Satellite Coffee — Restaurant in Albuquerque

When I walked into satellite coffee on Harvard I thought all I needed was a cup of coffee, but I was mistaken. It was the early afternoon and students from the nearby campus were milling about, basking in the already waning light of the pale November sun. One of them held the door for me as I approached. He was wearing a totally unnecessary scarf, but as he was being polite I couldn't begrudge him. I stood in lineat the register a moment, thinking about whether or not the dishes in my dishwasher at home were clean or dirty. Actually, I might have accidently put dirty dishes in with clean ones. I would have to remember to check. When i reached the front of the line I glanced up at the barista absent mindedly and was immediately stunned by his arresting blue eyes and steady demeanor. After a few seconds of silence he asked, with a slight drawl, "what can I get for you?". I took a moment to gather my wits and said, "I came in for a cup of coffee, by then I met you and everything changed". He quirked the corner of his mouth sardonically, "so you want a mucho, then?". My heart and mind raced in tandem. I managed to utter a monosyllabic "yes" and he turned his broad shoulders to get my coffee. Cup in hand I stole one last dip into his deep blue eyes, then turned to the table where creams and sugars of every variety were arrayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. A sharply dressed young woman with a cherubic grin was standing nearby, cleaning a countertop with meticulous care. She asked me how my day was going. At first glance I took her to be simply another employee, but as I took her in I saw I was wrong. This woman wore a subtle diadem of authority. An air of command readily apparent to any observer. This was no barista this was a leader. I blurted out an ephemeral response and treated my dark and ambrosial coffee to a couple couple of sugars and and a frigid splash of milk. As I turned to leave the tastefully decorated interior of the shop I surveyed my fellow patrons and found them equally ensorcelled by the enchanting atmosphere, delicious product, and charismatic staff. Each of us blessed in our own way. Then I opened the door and walked out into the cool...

I absolutely LOVE Satellite!! The coffee is great and they have a huge selection of ways to make your coffee, things to add to it, and types of coffee. I usually get the Mucho Grande Iced Coffee and then add, and yes, it's always available for us vegans (I suppose lactose intolerant people as well), soy milk and a bit of sweetener (these things you add to yourself so that you can portion it to your liking) and it is delicious and I think it's $2.75 or something around there. The dirty chai beverages which are chai tea and espresso are super good, just a little more pricey. The greatest thing about Satellite though, are their Rabbit Wraps!!! They used to be soooooo delicious, but then they changed them up a bit. I didn't think those things could get any better, OOOHHHH but they did. They are to die for! They did go up a dollar in price though, from $5.50 to $6.50, but they are just so good and healthy and vegan except some honey in the sauce on it, but I do honey and red 40; I love animals, not insects! When my mother was visiting from out of town, I took her to a few restaurants, but the Satellite Rabbit Wraps are what she has never been able to stop talking about; she totally fell in love with them. Now I have to take her rabbit wraps when ever I go out to Texas. They are a local establishment in the Albuquerque, maybe New Mexico area too, but I'm not sure on that. Satellite totally blows Starbucks out of the water! It is also conveniently located on Central across from UNM campus. Don't forget your frequent flyer card that you collect points on with every purchase and then after so much money spent you get five bucks to spend on whatever you like there (yes, I go to this Satellite very frequently). There's also a Satellite in the SUB of UNM, but they don't give you frequent flyer points, so I go across the street unless I'm really...

Oh my heart! I studied here in college and dropped in at lunch to get some work done. I love, love, love supporting local coffee, but I was had on this one.

Ordered a quad shot after finding they had Brazil on the espresso. Shots came out watery and astringent. Come to find out they were fixing their grinder so they had ground all their beans and was pulling from a cup. However, the barsita clearly did not have training on espresso machine (no packing, 9 second draw, no gram measurement).

I was nice!!! I said, "hey can i just have a coffee instead?"

No biggie right?

She said in a rude tone, "You dont like it? Well we think its great."

Thats when I left. Poor product and Rude Service? Earned yourself a 1 star there...

Management, if you wanna correct the training and attitude of this employee: Short haired brunette, purple hair, combed to the side...

But I have a feeling shes management, so I doubt that will happen.

So long Satellite! It was good! I'll miss you!

#shouldhavewenttohumble

*just found out the barista was the regional manager. No wonder she was arrogant and incompetent. Her grinder was broken and she simply did not know how to pull an espresso shot and when I called her on it oh, she had to save face in front of her employees. Most likely, this is an individual experience. I doubt the regional manager it's going to serve many other people. So, to you my reader, you'll probably have good service and equality espresso shot. I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with the...