Changes at La Taza include name, prices
Next week, La Taza will change its name to Roast: a neighborhood eatry and espresso bar.
FILE PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR
While La Taza prepares to open La Tazita in the SNL Buildings, which we reported on last week, down at their Downtown Belmont location they’re cooking up some changes as well–- like changing their name.
That’s right, according to La Taza owner Melissa Easter, the Belmont coffee house and eatery will soon change its name to the more elaborate Roast: a neighborhood eatery and espresso bar. Easter says its an effort to re-brand the place for the “eclectic blend of folks” who’ve frequented La Taza over the years. The change will include bringing the prices down, making service quicker, redecorating, going green by adding solar hot water heaters on the roof, adding more soups and sandwiches, and naming the sandwiches after streets in Belmont.
“Cash is a problem right now,” says Easter. “And we want to make it reasonable to go out.”
Easter says the changes should be done next week, but that people shouldn’t expect to lose that La Taza atmosphere entirely.
“We’ve changed colors a little bit, moved things around, but it will still have that funky La Taza feel,” she says.” I think it’s prettier than it was before.”
As for La Tazita, Easter says she was initially skeptical about expanding over the bridge, but has since warmed up to the idea.
“I’m so excited about La Tazita,” she says. “It’s going to be a nice, little, cozy warm spot in the SNL building.”
Of course, all this sudden change has been a whirlwind for Easter.
”It’s crazy, it was a lot to do in a little time,” she says.
14 comments
Dave... line 15 again.
/I'm going to have to start charging.
La Taza's counter staff are frequently borderline rude, almost always apathetic. You are frequently made to feel as though you're interrupting a very important conversations they're having with their friends or co-workers. And slooow? Wow.
Agreed on the "loose" thing. It's like a virus. How did everyone forget how to spell a basic word? Weird.
What is with the loose proliferation of misspellings of the word "lose"? Were passels of textbooks printed with a typo, forever condemning generations of school children to a lifetime of ignorance of the correct spelling of this one syllable, four letter word?
In the last 5 years, I've seen the mistake more and more often. It is truly puzzling.
Good job, Floozy.
Has pedantic behavior also increased over the last five years?
Decaf guys, decaf...
Perhaps I'm actually Flozy. I'll have to look into that... as the actress said to the bishop.
Do they not have Google on your planet?
...or clocks that tell Earth time, since I just replied to you at 6.37pm and your post is time stamped 7.15pm. OMG... tell me what alien technology you have that I could patent. Did you send us Bill Gates? Oprah? Halsey Minor?
Could someone tell me just where the SNL buildings are?
As somebody who could be walking on a daily basis to La Taza but doesn't, I'll weigh in on the actual topic and say Bravo. Change is definitely needed. I should be able to consider the place my second kitchen and own private coffee bar, but I don't because of service, pricing and, let's face it, cleanliness.
New chance to get some of your neighbors back in there. Can't wait to see you do better. You're sitting on a goldmine.
Great to hear that the owners are restructuring the service. I used to frequent La Taza, but stopped after experiencing poor service several trips in a row. It shouldn't be that hard to serve 10-15 people coffee and a few egg sandwiches; somehow La Taza can't seem to get it right.
Not to mention the cocaine residue on the back of the commode after Tiki Bar. Allegedly! There is etiquette after all. Leave a toot at least for the next person in line...so to speak.
And, seriously what is going on with the loose thing. I can imagine getting an email from a long lost lover. "Darling, I stand here bereft of your gifts, your warmth, I can not loose you."
It's bizarre how pervasive it has become and I'm not a grammar or spelling Nazi like others who have nothing else to do except berate people on the interwebs for things that matter little.
Yeah, I stopped visiting La taza when I had to wait ungodly times even for a Latte and there was hardly anyone there. I didn't suffer rudeness, but it was like they couldn't stop stocking the drink cooler to come over and actually serve me.
I hope that on this change they can get that right.
Sorry to hear La Taza service is not good. How odd that is. Fortunately many of the other independent coffee shops in town (Greenberry's, Shen Joe, Java Java, the Mudhouse outposts but not the Mudhouse itself) are very cheerfully run. I don't like being served coffee by someone who seems desperately in need of a pick-me-up herself.