The People VS Google

 16 months is a long time for me to have gone somewhere and not blogged about it (if that was my intent).  I usually tend to have a blog on my back burner, often due to time restraints, but it has helped to have back logged blogs while being unable to explore new places.  I do always hope that places I’ve visited continue to thrive even if it takes me a while to review them.  However in this case, it’s better I waited and did a compare/contrast review of two locations rather than post about my disappointment that’s still lingering on almost a year and a half later from one place.

When Lil Sis moved to Arizona, her and her husband knew they had intentions of buying a house.  Their first digs were pretty great; a large, top floor apartment with amenities like two pools and an adorable dog park all in the major capital city of Phoenix, minutes from great food, shopping, National Parks, and countless coffee shops.  With so many options, finding a coffee spot usually involves a Google search, a peep at some reviews, and after narrowing it down to about 3 places, Lil Sis and I will pick a place the day of visiting.  

We settled on Jobot Coffee Cafe, on the hip main drag of Downtown proper, for coffee and a light dinner.  Bars, a beer garden, an artsy park, and apartments above surrounded us at twilight when we arrived.  According to the Google description, they had locally roasted coffee and vibed well with the active local community.  Upon entrance, it was clear that description was the same creative jargon you hear from a realtor about a house that was part of a WW2 active bombing; “airy and newly renovated”.  This was not a coffee house.  Everything about their online stats was an absolute exaggeration or lie.  It was a bar first and foremost, with tvs, dartboards, and board games.  The freezer to the side of the sales counter had the word “melt” on it that, according to the sign outside, was a separate ice cream shop in this location.  But the nail in the coffin of this “cafe” was the single silver pot of coffee behind the register.  How can they market this as a coffee shop when this sad pot was all they offered.  The liquid sugar and cinnamon shakers were on a table that was almost too high for me to reach above a trash can.  Sure the mild drip coffee was bottomless but so is the coffee at Denny’s which is more a coffee shop than this trendy Cheers location.  We stayed for food which was good but had it been marketed as a restaurant we could tell what kind of portions to expect.  The full food menu offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner with big portions and original food ideas like the hot wings that our husband's ordered;  “Hot wings, add waffle option, served with goat cheese - heavily infused with cumin”.  That is not cafe fodder but it went over well while we played Yahtzee.  It might have been my mood or just coincidence but I'm pretty sure the die were weighed in our game because I couldn't win at that either.  Google had lied to me.  Despite the cashier having a cheery demeanor, I took my disappointment home and lamented for months about asking Google for coffee recommendations again.  (Yes, I still was angry at this place while adding these photos.)

Behind those people was the Melt ice cream case, or shop, as the sign outside has its own address on it.

Some art above the condiment area.

Lil Sis has since bought a house, moved out of the central hub of a capital city, and put down roots southeast of all the major cities about 40 mins away in the San Tan Valley area.  Just outside the new housing development, the streets are lined with farmland and homes with large plots of land.  There is one neverending shopping center to get all the things you need without having to trek back into town for a Dollar Tree or eye doctor appointment.  One thing that threw me was the private airport located by a mansion housing development, called an airpark, as you land your plane in the airport then park it inside the hanger at your house across the street.  Yes, I also want to know what rich and famous people my sister has for neighbors too!

I had made a few trips back to see Lil Sis since the Jobot incident but I had to wait a while before visiting to see the new house.  The new homeowners were also curious as to what their new locale had to offer so prior to my late October visit, Lil Sis consulted the people of her area using the Next Door app.  This app matches you up with people in your zip code to communicate about events, buy and sell items, updates and issues such as lost pets or noise complaints, and ask for recommendations, which as Lil Sis did this, came back with a nice thread of terrific ideas for us to follow up on.  The people had spoken!  With such great responses and personal anecdotes for their choices, it took about a half hour to narrow down a place.  One of the top recommended locations was Superstition Coffee at The Olive Mill in Queen Creek but we already had plans for lunch at The Mill later in the visit.   So with several solid recommendations, Lil Sis, her husband, and I were off to The Coffee Shop at Agritopia in nearby Gilbert.  

The rural difference was absolutely felt.  The early morning sun peeked up behind us as we approached a collection of tin-faced buildings.  Several restaurants and event spaces share the large section of the city block without feeling crowded.  The Coffee Shop was exactly as described on Next Door.  It was a coffee shop that offered breakfast and baked goods and the house-made cupcakes are promoted as some of the best around.  Sorry to tell you that cupcakes were not on my menu for the morning but close enough as I asked the barista for what would pair well with the coffee of the day.  The medium roast was light, akin to a blonde, paired with the blueberry white chocolate coffee cake (which would have been better warmed) was a perfect light breakfast for the day.  Lil Sis got fruit and potatoes while her husband got “real” breakfast before he had to head home to sleep from his overnight shift.  We sat outside (the Covid standard) with a mix of people and boisterous bird sounds.  The immediate scenery was a park vibe with some men working on switching out the seasonal flowers just down a pathway from the outdoor dining area.  It was very serene.  Exactly as advertised.  But it gets even better.  The Agritopia itself is actually a huge community farm and garden.  People can grab up a dirt plot and keep a garden with the mutual understanding and respect that you don’t touch anything that isn't yours.  There were sculpture gardens, herb gardens, full plots of date trees, mixed vegetable gardens, and flowers galore!  It was inspiring, wholesome, and wonderful to see the community giving back and giving to each other.  There was even a decent sized chicken coup.  Colorful feathers covered the birds of several species.  All looked healthy and happy...and delicious.  I will return to The Coffee Shop on my next visit.  The staff is nice, even when busy with lots of food options and farm feel.  I look forward to bringing some of my California friends and family to check it out, as well as the other businesses on the Agritopia property.

The Coffee Shop had their own art and was on point with current affairs.

C.O.D. on my cup for coffee of the day.

Fresh herbs growing alongside the patio dining area.

The entrance to the community gardens.

The people of the Next Door app really came through and I’d be happy to take advice from them again.  Shout Out to that person who even recommended a weight loss coffee.  If 2020 didn't cause me to eat my feelings and sub in booze for Xanax, I'd totally check out what you had.  Now I wonder if my neighbors know of some secret gems that Google isn’t promoting well enough due to algorithms or paid ads.  Oh, or what kind of places I'd learn about using my parent's zip codes too.