Monday, March 7, 2011

Hazel's Gourmet Coffee & Tea is worth a pit stop in St. Joseph

Posted by on Mon, Mar 7, 2011 at 9:00 AM

Steer your car into Hazel's parking lot.
  • Steer your car into Hazel's parking lot.

If you've never been to a particular coffee shop, there are often a few clues in plain sight that can let you know what to expect. Odds are, you're in the right place if you see mismatched furniture, there's a board game seemingly left mid-game on a table and, perhaps most importantly, the smell of roasting coffee wafts out when you open the door.

Hazel's Gourmet Coffee & Tea (4001 Frederick Avenue) in St. Joseph roasts Arabica beans daily. And the smell is practically ingrained in the wood. When you add in the chess set, where white appears to be beating black in the split dining room, I think it's fair to say I was predisposed to liking Hazel's before I stepped up to the counter.

The Skinny Turkey is a straightforward deli sandwich.
  • The Skinny Turkey is a straightforward deli sandwich.

The sandwiches are simple. They all feature some combination of turkey, ham or cheese. I opted for the Skinny Turkey ($3.99), which was the kind of sandwich you'd make at home (deli turkey, provolone, French's yellow mustard and a few slices of raw red onion). The difference was that you don't have "delicious" Kaiser rolls at your house. Perfectly crusty and warmed slightly in the toaster oven, the roll made the sandwich. 

A lemon bar warmed slightly by the sun on your dashboard makes the trip go a lot faster.
  • A lemon bar warmed slightly by the sun on your dashboard makes the trip go a lot faster.
The baked goods are also made on-site, and I decided to sample the staples of nearly every coffeehouse -- the cinnamon roll and lemon bar. The cinnamon roll (think more bun than roll) was better when it was warm, but the lemon bar was special. It wasn't overly sweet and had a tart lemon filling that balanced the crumbly crust.  

And if the coffee was solid, the prices were exceptional. A 16 oz. iced coffee was $1.50, meaning it was only 21 cents more than my lemon bar. While Hazel's isn't a reason alone to visit St. Joseph, it's the kind of place (a few minutes off Interstate 29) that's nice to have in your back pocket while you're driving north.

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