Echo is the neighborhood coffee shop I was waiting for. What I wasn't expecting was for it to become my neighborhood lunch spot as well. I'm stuck on the Cubano. It is all kinds of yummy roast pork and stuff. Since I can't break away from that, my wife tried the Mediterranean Tuna sandwich and it was so good that we split sammiches next time.
Keep up the good work, Echo. You definitely deserve the following you're garnering. Plus, I'm glad to see that building put to some good use. Hopefully some other quality businesses will fill in the open spot(s) and we'll have even more reason to make it a destination. A kickass Mexican market would be awesome. There is definitely both the Hispanic and Gringo crowd to support it in the area.
As for the lack of free refills... doesn't that imply that if I didn't drink 1 gallon of tea that I got ripped off? What about all of us 1 big beverage drinkers who are satisfied with the price we pay for our 1 drink. Are we supposed to feel stupid for not maximizing our liquid intake? To me, free refills make sense if you're at a sit-down place that is primarily about food and you're going to be there a longish time due to the food service. For a place that is primarily a coffee/beverage spot with some good food, allowing people to sit and drink free drinks all day would be a bad business decision. If you disagree, open up the Free Refills joint next door. Prove me wrong.
Perhaps a compromise is to add a discounted refill to the menu. That will please the regulars who hang out and abuse the T3 and serve those who suck down lots of liquids in a short time.
(a T3/DS3? really? i have my doubts that an entire T3/DS3 is being dedicated to this shop. that's enough bandwidth to serve a good-sized office building and host some websites with good traffic. a simple Cox cable connection is a fraction of the cost and often far faster.)