Muddy Waters Coffeehouse on Southeast 29th and Belmont (Portland, Oregon) may just be the all around best coffee shop in town. That's a huge claim to make in a town that many consider to
be the new coffee capital of the world.
I make this statement at a time when I was about to give up on trying to work at coffee shops at all. I work from home and like to get out for a few hours a day, but it seemed like no one shop could get it all right. Muddy Waters is as close to perfect as I've found.
I use instant messaging, e-mail, Web conferencing and voice over IP telephony, so the most important thing for me is bulletproof wireless Internet access. Muddy Waters has DSL and encrypted Wi-Fi and they change the password every week or two. This keeps all the homes and businesses around them from using them as their free ISP—typically a heavy hit on the bandwidth at a lot of free hotspots. Muddy Waters connection is usually excellent. They've had a couple hiccups, but they were on the phone with their provider
immediately to resolve the problem. More importantly, one of the staff went around to everyone in the shop with a laptop to acknowledge the problem and let us know they were working to fix it! It's the first time I've ever seen that in years of working at various wireless coffee shops.
They serve CBI (Coffee Bean International) coffee. You probably haven't heard of CBI. They're headquartered here in Portland and are "one of the nation’s leading specialty roasters of fair trade and organic coffees." CBI hasn't displaced my favorites (Stumptown, Victrola, Café Umbria), but it's very good. I've never had anything but americanos and drip coffee, so I can't say anything about their specialty drinks like mochas, lattes, etc.
It's a very comfortable atmosphere with a lived-in feeling that belies the fact that they're only a couple months old. The tables and chairs are comfortable and plenty, as are power outlets. They have a couple of couches in a section in the back. The high ceilings and big windows make the place feel light and airy, even on gray winter days. The music is typically of the easy-listening variety, played at a volume that allows private conversation while not being too loud to put on headphones and listen to what you like. The staff are friendly and eager to take good care of their customers. They bring your order out to your table.
One thing that definitely merits mention is the food at Muddy Waters. It would stand on its own anywhere, but it's particularly good for coffee shop fare. Their bagel sandwiches, soups, wraps and regular sandwiches are all excellent. I've eaten both breakfast and lunch there a number of times. And it's all very reasonably priced. They bake their own pastries fresh each morning and make their own flavored cream cheeses, as well.
Lest this look like an ad more than a review, there is on thing on my wish list for Muddy Waters: a self-serve water dispenser. They'll give you a large glass of water if you ask for it, but I don't want to have to keep asking every time I want a refill. Though they're very friendly and happy to oblige when I do.
[UPDATE: They now have a big, self-serve water dispenser.]
If you want a solid Internet connection, good coffee, great food, and a pleasant environment, Muddy Waters is your place.
Read more about Muddy Waters Coffeehouse at WiFiPDX
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