Now, I’ve been to some pretty cool coffeehouses in places like Pittsburgh, San Francisco, New York City, London, etc… until last week there were no coffeehouses in Arizona that lived up to my expectations. FIreside Espresso changed all of this.

Sure this coffeehouse is in Payson and isn’t actually in Phoenix, but it’s a helluva cool drive up the Beeline and I can be sitting in Fireside Espresso in 90 minutes. The red and white building is on a corner near a gas station with a large logo of a man drinking coffee over a campfire. The cozy “partner-up” atmosphere continued inside. The sage walls jutted up from wood floors surrounded by a large space sectioned off into smaller rooms. One large section had a fireplace and welcoming leather couch where a man was sleeping when I first went in. Across the entire front of the building were windows and large sitting areas. I saw a local group of folks playing Scrabble one time I went and the other time I went there was a single’s Bible study at the long wooden, polished table. This is the perfect place to have informal meet-ups in this area.

My wife grabbed a table in an area that is used for Open Mic Night and booted her computer; she was quickly online while I ordered several things. The barista explained all food is made from scratch right there on site, and I quickly ordered various scones and quiche. It felt like most people were locals or at least treated like locals. The barrister turned out to the be the owner, Amy Anderson. Amy made several recommendations for drinks and deserts before we grabbed some seats. We had three children between ages 2-5 with us; Amy and every customer there didn’t even raise an eyebrow when they ran across the stage or shouted through the coffeehouse.

The quiche was phenomenal and the Americano was the perfect wake me up. On the menu I saw a drink called a “London Fog”, so I asked Amy what it was. I’d never heard of it and later realized it’s more popular than I knew. I told her that i wanted one the next time I came in, which just happened to be three hours later. She turned back to make one of the best drinks I had, which I later discovered was steamed milk, Torani vanilla, and earl grey tea bags (the secret is to steep for only 2 minutes!) Amy mentioned that she had been in the business for four years and ran Fireside Espresso for two of them.

I’ve been searching for a coffeehouse that felt like family — a Cheers for the caffeine set, I suppose. Fireside Espresso is this place. Drive up, go see Amy, tell her I said hello and to have my London Fog ready the next time I head north for some weather.