Know Where Coffee is a dream come true, a saving grace from most Gainesville grand openings. I’ll admit I was feeling some trepidation about coming in on their second day of operation, but I figured, it’s just coffee right? I was so wrong.
There are more than a dozen coffee shops in this tiny town. Almost every one of them replicates a certain ideal: soft music, plush chairs, soothing pseudo-intellectual atmosphere. Visiting places like these is fine and sometimes a necessity, like when you’re having a bad day.
Know Where Coffee isn’t like this. Not entirely. I walked up to the shop and noticed that the windows were blacked out. They have one single, long picnic table sitting outside. No string lights. The inside has dimmed lighting and soft music, but its walls are covered in pop art. (Note: Alvaro, a barista at the shop, is a graphic designer and made the icon, logo, and posters for the restaurant.)
The menus near the register are laminated with photos and information on the different brews. This is what sold me, and what I ended up discussing with the owner, Alfonso Guerrero, at length. It is tremendously refreshing to have a shop intent on having its customers know where their brew came from. It is also especially refreshing to have passionate baristas and workers who love the tastes they create.
Via: Yelp
I say this without malice, but this place is very geeky. If the name and interior do not give it away, then their attitudes will. These guys created a space where science meets bean, and their drive is tremendously uplifting.
For example, I asked Alfonso why he doesn’t put coffee cubes in his iced coffee. He gave a long, eloquent answer with specific detail on the roast and it’s (kind-of) reliance on water — simply put, it’s very caffeinated and too strong a brew to have added coffee cubes.
Another customer came up and Alfonso just would not stop. A customer educating themselves on coffee was important to him. I, like others in this town, crave knowledge. His insistence was an experience I will not forget.
Know Where Coffee is so palpably reminiscent of Seattle, a city where shops have to contend with hard-hitting competitors and, therefore, think up ways to be original. A few months ago, I visited Seattle and appreciated that commitment to standing out from the rest. Know Where does just that.
Via: Bearkery
Know Where Coffee, like many finely tuned shops, has straddled onto a partner in order to provide their customers with high-quality baked goods. Alfonso was, again, very vocal about this aspect of the shop. He said that Bearkery was his partner because they were local, and that was important to him. But they also ship their product to various parts of the country, and were already very pronounced in what they do. He wants his shop to thrive, and I don’t blame him.
Know Where Coffee can be easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it. It’s wedged between Bagels & Noodles and Billy Bobz BBQ. There’s so much more I could say about this place, but I’ll let the shop speak for itself, and by letting the shop speak for itself, I, of course, mean I’ll let the baristas speak for it.
If Know Where Coffee survives (and I really, really hope it does) it has the potential to be a stand-alone in Gainesville’s stereotypical coffee grove. Be sure to visit soon and often.
I promise you that it will not disappoint.
If you want more information, check Know Where Coffee out on their website, Facebook and Instagram page.
Feature photo courtesy of: Know Where Coffee
