Louie's Coffee in Santa Rosa, California: A Review

Louie's Coffee is a fairly new coffee shop in the Marlow Shopping Center near Safeway and one of the few surviving Rite-Aids. I don't think too many people really ever thought of northwest Santa Rosa, California as a "coffee shop" sort of place, but with this and Johnny's Java further up Marlow, I guess the times really are a-changin'.

Anyway, more good coffee is always welcome in the neighborhood. Louie's serves Taylor Maid Farms coffee, which is a Sebastopol outfit that does the whole fair trade, organic and shade-grown thing. I haven't had any experience with them prior to stopping in at Louie's but I definitely left with their name on my list. Not only is the coffee served here pretty good, the pricing is still within the range of reasonable in spite of Taylor Maid's policies of only working within Fair Trade arrangements and importing coffee that is in season. They also have a pretty good range of tea - Earl Grey, Pacific Coast Breakfast, Masala Chai, Vita Flora, Mellow (a chamomile-based herbal blend), peppermint and a few different kinds of green.

While the coffee and tea get high marks, food is a bit on the "meh" side at the moment. The pastry selection comes from the nearby Village Bakery and there's some very decent stuff, but not a huge selection. There's a pretty small selection of bagels, some uninspiring pre-made "breakfast sandwiches" in cellophane, and cups of yogurt. Northwest Santa Rosa doesn't have a whole lot of hot breakfast selection beyond IHOP and the Red Rose Cafe, so I was hoping Louie's would provide a viable alternative, but it doesn't look like it's shaping up that way at the moment.

The vibe is a bit on the "upscale" side to go along with the pricing, but not nearly off-putting at all. This is Santa Rosa after all, still largely a very laid-back and unpretentious place. I guess it's really more that the place is clean and new than anything else, with a bunch of nice sofas and soft seats to relax in. The design and layout reminds me a lot of Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf in San Francisco, just with coffee that actually tastes good and not like burnt ass, and much less in the way of crowding.

There's nothing here to blow you off your feet but the coffee and tea are very good, the pricing is still within the bounds of reasonableness, and it's a very nice environment to sit in. And the baristas are friendly and know their stuff, from what I've seen thus far. Definitely worth a stop over Starbucks.