Phoenix Coffee's downtown location . . .

. . . is open, finally. I'll even say it was worth the wait. Located on the ground floor of the building on the southwest corner of E. 9th and Superior (I think it used to be the Raymond James building, now it may be Key something--the way buildings change names around here it's best to just stick with addresses or directions--it's just south of the courtyard along E. 9th), this mini-chain runs what I think are some of the best coffeshops in the City. The competent, if sometimes quirky, baristas know what they're doing and are glad to fill the customer in on the details. There's even nice indoor and outdoor seating areas to enjoy their fine extractions. Currently they're running a happy hour where anyone can get a free shot of espresso between 2 and 3 pm. Really, no strings attached.

And if that's not enough, they also have a (somewhat out of date) website and a barista run blog. I stole the above picture from the website.

Between Phoenix and The Market Cafe this little "financial district" is really coming along.

All this plus the wonderful happenings on E. 4th . . . it's almost too much to bear. Now if some people would just move here . . . .