John from Mokarabia Coffee Bar at Verrado emailed me to let me know a bit more about their coffee shop and location. I’ll pass on the information here. I am not sure if they are open yet, I think they officially open on the 24th. I am the owner of the Mokarabia Coffee Bar at Verrado. We are the first US location – the concept is authentic Italian – designed and built in Italy and shipped and re-assembled here. We plan more openings around the USA in the coming years. How to get there: Take I-10 West to exit 120, Verrado Way. Exit and go right or north for 2 miles. You will pass construction and go through the first 4-way stop and continue on to the second 4-way stop, Main Street. Turn right on Main Street and Mokarabia Coffee Bar is on the right in the middle of the block. Allow 45 minutes to an hour from Central Phoenix. There is always a traffic slowdown before Dysart Road as I-10 goes from 3 lanes to 2 lanes. When you get past the bottleneck, traffic speed picks up again. www.mokarabia-verrado.com
Jason Haeger Really? a blend with 60% Arabica and 40% Robusta? I dunno about that. 0 Reply January 19, 2007
Steve Kessler I paused for a moment when I saw the 60 – 40 blend. Does Robusta add anything to the crema? 0 Reply January 19, 2007
Jason Haeger The crema from Robusta is a bit more stable, but the flavor it adds is horrendous. It tastes like burning rubber. 0 Reply January 19, 2007
Karen m. the caffe verrado sounds yummy. have wanted to see what was going up out that way so this may be an excuse to get out there. love the website. 0 Reply January 19, 2007
Karen m. went to mokarabia at verrado today to check it out. The trip wasn’t that lengthly as it was a sunday…took about a half hour from central phoenix. The verrado location will have a built in audience as the folks that live/will live at verrado can walk out their front door and over to the Main Street retail zone. Verrado housing seems to be in its’ early development phase. Mokarabia is easy to miss if you are cruising by in a car as it is kind of tucked in between storefronts and is narrow. The Mokarabia shop is clean, new and another in the cutting edge category of sleekly lined establishments. It’s always fun to see European design hit the States and what they bring to the table. The flooring is a shining mix of rectangular and square marble tiles with a wall scape that mimics the 3-D cups of their website. Another wall is a jigsaw puzzle of white wood blocks for a multi-dimensional effect. There are a fair amount of adjunct products for sale. Coffee cups in the traditional mug style with logo and in the more Euro style ‘cup’ with logo (which i had to pick up, too cute). Individually wrapped candies in clear glass cannisters line the high counter tops. Jumbo bags of coffee abound and a case boasts a small sampling of pastries. Saw ads for gelato but didn’t see or attempt to see them (thanks to the holidays). Now on to the actual coffee. I had the caffe verrado which is their ‘signature drink’. espresso (two shots, hello ceiling) chocolate and whipped cream. next time, less chocolate. the chocolate was powdered and in packets but still not overly sweet, just overly chocolate. Euro chocolate? more pure maybe but slightly overwhelming. The coffee did not have any of the burnt flavoring, but was very smooth. I’m thinking with another whack i’d request alterations and be a very happy camper. Perhaps, with time, there will be more to see and do on Main Street and a stroll with a cup would be in order. 0 Reply January 21, 2007
Asif Shaikh I visited Mokarabia earlier last week, March 6th 2007. The staff was very curteous. I really enjoyed the Verrado location and my business partner appreciated the store’s ambiance. My entire flight back home to Philly, I could not stop thinking about this coffee shop. I’m hoping to learn more about other locations once this chain goes nationwide here in America. 0 Reply March 10, 2007
Pete The owner has no clue how to run a REAL coffee place. Just because it is so “European” means nothing. The staff sucks and nobody has any personality including the owner. I traveled many times to Italy and France and know how a “real” coffee place feels, belief me Mokarabia in Verrado is not even close to it. 0 Reply June 8, 2007
Andrew I agree partially with Pete. Every time I’ve gone into Mokarabia I get good coffee and stuff, but the staff is dull and boring and doesn’t talk with the customers and interact. And usually they’re too busy talking amongst themselves to pay attention to the customers. Even STARBUCKS does better than this for Customer Service!!! 0 Reply June 13, 2007
