Soul & Work

This Saturday I utilized my unfortunately early wake up to trot on down to Old Soul Coffee to try out their breakfast items. It was a gorgeous morning, and this whole "sunshine" thing that's been going on lately is really putting some fuel in my creative furnace.

'd been by before, but they were out of the french toast, which I really wanted to try. Old Soul is a coffee roaster as well as a bakery, supplying pastries and bread to a number of Sacramento locations, so I figured their french toast would be worth a taste.
I am, in general, an Old Soul fan. They have an awesome location; in the alley behind Crepeville and Bows and Arrows. My bike currently being out of commission (again!) I decided to pilot my Chucks down there, lug along my laptop, use their WiFi and see if I could get any work done.

The place was pretty busy, so after ordering my highly-anticipated French Toast and Bamboo Tea, plopped down in a comfy chair across the way from my poker-playing compatriot, Chris. We briefly discussed his burgeoning card game addiction, and then I moved to a larger community table once I got my food, to better facilitate simultaneous eating and internetting. My tea was delicious, and excellent selection from the superfriendly staff. The french toast was prepared as several small, relatively thin slices of french bread with a slightly cinnamon-y batter, a small to-go condiment tub of syrup. It came with house potatoes, and a similar little tub of ketchup.

And it was... alright. The bread was a little chewy, and hard to cut with the fork (the only untensil provided). The potatoes were unevenly cooked, ranging from a starchy, undercooked crispness, to a little mushy, with a couple pitch-perfect crispy-skin-and-buttery-insides mixed in. I was tempted to use the ketchup, which I am genrally loathe to do (breakfast potatoes should stand on their own, I say!). Overall; fairly disappointing.


The good news is, I got a lot of work done! The community table was a perfect place to pitch up the old toplap and sketchbook, and toy around with some costume designs for my Project Rooftop submission, as well as get my social networking done, and look up extraneous whatnots. So while I do highly recommend Old Soul as a coffee shop, feel free to sleep in a little and wait for lunch. If memory serves, their sandwiches are generally a little pricier than their breakfast fair, but worth it. I'll be sure to check out some other items, maybe french toast just isn't their bag?

But they definitely have a cool vibe. And questionably free art in the bathroom (irongreymammoth.com). And some sweet signage.

Atmosphere:  10/13 pts

Clean: 1/3

Structural: 2/3

Decor: 3/3

Signage 2/2

Service: 2/2

Menu: 5/8 pts

Variety: 1/2

Size: 1/2

Beverages: 2/2

Prices: 1/2

Food: 3/9 pts

Presentation: 1/3

Portion: 1/3

Taste:  1/3

Bathroom: 2/5 pts.

Clean: 1/2

Structural: 0/1

Decor: 1/2

20/36 pts