My first coffee shop experience in Fort Bragg was a good one. I rolled up to Mara's Coffee House, an adorable little yellow house on the side of the road. To my surprise, they have a full drive-thru on the side. I headed inside not knowing what to expect. All I wanted was a place to do some work, charge my laptop, and get a fresh cup of coffee.
This turned out to be another visit that went better than planned. I walked in ordered a medium cup of coffee. I sat down at the table and began catching up on my coffee shop reviews. This place had a wide variety of colors and good vibes. There were tons of amazing pictures of animals everywhere as well. And one of the few places that still has a comfy couch in their shop. I finished up my writings and went to go interview the baristas.
Before I could catch their attention, a gentleman came in and ordered a coffee and a chicken burrito. He paid like normal and stood there on his phone relaxing after a long day while he waited for his food. To his surprise and mine, they went ahead and heated up his burrito, grabbed him sour cream and salsa, and a stack of napkins. He was so grateful that they did all of this without him having to ask that he went back up to the counter and threw another dollar in the tip jar. This is just one sign of a wonderful coffee shop.
They asked me how my coffee was and if I'd like a refill. Just the gesture alone had me excited to interview them. They did all this without knowing why I was there and I wasn't even rocking one of my Find That Coffee tees. I introduced myself and they told me their names were Elisa and Caterina, super friendly baristas. They told me that Mara's was owned by a man named Chris and it's been around for only a couple of years. The name Mara was a mix of first letters from Chris's children's names. And all of the animal pictures were taken by his wife on their animal sanctuary. Elisa then sat down to devour a delicious looking burrito! I asked her if I could please take a picture of it. Then, out of nowhere a random customer said I looked thirsty working and bought me a frozen mocha, it was tasty! Come check this spot out!
The bathroom was wonderful. I remember the air freshener smelling wonderful, for that I'll give it an 11/10. Great coffee shop.