There Are Only Three Rules. Let's Not Make Up Ones That Don't Exist Here.

We overheard from a customer today that his girlfriend is never coming back here because we won't let her sit in the cafe with a foam cup.

Just about every day for almost seven years Angela has sat here with coffee in a foam cup. For five years Sally has had her chai in a foam cup and Jenny has enjoyed her cappuccino or a mini Americano in a foam cup. And hundreds of others have enjoyed there drinks in foam cups while sitting at a table inside Aldo Coffee.

We even have a recycling box for foam cups inside the store. It's pretty full.

In other words, this assertion isn't true and never has been.

Would we prefer you drank out of a ceramic cup? Sure. We think the coffee tastes better that way and obviously it saves us a few cents.

Will we offer to put your drink in a ceramic cup while you're here then, if you have to leave mid-drink, offer to pour what's left into a foam cup so you can enjoy the entire drink? Yep. Unless we already know you're going to refuse that offer, that's the standard interaction every barista is trained for.

Have we ever turned anyone away because they wanted a foam cup for here?

No.

We know there are plenty of folks out there who've had unpleasant experiences with dirty cups at other establishments and no longer trust even a mechanical dishwasher like ours. And those who are a bit germophobic to begin with. It's expected.

That said, when we opened this place back in 2004 it was with the idea to bring a European character to a neighborhood coffeehouse and not be a cookie-cutter chain imitation. They don't do go-cups in most of Europe so we'd prefer not to see tables full of foam cups. Then again, this ain't Europe. And we're not that dumb to turn people away because they prefer foam for whatever reason.

Needless to say, we're disappointed to hear that people think we have rules where we don't.

So just to reiterate the "rules", and there are only three of them:

1) No espresso to go. Espresso is designed to be consumed immediately. That's kind of the entire point of the experience. And it'll taste lousy if you don't get to it right away.

2) A traditional cappuccino is just that. Traditional. It's 6 ounces made to an exacting ratio of coffee to milkfoam. No flavoring. If you want flavoring, please ask for a latte.

3) No outside beverages or baked goods are to be consumed in the shop. Bringing in coffee or pastry from somewhere else is about as disrespectful as it gets. So don't do it here and don't do it anywhere else for that matter.

That's it. Just those three. And two of them are for quality control. Pretty reasonable when you think about it.