Double Shot XI: Woodstock Cafe
Walkability/Accessibility [A+]: Typically, we only give out A+ accessibility grades for cafes that are on campus, but Woodstock Cafe is the first off-campus cafe to earn this grade. Not only is it the closest cafe to campus, but it’s a deaf-owned business that has a live captioning system for its deaf and hard of hearing employees. The non-profit helping run the cafe is CYMA Space, an organization working for increased accessibility for D/deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
Pricing [B+]: This was a bit of a hard one; their espresso drinks are a little steep, though it can be hard to tell these days with tariffs. A cortado ran us $5, and the lavender latte was $5.50. However, they have a very reasonable house brew deal with unlimited refills for $3.75. Their food is some of the most reasonably priced in the area at $9.50 for a generous sandwich, $13 with potatoes on the side. Their cinnamon buns were frankly enormous and $6.50 to boot (seriously, I’m fairly sure that however big you’re thinking it’s bigger; we had to cut the remaining half of it into quarters to fit it in a box).
Coffee Quality (and option variety) [B+]: The coffee used for their espresso is on the sweeter and fruitier side. It comes out well in the cortado, and pairs very well with their food selection. We thought the latte was a little overly sweet, but that’s down to personal preference. They have a very standard selection of espresso drinks, plus the house blend drip coffee.
Food Quality (and option variety) [A+]: We tried several things at Woodstock Cafe. Their more dessert-like fare was sweet; their savory options were flavorful and diverse. The potatoes that came with their sandwiches were seasoned to perfection. Our favorite item was the everything bagel galette, a folded flower of croissant dough covered in everything bagel seasoning and a savory creamy filling. Everything else was good, but the galette knocked it out of the park.
Atmosphere [A]: The cafe is full of delightful electronic art installations, ranging from a homemade arcade game to an LED installation about the Fourier transform (ask a math or CS person to explain that one). It changes brightness based on sound volume, and changes color based on sound pitch/frequency.
Alternative Drinks [C]: The chai was frankly a little disappointing, though they had other tea drinks that we didn’t buy due to budgetary constraints. If you like your chai with more flavor, try asking for it with double concentrate.