My mom recently visited Ike’s Coffee in Tucson, and shared these snapshots with me. I found the art on the coffee cup sleeve to be especially cool.
Psyd With the caveat that I’ve never been back (and there’s a hing for ya!) I’ll propose that the place is cute, the pastries are nice, but the coffee and the people are mediocre at best. It was 2006, and the ones that showed up at the 1st AZ Barista Jam from the downtown Ike’s were a bit like, “We know hot to make coffee, we don’t have to listen to you guys, you’re not our real dad!” So I went to see if they walked the walk. Not hardly. Right in front of them were some of the most talented people from AZ, as well as some of the most knowledgeable and skilled folk from around the country, and they took a pass. Someone could have woken up and smelled the coffee between now and then, but I may never know. Ya never get a second chance to make a first impression. 0 Reply April 15, 2010
Bill M. I’m not sure where this person was, but s/he definitely was NOT visiting my local Ike’s Coffee – they have great coffee drinks (my favorite is iced soy latte), decent sweets, excellent sandwiches and salads. Free WiFi and locally owned. 0 Reply June 7, 2010
Psyd Like I said, the sweets and pastries were pretty good as well as the sandwiches, but the flagship of a place called ‘XXX Coffee and Tea’ might want to be the coffee or the tea. I’m just sayin’. And Ike’s ain’t bad, either. But it isn’t as good as any of the other ‘real’ coffee houses in Tucson, and it could be. My point was that they were shown the way and the light, and chose the path of the darkside. Compared to Starbucks, coffee-wise, they’re indistinguishable. If that’s where they want to set the bar, so be it. I’d prefer someone that cares bit more about what ends up in the cup. 0 Reply June 8, 2010
Catherine I’d say Ike’s has one of the best mochas in Tucson and coffee comparable to most other places (compared to: Epic, Bentley’s, Coffee xchange, Chocolate Iguana, Savaya, and Avenue Coffee – I haven’t tried Cartel yet). Maybe it’s changed since 2006. I didn’t arrive in Tucson until 2008 and first tried Ike’s sometime in 2009. It’s been one of my favorites in Tucson since then. That being said, the Ike’s in the Tucson airport is pretty disgusting and nothing like the Ike’s on Speedway. 0 Reply May 8, 2011
Ben Please note that after meeting with the manager of the Speedway store, I found out that the airport kiosks are not owned or operated by Ike Isaacson or his staff. The company that runs the airport locations bought the rights to use the name and that is all. The “original” Ike’s locations (Speedway/Country Club & Downtown) have some of the best coffee and staff in AZ. I would agree that the airport kiosks in no way reflect the quality of the product nor the professionalism of the staff at the local Ike’s Coffee and Tea locations. 0 Reply September 28, 2011
Eric Phelps Today, after another visit to Ike’s on Speedway I can no longer resist leaving this negative observation. I’ve been a customer there for some six years, not daily certainly, but often enough to have thought my face might register to the staff as a ‘person’. But today’s robotic, unfeeling service from the barista was the last for me and I won’t be returning. I don’t expect employees anywhere I go to be slavish, servile, or falsely attentive, but at Ike’s they have honed the ‘you don’t even exist’ look and actions to a fine degree. Surely even these difficult times we all live in have increased pressures on people, and make all things more difficult. But the cold opaqueness of the staff there has finally driven me away to wherever I can find that employs actual living feeling people. 0 Reply October 3, 2012
BoiseNoise We stopped by Ike’s on Speedway a couple of days, and the barista said, “Oh, you guys are here from Idaho for Christmas . . . right?” She actually recognized us from a whole year ago when we were last in town. So, Eric, I’m sorry you had a cold, impersonal experience, but ours was anything but! 0 Reply December 26, 2012
TME I have been going to the IKE’s downtown for many years. I have also gone to the location on Speedway a few times. Both have their share of staff that are friendly, recognize you and great at making whatever coffee you have a taste for. Yes, occasionally there will be that employee who is not too friendly, standofish almost, but overall, I have always had good experiences at both locations. At the downtown location they great the “regulars” by name and if you order the same thing every time, have it prepared before you’ve even paid most of the time. I will buy my coffee here to support local business more often than buying at Starbucks! I rarely get the personable service at Starbucks that I get at Ike’s and the coffee is much better at Ike’s. 🙂 0 Reply March 27, 2013
