Forza Coffee

I love Forza! The Holy Spumoni is to die for! The atmosphere is inviting and relaxing, and the staff are always friendly. This is a great place to grab a cup of coffee and/​or hang out.

The staff here is very friendly. I like the fireplace, and the tea was pretty tasty. It’s a nice and cozy place to be on a rainy winter day. But the vibe is conservative; people come here to do business and use the wifi. It feels like a chain store. And there are lots of cops, which is not surprising given the local history of Forza but it’s not my thing. I would rather hang with the freaks.

Needing a good jolt of caffeine and finding that Union 23 was closed, I ventured out from the U of Puget Sound campus this morning in the direction of Forza Coffee. A leisurely 30 minute walk from campus, Forza offers a better-​than-​Starbucks experience at roughly the same price.
My cappuccino was, unfortunately, nearly all foam and espresso with not even a modicum of steamed milk. I know preferences vary, but I always ask for the traditional 1:1:1 ratio of froth, milk, and espresso. That request was not honored here. It’s a shame too, because the espresso was actually quite good and would have been excellent with the proper milk and foam.
Having a bit of time on my hands and also an obligation to turn a few pages, I opted to drink my cappuccino in the café. The décor – muted colors, a few tables, and two low-​slung leather easy chairs – is more or less what one finds at the typical Starbucks. It was hardly the nicest place, but not a bad locale for an hour or so. The free wifi was a plus.
The barista, as others have noted, was somewhat aloof. She stopped short of overt rudeness, but seemed either exhausted or hungover. Forza, for me, was a place to find a competent morning sip but nothing to miss when I skip town.

The parking is a pain, but you won’t regret it once you enter inside. The music station is always on Coffee House XM, and it’s quiet enough to study. The free Internet really helps. The staff have been great. They remembered my drink after my first visit, and they’ve given me directions to places I’ve needed to be. These people are like family now, and I’m looking forward to many more visits in the future.

I like Forza’s coffee but I usually go there for the strawberry smoothies (I don’t recall the official name for them). This location is small and the shared parking lot has narrow spaces to park in. Out of the four Forza locations I used to frequent, this one is my least favorite. Aside from the narrow spaces (which I can deal with), my last visit left me extremely dissatisfied with the service I received there. The barista who took my order was extremely impatient (there were no other people in line but she kept on pressuring me to order) and was irritated when I asked her for some drink recommendations (I was in one of my indecisive moods). Since she was making me feel uncomfortable, I decided to default to my strawberry smoothie drink. It’s an excellent drink, but I would’ve preferred some better service to go with the close to $ 5 I paid for it.

The coffee was decent and the staff was fine — but, as with all my coffee shop reviews, I’m there to work and, to be honest, it was difficult to find a spot that I liked — only two tables have access to power, though if you’re into the whole big over-​stuffed chair scene, you’ve got a couple more power options.
Also, the parking lot is on the cramped side — narrow spots and a narrow center-​aisle make it sometimes a pain to maneuver.

This place just opened up down the street from me on the corner of 12^th and Union. The atmosphere won’t make you linger, like Mandolin, but the coffee is really, really good, especially if you like your coffee straight.
Starbucks gives me a gut ache, but I love the coffee at Forza’s and just take it black and straight.
The staff is really nice and will actually work to make a drink just the way you like it.