Justin slept over at our place last night and this morning when I walked him over to BART we stopped at Farley’s east for a shot. He had a double Americano, I a double espresso.
The place is pretty tiny, but it looks like you can take your food upstairs and eat. We actually hit the place as they were dealing with a little rush for lunch, but when we ordered espresso rather than sandwiches, the cashier happily moved to the machine to pull our drinks. She told us they were using a Latin American blend of beans as she produced a thick, rich crema on top of my shot. It had nearly the fruitiness of the Verve Streetlevel I drank last week at Modern Coffee. Nearly, but not quite. It was good, though, and the place has a nice feel to it. There are two well stocked magazine racks covered with art and design mags. The clientele seemed a little older and more professional than what I encountered at Actual Cafe last week, but the population could have been skewed by the fact that it was lunchtime for downtown workers. I need to go back sometime in the early morning and see who hangs out during coffee time.
Justin tells me that he’s been to the Farley’s across the bay and that he likes their western location as well. After we drank our coffee he headed to BART and I walked home. On the way I was nearly run over in the crosswalk at the corner of Grand and Harrison (next to the big new cathedral) by a woman in a red Honda Fit from City Car Share. Fortunately I had just swallowed a good double shot of espresso and was alert enough to avoid being crushed.