The ScLoHo Fort Wayne Coffee Shop Review

Earlier this summer, I mentioned that a review of  Fort Wayne coffee shops was in order.

Time to share my biased and unprofessional opinion.

I was introduced to coffee shops in 2000 when I met my wife.  Up until then, I would drink the usual swill that came out of a glass coffee pot sitting in a break room.  Or a few times in my life I had a drip coffee maker at home complete with a timer that would allow me to wake up to a pot of freshly brewed stuff.

Coffee for me was strictly for the caffeine.  Then I met Kathy and I met the Fort Wayne Coffee Shop Scene.

Starbucks had not descended on Fort Wayne yet.

My first experience was a place called The Mill.  They were a bakery coffee shop combo with the emphasis on loafs of bread.  For a buck, you could get a cup of brewed coffee, house, decaf , and a couple of flavors were always on tap…

Along with your dollar cup of coffee, they’d offer you a slice of bread… free.  then you could smother it with honey and butter.  It was a meal in itself for $1.00.   I recall when they raised the price to $1.25 and they were apologetic about it.

You can’t survive forever at those prices and they didn’t.  I don’t recall the full story but they were sold and eventually disappeared.  With 3 or 4 locations it was a wonderful introduction to coffee shops.

Another coffee shop that had more than one location, Higher Grounds was a favorite too.  But alas, they too are no more. Over the years I became friends with John & Kim Richards, the owners and would frequently discuss and debate with John what the Higher Grounds coffee experience was all about.  He had 3 locations that I would visit along with a few others and then he also had a deal with a couple gas station chains to put Higher Grounds in their stores.  That was the end of the Higher Grounds experience in my mind.  There’s a big difference from sitting in a coffee shop with  wifi and your laptop and getting a cup of coffee from a gas station.

I could go on and on with the coffee shops that are no more, but let’s jump to the reviews that you can use.

Here’s what I am looking for in a coffee shop:

A place to hang out and get some work done with free wifi.  A place to meet with someone for a meeting.  Can make a decent white mocha.  Won’t kick me out after 45 minutes. Has a place to plug in my laptop.

Mocha Lounge is my go to place on the west side.  They’ve been around for ten years and counting.  My favorite drink is their White Mocha Mayhem.

Friendly Fox is on the south side of town. I’m not here as often as I used to, a few years ago but besides coffee drinks, they also have great food.

Two newer places with the same owner are Trionfale Expresso on Dupont near 69 and Fortezza Coffee downtown.  I’ve been to Trionfale once and Fortezza several times. Fortezza (and probably Trionfale) have a higher quality of coffee that only one other shop in town has that I’m aware of.

That other shop is Old Crown on North Anthony.  We like stopping by on weekends for their special dinner menu which changes weekly.  We were just at Old Crown last week.

About 5 doors north of Old Crown is my standby coffee shop, The Firefly.  You’ll find me there weekly or more often.  The Firefly gained the nickname ScLoHo’s North Office several years ago.

Also on the northeast side of town is the former Higher Grounds, under new ownership and with a new name, Bon Bon’s.  Rumor is that they will be forced to move due to their landlord (Kroger) wanting to expand their store in 2015.

A few years ago Starbucks arrived and I will sometimes spend time at the one in downtown Fort Wayne, now that they all have free wifi.

Expect to pay $5 for a White Mocha (with tip) at most of these places and enjoy the wifi.