Intelligentsia Cafe - Venice, or lack thereof.

So, being a huge intelligentsia coffee fan, who has never actually had their coffee at one of their shops, I was overjoyed to learn they were going to open a new shop less than 2 miles from my home.

The first press release on their main website said they would be opening may 15th, with a "grand opening" party on the 22nd.

I was following their website daily up to the 15th, trying to get an idea if the opening was really going to happen. Up until the night of the 14th, it looked like it was.

I checked one last time before heading off to get some sleep, and the site had been updated saying they weren't ready to open it yet. BUMMER!

I continue monitoring the site through the next week. The site had been updated to say they were going to open on the 22nd. I checked the site on the 21st, and it said all things were good to go for the grand opening party, 8:00pm to 1:00am.

Being a true geek, I didn't feel like trying to compete with throngs of other people on opening night, so I put off going to it until Saturday morning. Website says they open up at 7:00 am on Saturdays.

I head down to the area of the shop, never having been to that area of town before, and I can't find the intelligentsia logo anywhere on the storefronts in that area. I do wander past a closed shop that has an unlit coffee cup decoration on the building above a door with no store name or decoration, that looks like one of the pictures on the website. But no lights are on, and no sign of life was to be found.

Frustrated I head down the street 2 blocks to a coffee shop that is open, but the coffee was really bad.

I come back the next afternoon and park a few blocks away and have a printed map of where the shop is supposed to be, and yes it was the place with the unlit coffee cup logo above it. Still nothing on the storefront, but looking through the place out the back window I see Intelligentsia trucks parked. With hopes high and enthusiasm rising, I head around back. There is a parking area behind with a door with the intelligentsia logo above it, and there was a person inside.
The place looked like a tornado had swept through a coffee shop and dumped the remains in this spot.

Apparently they were still working on getting everything setup and ready to go, and were nowhere near ready to really be open.

It's now June 4th, and still no open coffee shop near me. At least the website has been updated to say "Open in June". A step in the right direction.

But man, I sure wish they were actually open. I would have gladly been spending lots of money at their shop, instead of continuing to find other local coffee places to get good beans at.

However even though they are not open, I have continued to buy their beans online, and continue to patiently wait for them to really open up the shop near me.

I think I might be addicted to good coffee, what do you think?