Location: 2125 Delaware Ave. Santa Cruz, CA 95060 Hello everyone and welcome back! This week we will be visiting Cafe Iveta which first started out as a small cafe in a suburb of Chicago back in 1991. They wanted to create an Italian style type of cafe where their locally famous scones will be the focal point. The founders of this place, a husband and wife, worked long and hard to perfect their scone recipe in the interim move to Santa Cruz where two of their daughters attended school (UCSC, my alma mater! Go Banana Slugs!) in 1998. It took them a little over 10 years to finally open up a cafe on the westside of Santa Cruz a couple blocks from the beautiful cliffs that over look the sea to finally locals what they have been wanting since they heard of their arrival: scones. This place became a local favorite that lead to them opening up another, larger cafe in the center of campus on UCSC 5 years later. Cafe Iveta is located in a warehouse building in a kind of industrial looking side of Santa Cruz. This original location was actually where they bake and package all of their scones online and the cafe just takes a tiny portion of the warehouse which you can actually see when you ask to use the restroom (They have one inside the warehouse area behind the kitchen). The cafe itself is pretty spacious with high ceilings and lots of patio seating out front. They actually have a loft as well (you can see the staircase in the back of the above picture) where they often showcase local artists' works. On some evenings of the week, they actually host art gallery sessions to showcase some more prominent local artists where art lovers can interact with the artists. If you call ahead, you can even reserve the loft area for special events such as meetings, birdal showers, or even birthdays. Being as this is Santa Cruz, almost everything you order off the menu whether be coffee, beer, wine, scones, or sandwiches, is sourced locally in the bay area. One of the reasons I love about coffee shops in Santa Cruz is the fact that they care for the community they serve and bring about needed exposure to events going on around the city. Cafe Iveta is no different as they are very much intertwined with the circumstances surrounding their neighborhood. Okay so this isn't a typical coffee review section since the real highlight of this place is definitely their scones. I will however give you my thoughts on their coffee regardless. I've tried pretty much everything you need to try from every coffee shop if you're a coffee lover: lattes, cappuccinos, cold brews, and drip coffee. If I'm not mistaken, they use Lavazza beans which is a really old Italian roasting company founded in 1895 which only contributes to the cafe's vision of creating a traditional Italian style of cafe. Some people don't necessarily like the taste of Italian style of coffee as they think it's too bitter or too strong, but that's how they like it there (I drank lots of coffee when I was in Italy this past fall) and it's no different at this cafe. Their drinks bring a pack of punch in them especially if you enjoy drinking your cold brews and drips black like me. Their smell is also pungent, but in a good way. Not pungent in the way in how chain coffee shops like Starbucks or Peets constantly brews a new batch of coffee every 30 minutes during peak times which leaves your clothes smelling like coffee for decades on end (I know I'm exaggerating :P), but pungent as where you perform a cupping, you'll instantly get the coarse smell of earthy notes that the Italians love so much. Their brewed and espresso drinks are solid and don't really stand out especially in the coffee mecca that is Santa Cruz, but you will still enjoy every sip of it to compliment your oh-so-delicious scone. This baby right here is what your coffee is for: to enhance your experience while eating heaven. I know this isn't a food blog but I kind of have to tell you guys about their scones because 1) it's the reason I went out to visit Iveta and 2) the scone really enhances your coffee and vice versa. I'm normally not a big fan of scones (I'm a muffin type of guy) because they are often hard and dry when I initially tried them, but Cafe Iveta is really special. Their scones are crispy on the edges but soft and moist in the fatter portions of the scone. They do not add that much salted sugar like you often see in scones at other coffee shops and isn't too sweet either. The thing that draws me to them the most is the fact that even if they are a day old (they sell them for half the price), they are not hard or go super dry like most scones do. Obviously they are the best when you get them fresh early in the morning, but a good amount of the more popular scones sell out quick and there are days where I come into their cafe and see only 3 pieces of scones in their case (they makes dozens for different flavors that are offered for the day). But yea guys, their scones are really good... Try it if you're in the area or you can try buying some of their scones boxed on their website www.iveta.com/category_s/206.htm. They also have other goodies for you to check out there as well.
Atmospher and Decor: 8/10 Coffee: 7/10 Scones: 12/10 Recommend: Scones with drip coffee.
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Coffee SenpaiJust an Otaku who also loves his coffee. Grab some coffee and watch anime with me ٩(θ‿θ)۶ Blog is currently on hold. Sorry for the inconvenience ._.
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