For some urban advocates, there can never be enough space allocated for ground floor retail. In an ideal vision of a vibrant city inspired by the writings of Jane Jacobs, every building would be mixed use, often with several floors of residences above retail at street level. When Phoenix has tried to encourage or mandate that type of arrangement, the results have been mixed. Some ground floor spaces are full on opening day and others languish in vacancy for years. For the Skyline Lofts in downtown Phoenix, Fillmore Coffee has been a long-term ground floor tenant.
Fillmore is situated along the street it is named for, halfway between Third and Fourth streets, and just under half a mile from Van Buren / Central station on the B Line. There are bike racks right outside, and they serve as a nice complement to the protected bike lanes along Fillmore. Some outdoor seating at wooden tables is available under red awnings and a prominent sign identifying the coffee shop. All ordering occurs at the counter inside, where menus of food and drinks are posted overhead.
Inside, the counter is at the front of a circular area where beverages are ordered up front, prepared in the center, and then announced for customers to pick up in back. A kitchen is off to one side, and seating is found in all directions. Some of it is modern and metallic while wooden tables and leather couches show signs of wear. There is abundant natural light, which is enhanced by the white walls adorned with local art work and hanging plants. A counter at the rear of the shop looks out at the apartment building’s interior courtyard and swimming pool.
The menu spans the typical range of espresso and coffee drinks with a flat white serving as a nod to the owner’s Australian origins. A selection of teas can be prepared iced or hot to order, and board to the side lists special drinks offered at the moment. Sometimes those are seasonal items like the inevitable pumpkin spice in the fall. At other moments, they can be thematic as with a recent round of Taylor Swift beverages with names based on the artist’s song and album titles. Another board features smoothies such as the banana strawberry (Sun) Devil’s Delight.
In terms of food, Fillmore has a selection of baked goods that varies but often includes bagels, cookies, croissants, scones, and muffins in flavors such as raspberry granola. An acai bowl and a fruit parfait both provide lighter, fruitier options for a snack or light meal. Breakfast burritos and avocado toast topped with sliced tomatoes and goat or cream cheese add more substance and savory taste for morning meals. A grilled cheese sandwich is simple but effective with a mix of havarti and mozzarella cheeses and a bit of chutney between slices of sourdough bread.
More complex sandwiches include a panino filled with thinly sliced grilled chicken, melted mozzarella, tomato, and pesto. A selection of wraps includes butternut squash with chicken, spinach, chutney, and both goat and cream cheeses. The Herbivore Deluxe is a vegetarian variant that repeats the butternut squash while adding hummus and greens, cucumbers, roasted peppers, and artichoke hearts. A grilled chicken Caesar wrap turns out exactly as it sounds: a salad of crisp romaine with tomatoes, dressing, parmesan, and poultry inside a tight tortilla.
A Mediterranean salad tops a bowl of greens with red peppers and artichoke hearts, along with olives, red onions, and banana peppers. Its dressing is quite tangy, maybe a bit too much so, but still a refreshing alternative to excessively sweet versions. A vegan Southwest bowl repeats many of the same ingredients but with regional ingredients such as chipotle and black beans . The Strawberry Fields salad combines sliced fruit, greens, and balsamic dressing. Crumbled goat cheese is a worthwhile topping, while the avocado added seems to verge on an overload.
There isn’t much more to Fillmore’s food and beverage offerings, but the shop is as much a place to gather or relax as it is to eat and drink. Its proximity to classrooms for all three of Arizona’s state universities makes it popular as a place for study. As a neighborhood coffee house, Fillmore Coffee is probably not a destination for customers beyond a certain radius, but that’s sort of the point of mixed use development. Fillmore Coffee is the type of place that can fill ground floor retail space, offering a shop worthy of a short walk or elevator ride to get there.
600 N. 4th St., Phoenix AZ 85004
http://www.fillmorecoffeeco.com
PHX Rail Food 