Juice & Java

The brewed coffee is heads above anything else available in the Bay/​College area. They also had vegan brownies and blondies that were seriously some of the best i’ve tasted. I have not had lunch here, but everything looked delicious and fresh.

This little café recently opened on the main floor of the building I work in (it’s hidden away in a back corner off a side street, so you’ll miss it if you’re not really looking for it) and I really really wanted to love it. Not because there’s any shortage of places to grab coffee nearby (there are four within three minutes of the building), but because walking across the street wastes five minutes of my precious early morning time. So I’m sad to say that after a few visits to Juice & Java, I still make the trek across the street to one of the chain coffee places.
I had a smoothie one visit. The menu board suggested it would be made with fresh fruit, so I was dismayed to watch them pour the smoothie mix out of a carton and into the blender. Even more dismaying was handing over close to six dollars when they presented me with my drink. So no more smoothies for me. They have a selection of sandwiches and wraps but nothing gluten-​free, so I haven’t sampled any of them.
But the real point, for me, is the coffee. I would forgive all the other stuff if the coffee was good. But it’s not. The drip coffee is thin and weak and the americano is always too watery (despite requests for less water). I’ll drink it if I’m running into work with seconds to spare, but not for any other reason. And neither should you. There’s no excuse for serving bad coffee.
In their favour, they have a customer loyalty card — get enough stamps and you get a free drink — and they keep the cards in a little box on the counter, so you don’t need to remember to bring it, which is a nice, homey touch.