About a week ago I asked on Twitter if anybody was interested in sending in photos of coffee shops for publication on Arizona Coffee. There are still a good hundred plus coffee shops in AZ that I haven’t been to, and I’m always wanting to see new ones. A few people expressed interest and Tonia Bartz (Blog) has submitted these great shots of the recently updated Solo Cafe. While I’ve been to Solo plenty of times, I hadn’t seen the new design! They closed over the July 4th weekend for an interior revamp and from these photos it looks great. Check out that sweet artwork! And look at that bumper sticker! Yeah! It’s been a while since I’ve visited Solo, but the first thing I’ve noticed is they added extra tables and chairs. Exterior: They have a sweet patio which will be nice this winter. New interior furniture placement. Thanks Tonia for sending in the great photos! Solo Cafe 107 E. Baseline Road A-4 Tempe AZ 85283 Phone: (480) 838-SOLO (7656) Twitter: @solocafe
Tonia The artwork is awesome. They had I believe two local artists in there the entire time they were closed for remodeling doing that by hand. For anyone interested, I wrote about the last day and the re-opening of Solo on my blog: http://gracebalancecourage.com/blog/tag/solo-cafe 0 Reply July 28, 2009
Chris Tingom Wow, Ron… I never knew you were an artist! Psyd, I can definitely see the Ralph Steadman influence. I hadn’t ever heard of him but his work is interesting. 0 Reply July 29, 2009
Psyd Ehm, it’s a near exact copy of the cover art for ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’. Rumour has it that the original was reversed, and had Unka Gonzo driving on the other side of the car, (Steadman is a Brit) and the printer revered it to make it look right. You can buy prints of the original with HST on the right side of the car, picture left. Ron, what does Ralph think of it? 0 Reply July 29, 2009
David X I love the new artwork, but honestly I miss the old arrangement of the big table and chairs. It was the centerpiece of the area and it was in the middle of everything, so it always felt like welcoming to sit in. Right now that table is tucked away by the window, which has a bunch of chairs facing each other that makes for a great meeting place for groups, but pretty much leaves a sense of separation for anyone just looking for a comfortable place to sit. The new modern white Drip-Coffee-esque tables and chairs also seem terribly out of place; Its stark and clashes with the turn of the century train station look that it had previously mastered. Other than that, the place is still Solo and still a favorite. 0 Reply August 12, 2009