Starry Night Espresso Cafe

Starry Night Espresso Cafe
112 S College Ave, Fort Collins, CO 80524

I'll start my food blog out with one of my favorite places in town. The Starry Night in old town Fort Collins is a great place to grab a cup of coffee, but it's also got some great food.

First impressions: This is a "cute" locally owned coffee shop, something Fort Collins has a fair number of so it's easy to miss some of them in the crowd. This one, on the corner of College Ave. and Mountain Ave. is in a great spot though and if you visit old town you drive right past it all the time and may not have noticed that it's even there. It's small but not cramped, clean without being sterile in feel, and it has worlds of class. The store front has large windows with the very nice and professional logo painted prominently in the main window. These windows allow for a lot of natural light keeping the place bright and warm a feel only accentuated by the old town charm of the building with hardwood floors and classical brick construction. Add to this a huge rendition of Starry Night by Van Gogh, one of my favorite paintings and overall it's a beautiful place and I love just being there.

The Menu: Coffee, lots and lots of coffee. The primary focus here is the extensive coffee menu, think almost Starbucks variety but local and really, better quality (sorry Starbucks, nothing against you, but there are quite a few places for a better cup of coffee). Along one wall they almost always have three to four "plain" coffees to choose from, all of them are usually great. My personal favorite is the Brazilian medium roast, but I'll leave that choice to you.
Next to all the coffee however there is a small and somewhat limited food menu. Though not their primary focus and no where near as extensive as their coffee menu, they have by no means skimped when it comes to their food. You can find the normal array of baked goods as well as some specialties you can't find almost anywhere else. The majority of the food is locally baked or otherwise prepared and all of it has great flavor and freshness.

Favorites: The Dreambar, Vegetarian Breakfast Burrito (pictured above), and of course the coffee.

Prices: Two can get a beverage and a snack for between roughly $7-$15, a real meal plus beverages for two runs between (again roughly)$12-$22.

Quick Take: One of my favorite places in town, great coffee, great snacks, great location, great feel/scenery, good food, good prices.