Firecreek Coffee Company — Restaurant in Flagstaff

Of all the places I had coffee while visiting Flagstaff, this was the only shop that had the vibe that I anticipated. It was more rustic than others, long and in shape, and dark in lighting. Everything about the atmosphere was perfect for a coffee shop.

There was plenty of seating, decorations for Halloween on the walls, and tons of coffee gear littered all throughout the location. There was even an event room in the back for when alcohol began being served. 5 stars...

My experience didn't get weird until I ordered. The service started out great. An attractive young lady was very nice, asking why I was traveling, making some local recommendations, and finally taking my order. I say finally because I'm a big city dweller and an interaction this long would have gotten you "booed off stage" in most places I reside.

My inital order was great. I got some food and my typical review mocha, which was only alright I might add , and settled in to wait for my train. Being that I had four hours to go, I decided to switch to drip, and that's when it got weird.

Almost every other coffee shop in downtown keeps their drip coffee in the public space. The refills are free, so why bother coming to the counter and using employee time, right? Not the case here.

Not only did I pay $4.95 for a single drip coffee, getting refills was a bit annoying. That's not to mention how $4.95 for a cup of drip is a thing. It's not even that expensive at Starbucks, and that made me wonder.

During my order the barista might have upsold me, but I'm not sure, and I think it happened in a sly way. When I ordered my drip, the barista noted she "had a mug for me." Now that I look back, I think she sold me a mug without being transparent about it.

My reasoning for this conclusion is that every drink sold before and after my drip was in plastic for cold drips, and cardboard for hot. Not a single other person got a mug. Yeah, I think I was low-key sold a mug. 🤫

Anyway, I didn't take the mug with me, so if I was sold a mug, it's lost to the ether now.

I don't mind upselling, I think it's a sign of a good employee, I just want to make sure I know I'm being sold something. This isn't Wells Fargo or AT&T after all. The lingering question about the price of drip and a mug with no owner is what left the taste of 3 star review...

So when I first walked into the Firecreek Coffee Company on a slightly rainny and cool Thursday mid-May morning, the entire ambiance of this place - the art, the salvaged wood facade counters, and the opening to full-fledged bar and sound stage towards the back of the shop all screamed one thing very, very loudly: 100% Indie-grazed, FDA Certified and Approved Hipster.

"A coffee shop in the old downtown district of Flagstaff is 'hipster-y'?? My God, THE APOCALYPSE AND RAPTURE ARE UPON US!!!!!!!!1one"

However, let's get to brass-tax:

The coffee is good. Really good: A regular, "All 'Merican Man," like myself ordered a regular coffee and some cream. The result: Great coffee, my own chilled hydroflask of Straus Family Organic half and half (great choice) and the promise of free-refills for

TLDR Coffee is exceptional. However, please answer your phone. Had some amazing coffee and great service while traveling through on a 12 hour road trip. My girlfriend and I really wanted to stop in on our way back through at the end of our week trip because it was so good. We hurried through the Grand Canyon to make it before closing at 5pm. I called twice to ask if you would still serve us if we could make it at least 10 min before close. Called twice, no answer both times. My friend dropped me off out front and I went in to order. I expressed how we tried our best to hurry and get there before close and were really looking forward to your coffee to get us through the next 6 hours of our drive home. While I wouldn’t say the girl working was rude, she also obviously wasn’t interested in serving me anything but cold brew. “I already closed down the machine.” I think I want to share this experience with you because I myself work at a coffee shop in a heavy tourist town and work on a Slayer espresso machine. It’s not that big of a deal to pull a couple more shots for the day. And if you close at 5, you should close at 5, and still serve people if you are open for 10 more minutes. I personally do it all the time for my customers. I’m also not usually the person to be the last customer of the day but we were on a long trip. I would’ve really appreciated it and liked to enjoy the drink I had one more time, it was just disappointing after an already long and stressful day. This was Mon 08/28. She also could not recommend another good coffee shop that would still be open for us to try. So we looked it up and found the nearest Dutch Bros. Just to say, consider taking a moment to inconvenience yourself to possibly make...