COFFEE GARDEN
878 E 900 S Salt Lake City, UT
Contact: 801-355-3425
WWW.COFFEEGARDENSLC.COM
IG @coffeegardenslc
Facebook
Date Visited: October 31, 2019
Last Halloween, 2019, was one I’ll always remember! I had already interviewed five coffee shops and was headed back to my friend’s apartment for the day, but I spotted tons of people and the word “coffee.” The sun was beginning to set, hundreds of Halloween monsters began flooding the streets. It’s always fun to be somewhere new for Halloween because every town has its unique way of celebrating. The shops were handing out candy to every kid that approached them, everyone was having a blast. I carefully parked my van, grabbed my notebook, and headed to Coffee Garden.
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays with friends and family, so I figured exploring a coffee shop in anew town was the next best thing. This place was packed full of adults, kids, and monsters! I loved CoffeeGarden’s logo of a little person with a coffee mug as the head! Before heading inside I just had to pet thecutest German Shepherd with a Halloween bandana.
I headed through the front door where I was greeted by the nicest group of people and offered someHalloween goodies. This coffee shop was huge, high ceilings, tons of seating, and full of beautiful artworkcovering the walls. I made my way towards the counter and got in line. While I was waiting patiently,this friendly couple behind me asked me about my Find That Coffee t-shirt. I looked up to discover thereal-life Maleficent behind me. This is when I met Nattalie and Gordon, one of the friendliest couples Imet all day. I told them all about my travels and where I was headed, they enjoyed meeting me so muchthat they insisted on treating me to a drink. Since it was the end of a very long day I opted for a hotchocolate. I later learned that it comes topped with Coffee Garden’s homemade whipped cream. If thetwo of you happen to be reading this, thank you again!
I walked around the coffee shop and enjoyed my hot chocolate, it was one of the tastiest ones I’ve everhad. I know it wasn’t coffee but it was still delicious, I’m a sucker for chocolate. This coffee shop was linedwith Cafe Ibis coffee beans and amazing artwork. The paintings were done by Lou Ann Reineke and herbio stated, “Loosely based on a black and white photo or remnant of a landscape sketch or no reference atall.” The sentence that resonated with me the most said, “The resulting visual dialogue can take yousomewhere that you never intended to go.” I really connected to this sentence in comparison to my travelplans for Find That Coffee. The visual dialogue of interviewing and telling my story of coffee shopsaround the country has led me to places I never intended to go, such as Salt Lake City, but I am verygrateful for the way this keeps evolving. I have attached more photos of her artwork at the bottom of thepage and here is a link to her Behance.
When the rush of customers began to slow down I headed back up to the counter and introduced myselfto the barista, Joe, I told him about everything I was doing. He absolutely loved the idea and told me tostart firing offmy questions. Coffee Garden is 25 years old, the art on the walls changes every month, andtheir roaster is Cafe Ibis. They play a lot of classical music because people will sit in here, hang out, and dowork, they also offer free WIFI. The food is made inhouse which consists of quiche, sandwiches, pastasalad, and other great lunch-style meals. Be sure to check out the delectable pastries! Every barista had asmile on their face and you could tell just how much they enjoyed working here.
I did one more lap around the cafe when a customer named John stopped me and asked me, “Are yousome sort of reporter or something?” I told him what I was doing and he really loved the idea. He told mehow he frequents this place quite regularly and Coffee Garden is “the hangout.” His three words for thiscoffee shop were honest, organic, and connection. I totally agree, I felt all of these emotions even though Ihaven’t even been here for an hour. This is a picture of John below, really great guy. Please make sure tocheck this place out when you visit Salt Lake City and if you live nearby it’s totally worth exploring!
The Bathroom
The paper towels were overflowing in the trashcan but it was Halloween and extremely crowded, yet thebathroom was still very clean. It was fully stocked and the soap dispenser had been refilled. I wish they putsome cool art or their logo on the wall. I am going to rank this bathroom a 7.5/10.
Lou Ann Reineke
