West Coast Coffee Co.

I know this shop has been reviewed three times already and it probably doesn’t deserve another one cos, let’s face it it’s a pretty faceless cog in the franchise machine … or is it?
Generally West Coast Coffee Co. is your generic too foamy, too knowing, Starbucks style café franchise. This one used to be exactly that, only made worthwhile by it’s above average location, just off the beaten track in Temple Bar in front of the much lambasted Wall-​O-​Fame.
This particular West Coast Coffee, though, appears to have gone renegade. They have redecorated in a type of bohemian way, with fairy lights and what-​not, and now use only ye olde Celtic font on their menu boards. The West Coast branding seems to have mostly disappeared with only a few discreet emblems remaining. How bizarre and utterly un-​Starbucks-​ian.
This is either a clever marketing stunt to appeal to the specific tourist clientelle in Temple Bar searching for lefty-​Celtic mysticism, or as I believe, the manager is a maverick loon with some Republican/​Bohemian agenda to preach.
Supposing I’m right, three stars for being the weirdest West Coast Coffee in Temple Bar (at least), two removed in case I’m wrong.

Is nobody else getting really frustrated by the sheer number of shops that are sticking the «Company» title at the end of their name as if to make it cool and industrial while hip and groovy…
Its just stupid now… it comes across more that they have not been able to think of a good enough name for their «company» and so called it West Coast Coffee Company until they thought of something better…
Bleh… it screams mediocre… and so is their coffee… and their products…
bleh… yuk… just go away…
Listen to me, I’m talking to a shop, an inanimate thing, through the medium of a review… i must be going crazy and/​or their shop is so bad that it warrants such a response…

The coffee is average, the snacks come mostly in plastic packaging (meaning there’s nothing fresh about them) and the sandwiches are fairly bland, but due to the prime location, the West Coast Coffee place in Temple Bar is still a very pleasant place for a quick cuppa. The narrow streets around the café are still cobbled, and they have a few outside tables on the path which are usually in high demand. The building itself is really old and pretty, with arched doorways and windows, and the original brickwork exposed.
The lunch boards outside advertise special soup –and-​sandwich or coffee-​and-​muffin deals, which are reasonably good value, and apparently they now offer a «homemade» burger, though I I find this claim rather dubious.
All in all, despite falling short on quality, West Coast is one of the nicer cafes in Temple Bar. What does that say for the standard of eateries in our capital?

Nice place to eat or have a coffee. But being in Temple Bar it gets a bit touristy.
Though, the Dub Club is gorgeous and I find it very hard to argue with any institution that believes, as I do, in an all day breakfast.
It’s a chain so any of the non-​temple bar ones are probably amazing. Unfortunately, this is the one I always seem to end up in.
Now that I think of it; I would like to enquire as to where they get their bread, it’s bizarrely nice.