Last Saturday, on one of my regular strolls with the twins, I made it west of Blenheim along Broadway for the first time in quite a while. And with coffee shop openings and closings fresh on my mind, I was surprised and excited to find 3436 Coffee Lounge (3436 West Broadway @ Waterloo). And let me tell you, this place deserves to call itself “lounge“.
It has a beautiful interior, quite unlike any other coffee place that I know, easily rivaling 49th Parallel for style. And in true lounge fashion, they have some comfortable looking chairs set up close to a cozy looking fireplace. They also have a bunch of conventional tables and chairs, which is convenient for using the free wireless they offer. In a little space in the back there are a couple of workstations set up, and I assume you pay for these by the minute/hour. One station looked particularly attractive, as it had a huge flat-screen monitor.
While having a great look and feel is nice, it’s all moot if you can’t back it up with quality coffee. So I was happy to find out that the coffee is excellent.
3436 Coffee Lounge is also open to live performances, be they music, poetry, or other forms of art. The one thing I forgot to check was to see whether they are licensed, but I have a feeling they are not.
The only downside I can see to this place is the fact that they are closed on Sundays and close at 6pm every day (although the website suggests they sometimes stay open later on Fridays and Saturdays). But next time I need to hole up with my notebook to finish a project, I will certainly consider hopping on a bus to this end of Broadway.
