60-Second Review: The Coffee Shop

Recently I had some time on my hands so I made the journey out to Gilbert to visit The Coffee Shop at Agritopia. In a nut-shell, it was a treat. This cute little cafe style restaurant is cozy and warm. The high ceilings and large windows make this somewhat small space seem much bigger. It was a great place to just hang out and have some breakfast. The food was good and the service was very prompt and friendly. If you know me, you know how much I hate getting bad service in a restaurant (waitress in a former life). Eating breakfast, however, was just a rouse to achieve my real goal.

Oh the things we do for love...of CUPCAKES that is. What I really went there for were the cupcakes. I had heard that the owners of The Coffee Shop had recently won an episode of "Cupcake Wars" (Food Network) with their "Coffee & Cigarettes" cupcakes and I had to see what all the fuss was about.

Choosing three tasty looking treats to take home and savor, I paid my bill and headed for the car. It then dawned on me that these delicate cakes might not fair so well on the long trip home. You see, this is Arizona and it was early September & still obscenely hot. 108 degrees Farenheit hot. And, did I mention that the AC in my car had recently quit working and I lived 30 miles away? I would just take the freeway all the way home and it would be fine, right? Unfortunately, I made one fatal mistake. I needed to make one quick stop on my way home. I would just run in and grab what I needed and hope the cupcakes would be okay for a few minutes. No such luck, of course the line at the register was halfway around the store. The photo tells the whole story. These cupcakes suffered heat stroke! By the time I DID get home I was too hot to even enjoy the once fine specimens. I ended up only eating half of one cupcake! Maybe I will try them again when it cools off a bit...

The Coffee Shop
3000 E Ray Rd
Gilbert Arizona

(NW Corner of Higley & Ray)
480-279-3144

Thumbs Up:
Clean, bright and comfortable.
Friendly service, good food.
The pastry case! I wanted one
of everything!
The owners support worthy causes.

Thumbs Down:
A very long drive from Central Phoenix.
The day I was there, not one
variety of Chocolate cupcake in the case. Wait, what, no chocolate?!