by Alissa K. on After paying a visit to my wonderful chiropractor/friend (John C. Richardson Chiropractic Clinic - go see him NOW!!), we stepped out for a cup of coffee. He's located on the edge of the Union Square madness, so we were looking to avoid the legions of awful tourists (please, please, someone buy me a taser for Christmas). Clearly we weren't going to hit the Starbucks on Powell and Sutter (coffeeshops are supposed to be relaxing liberal bastions filled with homemade granola and shade-grown coffee, not a bunch of queued-up yuppies waiting for a disgruntled lemming worker to toss some crappy fuel at them so they can think up wittier marketing campaigns and write "clever" TV shows like "How I Met Your Mother"). Anyway (*crickets*), Sugar Cafe's colors are brown and turquoise. Love. It also has three distinct spaces. The front has a bunch of comfy chairs and sofas with a gas fireplace. The middle houses the cashier, along with a bar, and a long booth on the other side of the wall with little tables and chairs. The back is sort of a combo of the front and the middle. Clean, clean bathroom. Good coffee. Eff you, Starbucks. And you too, Peet's, since you let Starbucks buy you like the cheap whore that you are. Sniff.
by Joe G. on Thanks to previous reviewers' warnings about palm-greasing, I called ahead for a table and had no difficulties. The crowd was somewhat upsetting; I did not need to see Wilford Brimley look-alikes shakin' it to Depeche Mode. On the other hand, the views are stunning, the drinks perfectly balanced (if a bit weak), and while they were playing the standard set of 80s synth-pop dance songs, I've never heard them mixed better. This review would usually lead to a two-star rating; the extra star is for playing the original German version of "Der Kommissar."
