03. A Review of The Revue

tldr: coffee is better than tea

During the summer after my sophomore year of high school, I decided that I wanted to like coffee. Not simply as an act of defiance for those who claimed that I was too young to drink such a beverage, but rather as someone who wanted to one day be known for always being down to go get a nice kuppa’coffee. So I hatched a plan.

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That summer I was taking a Reading and Comprehension class (aka introduction to writing college/research essays). As opposed to writing four essays in 18 weeks, we got to write them in six, and it was pure unadulterated college student stress that I loved. But back to the plan. When we were assigned our first essay, I walked down a few blocks to the local coffee shop The Revue and told myself, “even though you hate coffee, you are going to sit here, working on your essay for this class, and sip coffee until either your essay is done or the coffee is.” Needless to say the essay was done first, but when it came to the second essay I had the perfect strategy for getting it done quickly and efficiently. However, the second time around I drank more coffee. Then, by the third essay I finished my first complete cup in one sitting. By my fourth and final paper I finished a cup while it was still hot. And so, I fell in love with coffee; and I had the perfect way to get my homework done efficiently and without distraction.

Now, two years later, I am proud to say that I have done more than half of my homework there. Always sipping either 1) a large iced mocha with whipped cream and cinnamon on top when it’s hot, or 2) a large café au lait with two pumps of vanilla when it is cold. Sometimes when I have classes that don’t start until 10, I just go grab a cup and watch the cars go by. It is by far the best place in the world.

I love the community. I mean, in the back of the coffee shop there are classic diner style booths with desk lamps. A giant community table that can seat about ten people, where miscellaneous groups of college students, professors, families, and couples can come sit together. In the front is leather chairs and couches, with tree stump coffee tables to set down your drink– and amazing baristas who know your name. And if you’re like me and go there too much, they even know your order.

I always wanted to be one of those people who could easily start up a small conversation, and The Revue was exactly where I started. I don’t want to name people who might not want to be named (although, how they would find this blog would surprise me), but I have been blessed to meet kind faces in the community with amazing stories. I could go on and on about the various people I have met there (including Ross Matthews but more on that in another post).  

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Essentially anything that I get done while unwinding, I do while drinking a cup of coffee with my headphones in, or having a conversation. I have been blessed with an amazing community that is just a bus ride away. To think it all started with a fifteen year old wanting to like coffee.

Paige