Nixon's Coffee House — Restaurant in Denver

5/5 stars, and here’s why:

No purpose. Just here to report. This place… it all at once feels modern and yet… classic. Simultaneously. Wonderfully so. It was already channeling Great Gatsby vibes when, as I was typing this, “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Ray began playing. (A hauntingly beautiful tune in the Gatsby film’s soundtrack.) How opportune.

The faux marble countertop—with its ancient-appearing piping feeding the more modern Kombucha taps—serves as a stark contrast against the dark edges of the smart phone resting in my hands. The brilliant emerald plants give life to the otherwise black, white, and natural-wood interior. Its large windows, filtering in the bright Colorado sunlight, transport me to a past life… a European life.

Something about this place… it feels undoubtedly American but also reminiscent of my time across the Atlantic. Maybe it’s the chatter of students discussing their upcoming test tomorrow. My last life as a student was in Ireland, thus these conversations send me on a mental trip back to my time studying in Eyre Square or in one of the cafés off Galway’s famed Shop Street. Not that there was any sun there, but it’s the essence. The essence here, it… well, maybe some extraordinary parts of life are meant to be left unexamined and experienced only.

~

Ya know, when I don’t try too hard, and I allow my mind to wander away from the direct thought I’m attempting to work out, those realizations on the periphery come into focus. Sometimes by looking away, we’re strong more directly without knowing it. The end goal just wasn’t where we’d originally set our sights. We often aim for targets that we aimlessly misplace, don’t we?

Anyway, I believe I now understand why this feels so European. While I was there, I made sure to take time to soak everything in. I wasn’t forcing myself to study, read, write, or any of it. I coerced myself into doing nothing (though always in public; that part was crucial.) I redirected my aim to a different target—or maybe toward the target I had never noticed was there—and I observed and felt and took in the world with each of my traditional senses and the others we possess. I opened myself up to the people and my environment, and therefore this life opened up to me. Rather than taking opportunities or giving the planet my mind’s creations, I was receiving anything offered in my vicinity. Fully and truly appreciating strangers, a blade of grass, the birdsong drifting through the air, the mechanized chaos of commercial coffee makers. All of it a piece of the whole, and the whole the utterly baffling beauty of this existence.

~

To watch the world go by is a superpower. And Nixon’s allows you to do...

I am really a coffee freak. I've tried coffee in many countries. I've been in Denver for a few years now and have been unsuccessfully looking for good coffee. I stopped here spontaneously today because I urgently need a coffee 😅, you know what I mean. For example I couldn't sit inside because it's too loud for me, but the atmosphere is legendary !!! This coffee taste in the air is legendary! Everything clean, my gratitude to managers! I was really excited. The last good line for all of this was super nice woman who makes the coffee! But the coffee itself cannot be explained! It's an explosion in the blood, really, after those years without good coffee, it was just breathtaking! I'm really glad I went in there! This is my number one in Denver! From now on I will only start my day with this place and this coffee! Many thanks to the people who keep this place and let it run. Please keep it up, you...

TREATS THEIR WORKERS TERRIBLY!

One star for owners - I have 6 friends work there, christian honest friends. They reported the owners taking from the tip jar, not compensating for long 7hr mandatory trainings, verbally rude, new workers are not trained well (not staff’s fault), retaliative, unfair pay for long-term employees (yrs vs brand new paid the same), and for that? there’s turnover. if they close due to staffing, theres a reason. Plus as a customer, the coffee is just not good. Burnt.

5 stars for staff - LOVE the atmosphere, and go frequently and try to tip the workers. Staff does the best they can with the coffee they have. kind, wonderful and friendly.

As a christian, Im very disappointed they choose to run their business so dishonestly. hate supporting these owners. I advocate they...