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| - I'm sure there are occasions where the hype meets reality, but it wasn't on this day. (*edit: after reading the negative reviews, I take that back. I doubt the hype ever matches what would have to be a monumental shift of character from one day to the next--Holley's seems to be enjoying an inflated-review free ride).
Per other negative reviews, the place is drab. Walking in, it felt like a dusty frat house foyer. The odor, or *scent* of a coffee house? Absent. My sinuses are clear! Yet no tasteful aroma of anything teases my olfactory. What gives?
They do have coffee here. But I smell it not.
They do have food here, but there's no enticement aside from scribbles on a chalkboard. Nothing inspires, and I find myself having zero confidence in the ability of this place to do much of anything other than pour coffee.
Pastries? At least that. But nay: there are but a few unappealing scraps hidden behind a cafeteria-esque display case. It's not even 1pm.
I skip experimenting with any of the basics and go with a black coffee so as not to merely turn on my heel and leave. Someone who is thankfully altogether pleasant takes my money, and orders a distracted dude in the back to pour a cup. Done. Prices: normative range.
Having a seat, I wiFi it up and get to work. Upon taking a sip, though, ugh. It's just a cup of black coffee! Yet it tastes like dejected beans or unfiltered water, I'm unsure. Not gag-worthy or returnable, but nothing to boast about, either. Come on. This place just looks and feels tired, and so do I after a brief while, so I leave.
One final note on atmosphere or lack thereof: the seats are uncomfortable, my table was a wobbly mess and spilled my coffee (may be a blessing), what others say about jabbery young baristas going in and out of the shop is true, and so of course they did nothing about the douche customer and his girlfriend having a tinny loud speaker-phone conversation with their mortgage lender. Where am I?? Absurd and beyond annoying.
Perfectly average. But even at that, I've had way better, so there it is: 2-stars.
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