My favorite thing to do, whilst traveling, is scoping out local coffee houses!
Husband & I recently visited Palm Springs for some r&r, gré made my bookmarks and I was glad that we made time to stop by this place before we headed back to LA.
gré sits at the end of a hallway of small businesses, off of Palm Canyon Drive. Already, walking through and finding it at the end, begins the cool journey. As you approach it, you enter and it takes some time to absorb what's going on inside, or rather it absorbs you. There are stairs to walk down (no wheel-chair accessible ramps, fyi) and the entire entrance is lined with crates of records for sale. Art, wall-drawings, punk rock, music-history, posters, cover every single wall! I dare you to find a blank space ;-) They sell some clothing merch, pins, stickers. As you get to the lower-level where most of the records & merch are, you will see the coffee bar, staffed with a very friendly (owner perhaps?) barista! I wish I had gotten his name, he was holding multiple conversations with consumers and was quick to not just greet us, but genuinely welcome us in! Immediately felt welcomed into his space, which was really nice. This man is smooth, warm, welcoming and really down to earth and cool, straight up friendly. That earned one of the stars given. Obviously, the aforementioned, cool little scavenger hunt leading up to stairs and entering this "zone" & this shop's ambiance and vibe earned another star.
I ordered a large, single-shot latte & my husband ordered a regular large latte. We waited indoors, post-verifying our vaccinated status, at the corner table. The barista would start small talk anytime he could and again it's warm and very organic and made the experience really nice and made us feel welcome & our company enjoyed.
I know you're dying to know about the actual freaking lattes!! Well, I am very critical of my bean-type, espresso shot execution, milk-type, milk-pour, espresso/milk ratio and froth throughout. I have to say this is not scientifically insane latte...however, it was pretty good. Not top-notch, but also not terrible.
Husband and I left happy.
Ambiance, concept, barista, service and a decent latte earned this coffeehouse the four-star rating from me :-)
Side note- the gender-neutral bathroom is not the cleanest!! But what do you expect at a punk rock record shop? I was just happy they had a potty and it fit its charm lol ;-) read more