Here's the impetus for my support and encouragement for locally-owned bakeries: I grew-up in the restaurant business and know the exhausting work that goes into it. (Even then, I was partial to the sweets we sold, because they were Really Good, and I knew the baker.) I know the hard work it takes to keep a food/dining business going. Not to mention the time, the aching feet, the cranky customer now and then. So, when I saw in the AZ REP that there are a handful of new or newish cafes (one with homemade pastries) brewing on the west side (which, trust me, might as well be the wild west of the wild west), I smiled.
REALLY what makes a good coffee shop for me depends on how
their Iced Cafe Mocha tastes. This is TBD as I have yet to visit these
places (listed below). But now that they are on my sugar-run radar, I
will!
Rayner's is the one that makes its own chocolates and pastries.
A Shot of Java has actually been around for seven years. We do not keep the same hours. I've tried visiting them a number of times, but, alas, our schedules have not met yet. One day! (They do sell some pastries from Shelley's...you can see my review of Shelley's in a earlier blog entry.)
Join me in wishing these locally-owned cafes all the best!
