Open only since last October, Crema, a great little coffee shop on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh, serves Seattle, Washington coffee brand Gillano, which Tim tells me roasts the finest one to two percent of all available fair trade beans. Nearby office workers drop in for lunch or coffee or both; some are sitting in a corner where comfy chairs and little tables make a great meeting space. They seem to be having a conference. Light jazz is playing in the background; the door is open onto Fayetteville street, which seems to have more foot traffic than vehicles, at least at this time of day–3 PM. Regulars come in and talk to Tim and the people being the counter, who know many of their names. Newcomers to Crema (like me) are wandering in, their comments such as “well, that was good,” and “let’s come here again” revealing they are not only first timers, they are charmed. There is a small flyer taped to the door that says they are closing early tomorrow, at 3 PM, due to an anticipated birth, and on the counter there is a jar holding folded slips of paper, and another sign: Guess Tim and Lauren’s twins’ combined weight, and win free coffee and lunches. I asked Tim nosy questions such as, When is she due? (tomorrow!) How much does she weigh, etc, then wrote my guess and dropped it into the jar. I am sure I will not win as I am lousy at those kinds of things, but I am enjoying the spirit of this place which is light hearted, jokey and friendly. The latte tastes wonderful, too. Unfortunately, they stop making sandwiches at 3 PM. (I don’t know why this number 3 keeps coming up). They do serve home made ice cream along with coffee, and many different kinds of sweets, which I will not try today as I have had too many sweets and no food to speak of. Along the storefront are counters and stools; tables and chairs are in the center of the shop. This place is busy, but laid back. Out on the sidewalk are tables being well used. I parked right out front. That was sheer luck, though. Someone pulled out, and being a native Washingtonian (as in District, not Seattle) I am an expert parallel parker.
Try Crema; it is one of the newer businesses that have opened up along Fayetteville street in the revitalization of downtown. They are open Mon-Fri 7 AM to 7 PM; Sat 7 AM to 10 PM; Sun 11 to 5 PM. I want to hug them just for staying open after 5 on weekdays, and on Saturdays, as the most serious problem with coffee shops in Raleigh, is that they think no one wants coffee after 5 PM, so they all close at 5 or 6. Show me a dead downtown and I’ll show you not a lack of night clubs, but a lack of diners, coffee shops, convenience stores that are open at night. For night people, such as myself, who also drink coffee, this is a crime. I have spent many early evenings walking around or driving around with friends looking for an open coffee shop. As far as we can tell, there’s only Royal Bean (across from Meredith); New World Coffee House (Pleasant Valley and Glenwood); Cup A Joe (various locations), Third Place (Five Points, crowded and wireless is usually not strong enough, although coffee is!) and Helios (Glenwood South) catering to night people who drink coffee. If you know any others, tell me (but not outside the Raleigh city line. I’ll only go so far for coffee). I favor Larry’s Beans coffee cause it is local and was fair trade organic before that was the cool thing to be; Third Place and New World have Larry’s.
Note–this is not meant to be a comprehensive detailed list of coffee shops good and bad. It started out as a “Try Crema” — so try it. If you want to add comments about your favorite coffee shop (in Raleigh) I’d love to hear. No Starbucks or Caribou please; they are the number one and two highest profit-generating coffee chains in the world. They can do their own advertising.
