by Andrew Aquino
It's getting to be that time of the year when I get tired of school and homework. It's just the same over and over every week. I go to school, come home and study. So, one day, I said to myself, “ Hey Andrew, why don't you find something to break this routine? Why don't you study someplace else?” Right away, two places come into mind; Kaladi Brothers Coffee and Lucky Monkey. I asked my friends Grace Kramer and Evan Jackson to come with me and check them out, and rate their food. But before we left, I asked Evan and Grace to describe their tastes in food.
Andrew -“ Grace, what kind of food do you usually enjoy?”
Grace -“I actually like all types of food, but I don't really like Asian food for some reason.”
Andrew -“All Asian food or what?”
Grace -“Oh, I like egg rolls.”
Andrew -“How?”
Grace -“Actually, I like them dipped in ketchup.”
Andrew -“ So Grace how would you describe your taste in food? Like what kinds of styles do you like?”
Grace -“My favorite kind of food is the really, really the white trash food. Like Tex Mex or McDonalds, you know?”
Andrew -“So Evan, what kind of food do you tend to usually enjoy?”
Evan -“Um I like pretty much everything. Like vegetables Asian food, Mexican.”
Andrew -“Do you like to try a lot of new things?”
Evan-“ Um yeah, pretty much everything.”
Andrew -“What's your favorite style of food?”
Evan -“Pretty much everything. But I prefer Mexican, Japanese or Korean food. Or, Thai is good too.”
Now that you know what kind of food they like, we're off. Our first destination; Kaladi's. on Frontage Road.
Server- “Welcome to Kaladi's what can I get for you today?”
Evan -“I'll have a mocha frap?”
Server -“Any flavors?”
Evan -“uh…mocha”
Grace -“ Can I have a short macchiato?”
Server -“Flavors?”
Grace -“I'd like caramel.”Once they got their drinks, I let them chill for a while and really taste what they ordered. To get them warmed up to the microphone, I had them describe the atmosphere, and why it a great place to study.
Andrew -“Evan can you describe the atmosphere please? Like what kind of place is it?”
Evan-“ That is one of the reason why I like it here, you just come in, sit in the lounge chairs, and the people are super nice. They have computers so you can go on the internet. They have music playing, and you can just hang out and talk to your friends.”
Andrew - “Grace, Can you describe Kaladi's environment please?”
Grace -“Its really quiet and pleasant you know and you can kinda hear some music in the background, which I really like. You can't see this but I really like the color scheme; how the walls are painted and how the ceiling is like black, and all the lamps.
After these questions, they still weren't done with their drinks. So, I looked around and decided to interview a guy that was working on his homework. Here's Jerry Lau.
Andrew -“So Jerry, why is Kaladi's a good place to hang out or study or just do homework?”
Jerry -“Uh it's a great atmosphere, it's not very loud, not too quiet, you kinda keep your mind occupied. If you're doing your homework, you don't get bored, because you can you just look around. There's great pictures on the walls, you get a great vibe from the people around you. You meet a lot of nice people. There's Good looking girls. Petty much, it's really relaxing and I'm able to study and get your homework done without being bored about it.”
Andrew -“Out of ten coffee cups, how many coffee cups would you give to Kaladi Brothers?”
Jerry -“Nine, and I have never been to a ten before.”See, that gives you all the reason to come and study at Kaladi's; Good atmosphere, nice art, hot girls… Well, when Evan and Grace finally finished their drinks, I had them describe them to me.
Andrew-“Evan, what did you order?”
Evan-“Uh, I ordered a mocha frapp?”
Andrew-“What does it taste like?”
Evan-“Uh, I actually really like it. It's uh not too strong, but it has the coffee flavor, and the whipped cream makes it really smooth.”
Andrew- “Is it one of the sweeter coffees?”
Evan- “The thing is it's not too sweet, but it's sweet enough that the coffee is not too overpowering.”
Andrew-“Grace, what did you order?”
Grace-“I ordered a12 oz., 8 oz. Caramel macchiato.”
Andrew- “What exactly is a macchiato?”
Grace- “I guess it is just coffee with caramel in it.”
Andrew- “What does it taste like?”
Grace- “It tastes like really bitter but then it is sweet too, at the same time. It's just good.”
Before we left, I thought that it'd be cool to have the workers tell me what their favorite things to drink are at Kaladi's. Respectively, here's Liz, Audrey, Terry, and Adrienne.
Andrew - “Andrew Aquino, here with…
Audrey - “Audrey Butcher.”
Andrew - “Audrey what is your favorite type of drink at Kaladi Brothers?
Audrey - “Skinny Caramel White Chocolate Mocha.”Lastly, Here's Evan's rating for Kaladi's
Andrew- “Out of ten Evan, how many coffee cups would you give Kaladi Brothers?
Evan- “I am thinking about a 9.5. I really like it.”
Andrew- “Why?”
Evan - “The coffee, the beverages, the environment, the people, really nice staff.”After Kaladi's our next place was Lucky Monkey, on the corner of 5 th and C. Right when we got in, I asked Amanda, the server at the time, to tell me what Luck Monkey had to give.
Andrew - “Hello.”
Amanda -“What can I get for you today?”
Andrew - “What do you have, I have actually never been here before.”
Amanda - “We are a café we sell coffee, like espresso and mochas. And we have soup… and we have three different kind of dumplings…
Andrew - “What kind of toppings do you have on those?”
Amanda - “We put curry powder, hot sauce, cilanto and sour cream and you can have all of it or none of it or whatever.”
Grace ordered for us.
Grace- “We would like one omnivore dumpling and one soup of the day and a large soda.”
Amanda- “Would you like everything on your dumplings today.”
Grace- “Yeah, please.”
I really like how Lucky Monkey is decorated, and its nice location. Here's Evan's and Grace's take.
Grace - “The free wireless internet is really good and there is a great environment and the staff is really nice.”
Evan - “Laid back…”
Andrew- “Why is luck monkey a great place to hang out or just study or do homework?”
Evan- “There is a lot of room and the Internet and the tables and they have a some really crazy painting on the wall.”While Grace and Evan were eating, I asked Amanda what her favorite thing to get at Lucky Monkey is.
Andrew - “Amanda, what is your favorite thing to order here and the lucky monkey?”
Amanda - “The herbivore dumplings with hot sauce and sour cream.”
Andrew - “Any favorite drinks?”
Amanda - “Vanilla mochas and our Dr. Pepper.”Before we left, I asked Evan how he liked Lucky Monkey.
Andrew : “If you had to give out of ten monkeys, lucky monkey monkeys, how many monkeys would you give lucky monkey.”
Evan: “I would give lucky monkey approximately 9.7 monkeys. The staff is pretty cool. She was really nice.”
We left and here I am now. Evan went to lucky Monkey two days later, and Grace went to the Lucky Monkey website. We think you should check out Lucky Monkey AND Kaladi's. They have really good food, and they're awesome places to study. So, next time you get bored writing a Dante paper about how he parenthetically is the greatest narrative poet of the modern era, go to Kaladi Brother's and Lucky Monkey.
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