11/03/08

"All about the coffee" taken too far ...

by DavidW415

More of the Ritual hipster scene without the good service and wi-fi. Yeah, it's all about the coffee, but it's not ALL about the coffee. No comfortable seating. No credit cards. No food. Disinterested service. And did I mention no wi-fi? Plus, too many cool people. Where are the common folk?

And those boar heads on the wall just creep me out.

• Pros: Coffee is good.
• Cons: The rest isn't.

This warehouse-sized coffee house and boutique roaster in the innermost Mission eschews the myriad amenities of the typical SF cafe for a limited menu of cult-favorite coffees and beans.

by Patrick Heig

If the modern coffeehouse is a cluttered and crowded combination of WiFi'd workspace, sandwich counter, open-mic-and-cheap-beer happy hour, Four Barrel is the stripped-down post-modern incarnation: no Internet, no panini, no warbly Wonderwall covers or $2 Sierras; just coffee. The rough-hewn open rafters, wood-beam tables and retro metal classroom chairs give the space an industrial feel, while a row of mounted boars' heads above the sugar and milk station provide cheek. Coffee purists will dig the simple menu--coffee, espresso, americano, macchiato, cappucino, cafe au lait, latte, mocha and iced coffee--and seeing Portland's famous Stumptown beans being roasted just a few feet behind the La Mistral where they're turned into drinks. The only non-coffee products on sale are Dynamo Donuts, which are artisanally made with flavors like maple bacon and caramel fleur de sel, and might just be the post-modern version of the dunkable snack.