Coffee Shop Review - KooKoo Café

For some reason I got nostalgic for Boston today; maybe it’s because it’s the fall and I love Boston in the fall. Walking through the Public Gardens, Boston Common and Newbury Street when its crisp and chilly outside is something I miss very much. Considering that it was 80 degrees in Oklahoma City yesterday it’s hard to remember that it is the fall, and that people in Boston are at this very moment huddling together in the city’s many café’s to warm up.

One place I miss going to when it’s cold and grey and miserable out is KooKoo café in Brookline Village, which was my sanctuary for about three solid months a few years back. It was the fall, and it seemed to be raining every single day and I used to come here to study for the GMAT in preparation for Business School. They would make me my café au lait (or two or three of them over the course of a few hours) and I would munch on their healthy pastries or sometimes get a sandwich or bagel.  If I recall this place was actually very vegetarian friendly, and the curried tofu chicken salad was excellent.

The place is tiny, there isn’t much sunlight, and the nearest bathroom is in the yoga studio next door, but I love it. Whenever I’m back in Boston I make it a point to head over to Brookline Village and spend an hour reading at KooKoo, even if it is just for nostalgia purposes, and I freely admit that the coffee isn’t all that special. Then again if I wanted special I would go to Fixe and get a spectacular espresso (or French press or Clever Dripper) but Fixe is cold, sparse, modern, and trendy, all things KooKoo Café is not. I can’t remember if I ever got an espresso when I was at KooKoo, but I think that this place is the antithesis of an espresso counter designed for people on the go.