
Lot of students get drinks on the island to help them get their morning started, or to relax after a long day at school. All of the cafes on the island have their own pros and cons, which make them popular for different reasons. Personally, the qualities of a coffee place that matter most to me (in no particular order) are quality, friendliness and speed. Obviously taste is a key factor for anyone when picking a favorite cafe, but sometimes if the employees are rude, or if they take too long, then I might not go there often.
There are many places to get drinks on the island, and as a student needing some energy in the morning, I've had my fair share of coffees from many different places. Some of the most popular places for students include Cafe Luna, Thriftway and Aj’s. All of these cafes are popular for being conveniently on the way to school. Thriftway, Cafe Luna, and Aj’s are all located very close to each other, making it harder to decide which one to go to if you don't have a preference. All three of these cafes have many qualities that earned them their place in my top three ranking. Some things I always look for in a good cafe are nice employees, good quality drinks, speed and pastries.
My top three, starting with my number one choice, is Thriftway because of its guaranteed convenience. There are lots of parking spaces and decent hours. Even though they have different experienced baristas, all of them are very friendly and try their best to make a drink you’ll enjoy. It may not have the charm of a smaller coffee business, but what it lacks in charm it makes up for in speed, convenience and good employees. Since places like Cafe Luna and Thriftway use similar brands, their drinks mostly all taste very similar. It’s also very nice to get something good to drink while shopping at Thriftway.
Cafe Luna would be my second choice since I like the brands both establishments use, as well as their other good qualities. Cafe Luna has limited parking, so I might not always be able to go before school, but it has a calming environment. If I go there, I like to go when I have enough time to sit and play card games. The employees that I've interacted with there are very friendly and are normally good at making drinks. There have been many instances where they have made pretty strange mistakes to my drink like adding something completely different than what I asked for or forgetting to add a key ingredient. This doesn’t happen frequently, but has happened to me more than once. The wait time is a little bit longer than Thriftway, but they make up for it with nice seating spaces and providing cards and other table games. One big pro that earned its number two spot is their assortment of pastries that I really enjoy.
My third choice would be Aj’s, the drive through coffee stand. Their drinks are very good and they have a cute little assortment of pastries that I like. I have always enjoyed the charm of a little drive through coffee stand as well. The only reason I don’t go here often is because I usually don't have much time before school starts, but it’s a great place to go when you’re not in a rush. The wait at this place tends to be longer, since they only have one employee working at a time. It’s also likely that you won't be able to wait since there’s not much space for many cars to line up. If you do have the chance to go though, I would recommend checking it out.