Stella Nova

[EBAH]

I'm glad they're investing, but, it's 90's coffee and I'll never ever go there. Who do I have to kill to get a real coffee shop outside of downtown.

[timothy.a.owen]

I'm glad they're investing, but, it's 90's coffee and I'll never ever go there. Who do I have to kill to get a real coffee shop outside of downtown.

What is 90's coffee and what coffee shop do you recommend downtown? (Google was not helpful for 90's coffee.)

I have been to the new Stella Nova twice now. I went once on Friday morning and got a free cup of coffee and I went in this afternoon and got a paid cup of coffee. On Friday, I was asked if I wanted light, medium, or dark roast and today I was asked if I wanted Ethopian or some other region/country of coffee. I can speak roast, but I defintely don't speak coffee regions. I asked if those regions equates to light/medium/dark and after he phoned a friend - we had an answer. Also, both times I have ordered coffee the cup has leaked from around the rim. I checked and double checked that the lid was on tight - and the cups still leaked. Very frustarting. Lastly, and this is not a huge deal for me, if you are not a fan of counter-service asking you for a tip when you pay via their iPad app, this is one of those places.

I might just be nitpicking and maybe they just have a few kinks to get worked out, but for now, I am not overly impressed.

Don't get me wrong... the building is nice and the staff is friendly.

[benjico]

I'm glad they're investing, but, it's 90's coffee and I'll never ever go there. Who do I have to kill to get a real coffee shop outside of downtown.

Agreed. When I saw the flavor pumps on the bar upon walking in, all hope was lost...

[Timshel]

What is 90's coffee and what coffee shop do you recommend downtown? (Google was not helpful for 90's coffee.)

I suspect he is referring to the aforementioned syrups, the ability to order cappuccino and espresso macchiato in small, medium, or large (both of which are traditionally a specific size), and the existence of anything with the word "frappe." These are all points with which I sympathize, but I suspect all of these offerings are necessary to do the volume needed to be profitable in this type of space. Correct me if you were referring to something else, Timothy!

[Mott]

I think we are talking about Coffee Slingers, (thanks Melody), Elemental, Clarity, and Leaf and Bean....

[Teo9969]

If Stella Nova can siphon off any amount of business from Starbucks, I'll take it.

[TheTravellers]

Not impressed. Took 3 people to figure out how many shots were in a medium latte, order-taker couldn't figure out how to label the cup (he apologized because he was new, but TRAINING, just do it, get so tired of non-trained people at food/drink establishments), ordered an extra shot in each and he didn't write it on the cup so they had to fix that, cup leaks as stated above, and their pastries were refrigerated (I think they were, the case they were in looked like a fridged case, but none looked good enough for us to try and I didn't actually touch the case to find out, but if they are refrigerated, that's a bad thing to do). How hard is it to get lids that fit cups tightly? Just ask one of the other billion coffee shops in the USA what they order and use, SMH... Not going back, most likely, but glad they made the effort and maybe they'll take some *$ traffic away from them.

[Rover]

Drove by there several times last couple of days. Parking lot pretty full each time. Must do something right.

[EBAH]

What is 90's coffee and what coffee shop do you recommend downtown? (Google was not helpful for 90's coffee.)

I have been to the new Stella Nova twice now. I went once on Friday morning and got a free cup of coffee and I went in this afternoon and got a paid cup of coffee. On Friday, I was asked if I wanted light, medium, or dark roast and today I was asked if I wanted Ethopian or some other region/country of coffee. I can speak roast, but I defintely don't speak coffee regions. I asked if those regions equates to light/medium/dark and after he phoned a friend - we had an answer. Also, both times I have ordered coffee the cup has leaked from around the rim. I checked and double checked that the lid was on tight - and the cups still leaked. Very frustarting. Lastly, and this is not a huge deal for me, if you are not a fan of counter-service asking you for a tip when you pay via their iPad app, this is one of those places.

I might just be nitpicking and maybe they just have a few kinks to get worked out, but for now, I am not overly impressed.

Don't get me wrong... the building is nice and the staff is friendly.

Yeah by that I mean that it is the kind of coffee popular in the 90's, or what is still popular with Starbucks fans. Lots of syrups and flavoring and cream and stuff like that. Modern coffee shops like Elemental, Coffee Slingers, Leaf and Bean (downtown), and Clarity coffee are representative of what is currently the preferred trend. Coffee shops now are much more about showcasing the flavors of coffee itself instead of burying it under flavors and sweetening it like crazy. I think Stella Nova will be popular eventually as kind of a local alternative to Starbucks. But, I'll stay a little bummed out until we can get a modern 3rd wave style shop somewhere in Uptown or just in the inner city outside of the immediate downtown area. The fact that there is no modern coffee shop in Plaza, Paseo or even on N Western has always baffled me. We have a pretty serious micro roasting scene here and a lot of great shops, but none of them have really made it out of downtown despite there being loads of potential customers in other inner city neighborhoods. I suspect this will change soon with the developments growing in Paseo but I was bummed to hear about Stella Nova and then to find out that it was a little outside of what I'd be looking for.

[EBAH]

Agreed. When I saw the flavor pumps on the bar upon walking in, all hope was lost...

exactly.

[Urbanized]

I get what everyone is laying down about style of service but for the record it should be noted that they are serving KLLR Coffee, which is owned and roasted by the same people who own Clarity.

[Mr. Cotter]

That's good to know, because that is great coffee. (Also, I like vanilla in my latte.)

[turnpup]

I'll never forget when, a year or so ago, I was in one of the aforementioned modern/trendy coffee shops and asked if they had any artificial sweetener. The person working the counter looked absolutely shocked and said "NO!" in an equally shocked-sounding tone. It was so funny! At least they had half and half.

[Rover]

I doubt anyone there forces people to order flavors to be pumped into their coffee. If they are serving consistently good to great coffee, the atmosphere is relaxing, the prices are reasonable, I'll go get my dark drip coffee, read my ipad, and chill out there every once and awhile. I don't have to always need a barista to put a design on my coffee to be happy. I think there are many like me who aren't out everyday looking to be the most cutting edge or the coolest. We appreciate a good product in a good environment for a fair price... with consistency. They will do just fine.

[EBAH]

I doubt anyone there forces people to order flavors to be pumped into their coffee. If they are serving consistently good to great coffee, the atmosphere is relaxing, the prices are reasonable, I'll go get my dark drip coffee, read my ipad, and chill out there every once and awhile. I don't have to always need a barista to put a design on my coffee to be happy. I think there are many like me who aren't out everyday looking to be the most cutting edge or the coolest. We appreciate a good product in a good environment for a fair price... with consistency. They will do just fine.

Oh absolutely, I'm surely not arguing against its existence, just wish we had a good modern coffee shop outside of downtown

[Pete]

Journal Record reporting they are planning a new location on the SW corner of Robinson & Park in space last occupied by the clothing store.

[Urbanized]

Interesting. Should be a great location for them and great for the heart of the CBD to finally once again have a dedicated coffee shop at street level. That said, I’d also expect for them to have a substantial competitor directly across the street when FNC opens.

[shawnw]

nice

[barrettd]

Are they still planning on the 63rd/May corner? Haven't seen much, if any, demolition there recently.

[Pete]

Are they still planning on the 63rd/May corner? Haven't seen much, if any, demolition there recently.

Yes, no movement yet but the tenants are out.

[soonerguru]

This is an incredible concept. Their coffee is very good and the drive-through experience manages to improve on Starbucks.

[barrettd]

This is an incredible concept. Their coffee is very good and the drive-through experience manages to improve on Starbucks.

I went to the one on Western a few weeks ago and was a little disappointed in how long it took them to prepare a latte. I think I might have waited 10 minutes. Though, it did seem like most of their energy was going towards helping the drive thru customers. I was one of about 3 people inside the store.

Regardless, it made me feel a bit better to support a local store over a chain. I'm sure I'll visit the 63rd/May location frequently.

[TheTravellers]

Do their lids still leak? Both me and someone else on here had that problem...

[Rover]

I went to the one on Western a few weeks ago and was a little disappointed in how long it took them to prepare a latte. I think I might have waited 10 minutes. Though, it did seem like most of their energy was going towards helping the drive thru customers. I was one of about 3 people inside the store.

Regardless, it made me feel a bit better to support a local store over a chain. I'm sure I'll visit the 63rd/May location frequently.

I have been well served in the Western store. Hopefully your experience is the outlier. I like the atmosphere there and they have been very friendly. The coffee has been very good. Plus, they are local.

[barrettd]

I have been well served in the Western store. Hopefully your experience is the outlier. I like the atmosphere there and they have been very friendly. The coffee has been very good. Plus, they are local.

I like everything about the coffee shop except for the delay in making the coffee. I'm sure I'll be back. I'm just not in that area very often.