Blue Bottle Coffee

Embarcadero
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94105

Reviewed 11/1/2009

I have never shown up at Blue Bottle with a smile on my face.

Rather I am looking pissed and disgusted, and fantasizing about grabbing an appliance off the shelf and hurling it. Not to hurt anyone of course.

1) The line is long;

2) it gets annoying navigating the strollers and starry-eyed people who don't know where they are going;

3) Dozens of people cut in front of you as if you were a makeshift walkway and don't even pardon themselves. If any of you are reading this, "excuse me" is the polite thing to say do when doing that. Try it sometime!

But once the coffee hits my palate, my irritation disappears. I am calm, focused, serenely content, and ready next to hit Scharffenberger with a smile.

I like to think of Blue Bottle as an SF institution. Well it is. And it makes me smug that we have it to call our own. And so I will get in that stupid line again and again.


Plus I want to look like the gray and black clad dudes and dudettes behind the counter, exuding urban cool, SF style. Thank you guys for being mellow and kind and devoted to what you are doing.

I want this place to keep thriving. Maybe I will think differently when I round the corner on my next visit and see the line spilling into ciao bella.

Oh, but when the barista calls my name and presents me with a cup he's filled with a frothy heart, my love will flood back.