Tyler TX Facebook

Follow Donny on Twitter

Username:
Password:
  Remember Me   Forgot password?  Register
0-9  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  

Find or Refer a Contractor in Tyler

Mount Sylvan Coffee Shop

January 11th, 2010

This is not just a normal coffee shop experience. Usually they fall under two extremes, either something pristine and new age like Starbucks or completely opposite and decorated as a complete mess of art (my favorite, so beautiful). Yet this is something entirely new and lovely. There is no doubt of the artistic vision the owner has throughout the entire shop, expressed in the floors, furniture, items sold and service given. And yet there is no sense of dark chaos. Much rather organized delight.

Coffee Shops in Tyler Texas

Coffee Shops in Tyler Texas

It is a precious place to hang out, visit, sit and think and browse. Through the front door (street front) you will be greeted by the all the fun, creative and catchy items that due fully express the funny side of the Texas way. If you are looking for a gag/unique gift, I suggest popping in here to find one. In this room you will make all your purchases, the food and drinks are all up to par, quite tasty and worth your while. Next is a huge sitting room with old fashioned furniture, chairs, tables and benches. Hard wood floors and windows in the walls between rooms, which adds to the fun atmosphere.

This facility also has the capacity to be rented out. I myself have thrown a rather large Pride a Prejudice party involving dancing and food and crochet. The owner Denise is easy to work with and eager to help people. It sits next to the road just off of 110, it is well worth your time to check it out.

Mount Sylvan Coffee Shop also has their very own Farmers Market  on Saturdays. Call and ask when booths are open at this unique Tyler Texas coffee shop!

Starbucks Coffee Tyler Texas

January 8th, 2010

The most popular hangouts in Tyler are coffee shops. What’s not to love? Coffee of any kind, people, and most importantly, WiFi. Tyler built its fourth Starbucks last year. Each one is appropriate for all crowds. If you are a teenager looking for a place to hang out with friends, or if you are a hard studying college student in need of a classroom, or a businessman or woman looking for a conference room. I don’t know if it’s the smell of the cooking coffee bean, the set up of the room, or the some what odd services, but it’s the place that business gets done. To some it is a sanctuary, a place to get away from the rush of everyday life and just relax. It appeals to your tastes. Starbucks is famous for its unending menu. Caramel, mocha, half-caff, just plain coffee, express yourself through your every coffee craving.

One of the most important tools in our modern world is the internet. Starbucks makes it easy to use their internet services. The relaxing environment makes it easy to chat with friends or finish that term paper.

Each Starbucks has its own feel. Whether it’s in a popular book store or on the crowded outdoor shopping center or in the parking lot of a grocery store, each one’s location is convenient for your every day life.

It might seem ridiculous to pay $5 for a cup of coffee; but I think its more than the coffee, it’s the experience and the convenience of each location. Starbucks is one of the best places to hangout and relax and just be you! So visit one of Tyler’s four location and sit back and enjoy a cup of coffee!

Great Coffee Meets Local Color

January 8th, 2010

Brady’s Coffee

309 W Rusk St
Tyler, TX 75701-1514
(903) 596-0508

While it is not my desire to turn this blog into a restaurant guide, there is a café in Tyler that more people need to know about. Located at 309 W. Rusk, Brady’s Coffee shop is hidden just off Broadway.

Brady's Coffee

Brady's Coffee

 
Owner James Brady operates the shop with the help of just a couple employees. All the coffee served is provided by local roaster and distributor “Distant Lands.” Speaking of Distant Lands they are now the official coffee manufacturer for McDonalds new espresso machines. This is a remarkable credit as McDonalds is taking on Starbucks in the coffee market. This could turn Tyler TX into a serious coffee mecca like Seattle is now.

On the outside Brady’s is a plain white building, but on walking inside the visitor is met by a miniature art gallery. Paintings and photos by local and out of town artists line the walls. Most are for sale. The art aside however Brady’s is not a boutique. Its more of a classic mom and pop business, something akin to the neighborhood pub where regulars meet to debate religion and politics.

The Irish flag which hangs opposite the American, hints at Brady’s Irish Catholic roots. Theology books are stacked around the register & religious icons hang behind the bar. The owner is certainly not shy about his faith and often argues its merits good naturedly with his regular patrons.

In a town full of chain restaurants and corporate coffee shops, its refreshing to have some spots of local color. The coffee is great, the wifi free and the conversation amusing. So if you’re looking for a great cup of Joe and an escape from the heat outside, why not support a great Tyler business and keep a few more dollars here at home?

Cafe Tazza

January 8th, 2010

Caffe Tazza

Walking into Café Tazza was like entering the conflicted mind of a middle aged east Texan woman who feels her true home is somewhere on the border of Texas and Italy. But for all the nauseating cuteness and Spanish pastel it was undeniably a comfortable place to be. 

Fresh flowers sat on every table while live Spanish guitarists serenaded the customers, literally serenaded, as awkward as that sounds for the person involved it was worth it in the entertainment the fellow café goers enjoyed while watching the slightly overweight but unmistakably suave guitarist enter the personal bubble of an individual trying desperately not to divert eye contact from his book.

In the other corner of the store there were tiny half cubicles which housed a modest gallery of local art. The artist, a fiftyish year old woman talked to the perusers as they strolled through the door and into the coffee line.

There is something to be said about the Cafés coffee, it’s expensive but high quality. Now it is personal preference whether a cup of coffee is worth seven dollars to you but this price range does seem to keep one demographic of income prevalent in the consumer base. So expect a lot of golf talk and shoulder sweaters if you know what I mean. However, if you are able to stomach the egocentric lemmings that are the Tyler elite than it’s a nice place to spend your time but if not than you could always move to the patio.

Sunday mornings at Café Taza are another bonus not usual in coffee shops because for one glorious morning they become one of the best restaurants to have ever put food in my mouth. Their breakfast items are one hundred percent delicious but unfortunately just as expensive as the coffee. I would recommend Cafe Taza in Tyler primarily for its free Wi-Fi and free entertainment but if you do come across the means for a little luxury than it’s certainly not a bad idea.
Caffe Tazza in Tyler TX
Caffe Tazza Coffee Shop

A Better Way To Get Coffee

January 8th, 2010

Few stores have genuine quaintness, quaintness is an elusive gem, sought after by struggling middle aged small business women everywhere, almost as if it took precedent over any actual business concern. They look up to the Hallmark store as a mentor imitating it’s tiny porcelain bears and potpourri fumigation but nay, for true quaintness escapes them all, for you cannot make quaintness, but it must come to you, as the product of the secret quaint inside every person. When you step into Brady’s Coffee it is immediately obvious that Mr. Brady has much more quaint than he knows what to do with. While soft Celtic hymns play in the background I notice several old men taking turns harassing each other with stories of farm equipment and shouting nonsensical but unmistakably friendly greetings to the friends of theirs just arriving for the day.
.
Lining the walls of the store are large glass jars filled with a variety of different coffees and teas. Above the jars hangs local art work, a lot of it belonging to one of the elderly regulars sitting at the table, ready to tell you which he likes best. Ordering coffee is a lot more like having a short conversation about coffee and then getting what you had just been talking about.

Also, while ordering I suggest trying to get a glimpse of the Lego castles sitting on the shelves in the back, an extremely innovative move by Brady in raising his stores level of quaintness in a subtle but appropriately masculine way. Brady’s coffee shop in Tyler epitomizes the idea of the local business. It has a loyal following and an atmosphere that’s something different than the sudo hipster and soccer mom seen you’ll find at Starbucks. Brady is doing what he loves in a way that he loves it, with surroundings that describe very well his own personality. But why settle on the surroundings when his actual personality is there waiting to serve you coffee.