The Woods Coffee; a coffee house with much more than just good coffee
To me, going to get coffee is more than just “going to get coffee.” It’s something that you make an afternoon of; coffee dates with a gal-pal, a boyfriend, a mom, a teacher. It’s a time to bond with your person and get into deep conversations and learn about each other’s lives. I also use it as time to go and relax. To get away from all of the people I normally surround myself, to just get a break from their chaos,or to take the time to evaluate my own life and delve deep into my own thoughts. I often, however, use “I’m going to do homework” as an excuse to go to The Woods Coffee.
The Woods Coffee is what seems to be a Bellingham favorite, one that was founded by the Herman family in 2002. Opening their first shop in Lynden on Bender Rd., then six months later opening a second location in Lynden. After that, Woods became a hot commodity; opening ten shops in Bellingham, three in Lynden, one in Blaine, one in Ferndale, and two in the Skagit Valley.
With so many locations, you see a variety of different people depending on which one you go to. Having 10 separate locations in Bellingham alone, going into an in-depth description of all of them would be a bit extensive, however I will give you a few minor details of Bellingham’s “favorite” locations.
The Railroad location is near the heart of downtown, but not quite. It’s up the road from Saturdays’ Farmer’s Markets, a prime location for some coffee while getting your delicious farm fresh foods, and it’s just across from Fiamma Pizza. At the Lakeway location you get a nice view of Lakeway Drive and all of the traffic, which doesn’t seem too nice, but the fireplace inside with the comfortable chairs make it all worth it. Downtown’s location is on Prospect Street and at some times of the day, it could very easily feel like a little coffee shop in a big city. At Boulevard Park, you get the Puget Sound, the playground, the dock, train tracks, bike paths and many more outdoorsy things.
“I’d say Boulevard park is my favorite; mostly because of the scenery with the water and the kids playing on the toys. I also like the upstairs area there, it makes it really easy to study. But if I’m not at that one, I’m here at this one [Lakeway],” said Hannah Olsen, a junior at Western Washington University while at Woods studying for a midterm.
Something that all of The Woods “chains” — if you’d so call them that — have, is the way they’re styled. Each store has a warm, log cabin type feel to it, making you feel like you could actually be in the middle of the woods. The soft lighting, with cut and sanded logs used as seats and tables, as well as wood paneling on the walls. You walk in, instantly feeling nice and cozy, smelling the fresh ground coffee grounds, warm scones, and cinnamon rolls, and just to put icing on the cake, you get a very friendly “Hi, how’re you?” from each barista working.
Friendly service and the warm, inviting environment at The Woods Coffee is partially what makes it stand out from other big coffee shops — such as Starbucks. When you walk into Starbucks, it’s as if you’re automatically being judged; Starbucks employees seem very stand-offish and bland, they don’t welcome you in with a warm smile, the walls are all white which makes everything feel even more unwelcoming. Plus let’s be honest, the coffee isn’t the best, they can’t make a cup of coffee without burning the shots — and who wants to pay nearly six dollars for a burnt, flavorless, white chocolate mocha? Not me or anyone I know for that matter.
One critique I have about The Woods Coffee, is the prices. Being equal to — maybe even more expensive depending on the drink — Starbucks’ prices, it really drains the bank if you go more than a couple times a week. However, you do get a great quality drink for the price you are paying and you end up relishing every sip.
Another critique I have about The Woods is, even though the staff is extremely pleasant, they sometimes seem very understaffed for the number of customers in the shop at one time. Granted, any business in the food/drink industry can get a rush at any time, and not one place can be fully equipped with employees on deck to just jump in whenever you get an unexpected wave of people. Even though they lack extra baristas in their times of need, they do a very good job of keeping calm and getting through the line in a somewhat timely fashion. Even so, it wouldn’t hurt to have even just one more set of hands behind the bar.
As I’ve been to The Woods Coffee roughly 100 times in the past 3 months, spending approximately $1,000 on coffee and treats, I can say that the prices have deterred me from coming as often as I used to. However I still come very regularly, which means they’re obviously doing something right. The Woods Coffee is very much worth the price you pay along with the wonderful atmosphere and amazing service. Keep it up, baristas!
