Coffee that rocks, WiFi that works
June 27th, 2008 by Cliff Bostock in Restaurants
Hey, look — it’s my Powerbook and a triple espresso macchiato. The picture was taken at Octane, the Westside coffee shop whose “Thursday Night Throwdown” invites baristas to compete to create artsy forms like the heart atop my macchiato.
The espresso here may be the city’s best — rich, almost oily, with layered flavors. The shop also serves real pastries and sandwiches.
But the really cool thing is that they offer free wireless internet service (WiFi) and — get this — it actually works!
My usual coffee hangout is the Ansley Starbucks but, once again, their WiFi doesn’t work about half the time. Never mind that I pay T-Mobile $30 a month to use it.
The latest problems began when they started offering two-hour blocks of free wireless through AT&T, as well as the T-Mobile service. For several weeks now, neither service has worked consistently. Moreover, nobody knows how to get it fixed. The Starbucks peeps say they don’t know what to do about it. Call T-Mobile or AT&T and they apologize, tell you they are working on it — and nothing changes.
Because my gym is an apple fritter’s throw from Starbucks, it’s more convenient for me to use. But I’ll be spending more time at Octane until Starbucks gets its WiFi fixed, which shouldn’t take more than 2, 3 or more months and 10 zillion phone calls to AT&T and T-Mobile.
You can find a mixed-media account of a Thursday Night Throwdown here.
(Photos by Cliff Bostock)
June 27th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I love Octane…great coffee and and awesome space
June 28th, 2008 at 1:49 am
I also really enjoy Octane. They are right up there with Aurora on making the most perfect foam – glassy with little to no bubbles.
It is conveniently located on my way to work. (Not so convenient is the small parking lot. Oh well, I’ll do a lot for great espresso and foam!)
June 29th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
They’ve also just started making the most amazing granola in-house – cinnamon-y, nutty, kinda expensive but delicious. I crave it every morning.