Kaladi Brothers Coffee shop
Kaladi Brothers Coffee
1730 E. Evans Ave.
Denver CO 80210
Summary:
Quality of the coffee: Excellent; fair trade organic beans
Ownership: Independently-owned
Friendliness of the baristas: Super friendly
Hipness factor: Very hip; mostly university students, academics and locals; no yuppies
Parking: Terrible, except on the weekends
Seating: Can usually squish in at the bar if it's crowded, which it usually is
Free wi-fi
Kaladis is located at 1730 E. Evans on Evans and Gilpin next door to Tokyo Joe's and across the street from the Denver Spoke bicycle shop. Kaladi's was established in 2000 by an Alaskan who ran a thriving coffee business in Anchorage. Apparently unhappy with the increasingly corporate atmosphere of coffee chains, he moved the operation to Denver. Kaladi's is independently-owned. Kaladi's sells only organic fair trade beans.
It's main clientele consists of University of Denver students and professors. Not surprisingly, it has a very academic atmosphere. One can often overhear "what I want to do with my life" conversations. Most of the clientele appear to be in their mid-20's or 50+. Noticeably absent is the 30-40 yupster crowd. Sitting here on a Sunday, about half of the patrons are students, often with goatees and tasteful piercings, while the other half are 50+ locals with reading glasses on.
Kaladi's is also a big draw with the locals. Neighbors from Observatory Park, Platte Park and the whole DU area frequent the tiny coffee shop. Indeed, as a resident of Observatory Park, Kaladi's happens to be my local hangout.
The shop seats only about 25ish comfortably and is usually full. People are super friendly and often agree to share their tables. There is one big round shared table. I can usually find a spot at the small bar area with a view of Evans and the Denver Spoke when it's crowded. From my experience, the shop is most crowded during the week when DU is in session and when one would expect class breaks.
The only drawback to this wondeful coffee shop is the parking. Since Tokyo Joe's moved in next door, store-front parking is often non-existent. There is often parking across the street, but crossing busy Evans can be dangerous. There is usually parking on one of the side streets.
The seating itself is uncomfortable. Don't expect the big comfie and rather sterile cushy chairs popular at coffee shop chains. This is a down-to-earth, homey place...and my personal favorite.
Please leave a comment if you wish and suggest other coffee shops for me to visit.
Posted at 01:33PM Nov 28, 2010 by Erin Toll Glover in Coffee shops and coffee paraphernalia | Comments[0]
