Double Shot: Cafe Rowan
Walkability/Accessibility [A]: Cafe Rowan is located at the intersection of Cesar Chavez and Holgate on the 17 and 75 bus lines. It’s about a 15 minute walk from campus. As with other cafes, this one gets an A because you can get there by a frequent-service bus line directly from campus, and it’s no more than a few minutes’ ride.
Pricing [B]: There’s no way around it: Cafe Rowan is expensive. We ordered the fewest items that we could while still getting a fair view of the cafe’s offerings. While they’re very good, it’s more of a really nice date spot than a regular place to go. Their regular drip coffee is $4. None of their food is below $10, but it’s absolutely worth it if you can spare the expense.
Coffee Quality (and option variety) [A]: Cafe Rowan’s coffee is very good, and they source it from Futura coffee roasters. Their drip coffee is fruity, more than a typical Colombian coffee but less than a typical Ethiopian coffee. Connor says it’s really good black, even though he doesn’t usually drink black coffee. Their cortado brings more of that flavor to the front, and its fruity aftertaste is even lighter.
Food Quality (and option variety) [A+]: The food we ordered was stellar. Both the items we got were eggs benedicts: one with ham, the other with crab. They looked and tasted like palate swaps of the same dish, which was quite impressive. The eggs were perfectly poached, firm on the outside while still retaining a completely runny yolk. Besides these lovely dishes, the menu seemed to have lots of other good, substantial brunch options.
Atmosphere [B]: Cafe Rowan has a crowded but comfortable atmosphere. We did go on one of the busier days, but the open floor plan and kitchen seem like they would give the place a constant buzz even if it wasn't busy. There’s outdoor seating for the days with nice weather. Like many places with more modern interior decoration, we felt it was a bit plain.
Alternative Drinks [B-]: Their chai was rather cinnamon-heavy, and the concentrate they use is one stripe. It’s a very well-balanced concentrate, but we think they didn’t use enough of it. Still, we rate them higher than places that use a less-balanced concentrate, because improving concentration is much easier than improving balance.