America’s Best Coffee
By Patrick Cusack/reporter
The Coffee: America’s Best Coffee serves two blends daily, changing out what blends they serve every other day. Coffee is grown locally, hand picked, roasted weekly and served ground fresh daily.
The Menu: Fourteen different sandwiches on white or wheat are available every day and made to order. Soup of the day is made fresh from scratch. America’s Best also offers pastries and desserts daily.
Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi is free with any purchase. Outlets are available around the store with study nooks that provide additional plug-in Internet connections and an overhead lamp for book reading.
The Atmosphere: The store is often quiet and cozy with a friendly, caring staff. For colder days, a central fireplace to sit around provides a warm retreat. Plenty of tables, chairs and sofas are available.
Location: 1211 Debbie Lane in Mansfield, 817-551-3375. Also at 3751 Matlock Road in Arlington. www.americasbestcoffee.us.
Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Tea Zone Cafe
By Sara Pintilie/reporter
For some college students, coffee is just not their cup of tea. Their choice of caffeinated beverage is, in fact, tea. For a milder brew, Tea Zone Cafe offers a variety of teas and a few coffee choices too.
Teas: Along with traditional tea, Tea Zone has a choice of many unorthodox teas, such as raspberry chai tea. Also with the array of brewed beverages, the café offers bobas and different flavored jellies to accent the flavor of the teas. All the tea is loose-leaf and imported.
The Menu: Muffins, simple sandwiches and a variety of Blue Bell ice cream.
Wi-Fi: Free Wi-Fi is available.
The Atmosphere: The inside is very quaint but comfortable. It is usually quiet during the afternoon to early evening on weekdays. The best time to go for some quiet time would be during afternoons. But avoid the lunchtime because the Tea Zone is a local lunch stop for the nearby high school students.
Location: 2851 Matlock Road, #446, Mansfield (Near the No Frills Grill), 817-473-7840.
Times: Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Four Star Coffee Bar
By Keisha McDuffie/reporter
The Coffee: Four Star Coffee Bar has a flavor for every coffee drinker. In addition to the house blends served daily, customers have a plethora of flavors to choose from, on tap, all year.
Caramel, hazelnut and Irish cream, the traditional favorites, are readily available and for those always looking to treat their taste buds to a more exotic flavor, maybe peppermint or coconut.
The Menu: Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served. The heaping of carrot cake needs no explanation as the standing ovation the palette expresses is self explanatory.
The California Club makes for a great lunch treat. This croissant with turkey, avocado and sprouts not only sounds great on a menu, but is a staffer’s favorite.
If you’re dining in the evening with a pal or a casual date, Four Star’s pizza (split between two seems to be satisfactory) comes highly recommended.
Wi-Fi: Four Star offers free Wi-Fi and access to one PC, in a semi-private nook for the e-mail junkies. Sessions are limited to 20 minutes for those who don’t want to share.
The Atmosphere: Even though the Four Star has the quaint feel of a hole in the wall, it offers plenty of elbow room.
The large dining area is refreshing, a factor that adds to the comfort. And the clever half-wall that doubles as a condiments stand separates the ordering customers from those already seated.
A unique room at the Four Star Coffee Bar is the Reading Room. This separate room provides a cozy, quiet environment for the bookworm. Complete with shelves of house books and plush cushioned chairs, a beautiful mural ties it all in so perfectly.
Best Time to Go: Anytime is a great time depending on your mood and intentions. Saturday nights, Four Star hosts local live music. A great place to meet with friends early, yet not be over-powered by the loud music.
Or try the waffles this Saturday morning and judge for yourself.
Location: 3324 W. 7th St. in Fort Worth’s cultural district, 817-336-5555. www.fourstarcoffeebar.net.
Hours: Monday-Thursday 7 a.m.–10 p.m., Friday 7 a.m.–midnight and Saturday 8 a.m.–midnight. Closed Sunday.
Coffee Haus
By Gary Collins/reporter
The Coffee: Coffee Haus serves a variety of hot and cold coffees, cappuccinos and lattes from fresh roasted and brewed coffee beans. The hot coffees are priced at approximately $4 and under.
Cold drink offerings vary from iced cappuccino and lattes to specialty drinks such as the Eskimocha (a creamy chocolate coffee), the Jack Hammer (Eskimocha with espresso) and the Hammerhead (with ground espresso).
Fresh brewed loose-leaf tea is also served. Also available are smoothies and Dublin Dr Pepper.
Menu: The Coffee Haus serves three varieties of grilled paninis on Fococcia bread: turkey, ham and veggie; the half panini with soup is priced at $6.50. The menu also includes a build-your-own sandwich with ham, turkey, veggie and chicken salad.
Coffee Haus pastries and desserts menu offers the usual coffee house items such as cookies, croissants, muffins, scones, chocolate biscotti and bagels.
The Atmosphere: After entering through the wooden framed doors, the visitor is greeted by the smell of coffee beans. Aligned along the colorful walls are antique or replica coffee machines. Each wall has its own color and theme from a solid red to a nighttime city surrounded by canals.
Its casual, laid-back ambiance feels almost like the stereotypical college hangout with indie alternative music, matching patio furniture indoors and exterior patio seating.
Employees and customers casually dressed in jeans, T-shirts and flip-flops. One block north of UTA, students often go to read and study, so this is a fairly quiet environment, but 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursdays, Coffee Haus features live jazz.
Location: 210 S. Mesquite St., Arlington, 817-795-5790.
Hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday closed.
Eurotazza Coffeehouse
By Susan Tallant/reporter
The Coffee: Full-bodied coffees and velvety smooth espresso, using beans roasted by an Italian-based Caffé Dé Arte method.
A house favorite is the Eurotazza Signature Cappuccino, an espresso combined with rich, velvety milk foam and a hint of brown sugar.
Other specialty espressos include Caffé Latte Your Way, giving the coffee snob a choice of 48 flavored syrups (10 are sugar free) and topped with a velvety foam; Belgium Caffé Mocha, a Caffé Latte using gourmet dark chocolate, and Tiramisu Latte, with gourmet dark chocolate, amaretto and rum syrups, both topped with a cool vanilla whipped cream.
The Teas: Eurotazza features the highly exclusive Mariage Freres teas with each cotton muslin tea bag created by hand, imported from France.
The Menu: Pastries, desserts and selective lunch and dinner items are from Fort Worth’s own Bistro Louise, a four-diamond AAA award winner. Grilled panini, personal quiche, soup of the day, pasta salads and fresh fruit are on the menu daily.
Also available, Gelato Italia, an authentic Italian delicacy using 70 percent less fat than premium American ice cream. Topping the treat with espresso will make it an Affogato.
The Atmosphere: Eurotazza, meaning cup of Europe, was voted Best Coffee House 2006 by Fort Worth, Texas magazine and the Fort Worth Weekly. The ambience is both old world and hip.
Wi-Fi: Free Wi-Fi is available, so bring a laptop if desired. Seating areas include a leather chair by the fireplace, an old Italian farm table in the back and an outdoor patio.
Best Time to Go: Depends on the time of day and atmosphere desired. As in Europe, the integrity of the coffeehouse is maintained until 4 p.m. when an exclusive selection of wine and imported beer, antipasto plates and fruit and cheese trays are added to the menu. Alcohol is served after noon Saturday and
Sunday. Weekend entertainment includes live bands and a Saturday talk radio show from noon to 1 p.m.
Location: 6323 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth. 817-EURO-3876 or www.eurotazza.com.
Hours: Monday-Thursday 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday-Saturday 7 a.m.-11 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
MochaLux Coffee & Tea Co.
By Mark Bauer/reporter
The Coffee: MochaLux has a variety of coffees to choose, but offers only four on any given day during the week. The four are rotated out each week. Tea and fruit drinks are also readily available. Lattes, cappuccinos and espressos are among the favorites, as well as mochachinos—a blended ice coffee. Customers can also special order their drinks using the extra ingredients menu.
The Menu: Sausage, egg and cheese croissants are what Mochalux prepares on location for breakfast. Customers can substitute bacon or ham. If it’s something sweet you’re after, treat yourself to an assortment of pastries and muffins. For lunch and dinner, MochaLux serves hot steak subs, Southwest-style chicken sandwiches, pepperoni pizza, deep-dish pizza and teriyaki chicken bowls.
Wi-Fi: Internet access is free for all customers. The use of two desktop computers is also free. They sit on a desk against the wall adjacent to the sitting area.
The Atmosphere: With open space between tables, couches and chairs, the spatial interior provides enough room to allow customers the feeling of privacy, even when filled to capacity. Soft jazz music plays in the background, with the sounds of Michael Bublé dominating most of the play time. Beginning in October, MochaLux will host Friday and Saturday jazz nights.
For the young—or young at heart—customers have access to a handful of popular, family favorite board games. Secluded by a small privacy wall, a sitting area resembling a traditional American living room allows customers to sit and watch whatever is playing on a flat panel TV that hangs over a fireplace. Or they can bring their own movies, so long as they are not particularly graphic or vulgar, and play them on the DVD player.
Best Time to Go: Anytime is a good time. But if a student wants to drink or study in peace, afternoon and evening times are the best. Customers on the go can also opt for the recently installed drive-through.
Location: 1101 E. Bardin Road, Suite 101, at Collins and Bardin in Arlington, 817-468-0488, www.mochalux.com.
Hours: Monday – Thursday 5:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 5:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sunday, 6 a.m.-10 p.m.
The Coffee Urn
By Katie Martinez/reporter
The Coffee: The Urn serves up five varieties of coffee daily as well as lattes and an assortment of hot teas and sodas. Coffee beans are roasted locally and ground fresh daily.
The Menu: The Coffee Urn serves cooked-to-order breakfast, healthier choices like oatmeal, fruit and low-fat ham as well as fried eggs and bacon. Its lunch menus have an array of salads and sandwiches, using only organic produce.
The Coffee Urn also makes homemade muffins and pastries daily.
Wi-Fi: Free high-speed Wi-Fi and electrical outlets are available throughout the shop for customers. The shop also offers use of a desktop computer and a fax machine for a nominal donation.
The Atmosphere: The small shop is usually fairly quiet on weekdays. Local artists’ work is displayed on the walls and rotated on a regular basis. Visitors will find a couple of guitars as well as a piano for anyone who would like to play. A variety of books and magazines is available for check-out. Tables can be reserved for study groups.
Best Time to Go: If you want quiet, stay clear of the breakfast and lunch rush, 8-9 a.m. and noon-1 p.m., the busiest and loudest times of the day. Some weekends, The Coffee Urn has live music.
Location: 5018 Trail Lake Drive (off Southwest Loop 820) in Fort Worth, 817-927-7660.
Hours: 6:50 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
