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| - The third time I visited PublicUs, a few weekends back, on the way out, walking past the kitchen window, I spotted a tall plastic vessel on a table, with a piece of masking tape fixed to the side, on which was written the word "Maya." The tub contained a sizable amount of bread starter, and the bread starter's name, apparently, is Maya. That's how serious the gang at PublicUs is about what they do: they name their starter.
That seriousness shines through in everything I have sipped or nibbled in my four visits since PublicUs opened a few months ago. I have tried their pastries, their "inspired toasts," a handful of coffees, and three or four of the breakfast/brunch plates, and can say--almost without exception--that this is a next level, game-changing spot; not just for downtown, but for all of Vegas. Everything is made from scratch, on site, and whoever is in charge of the menus has some legit chops. This place is No Joke.
I brought my family on my second trip, about a month or so ago, and our visit captured the brilliant highs and maddening lows of the place. My sister ordered the macadamia nut latte, and after one sip she fairly passed out with delight. I think she was almost angry, it was that good. We eventually asked one of the wait staff why in the hell it tasted so incredible and were told that the barista makes a paste/extract from actual macadamia nuts; a several hour long process that yields the most astonishingly true, pure flavor.
This is the level of deep reverence the PublicUs gang bring to the table. You don't come here for a quick coffee fix. You won't even find the ubiquitous sugar/cream/cinnamon stand to doctor up your joe as you wish. If you want sugar or cream, you order it when you order your coffee, in precise amounts, which they enter into the system. We are talking about a very exacting operation here. Don't expect large quantities or refills. Don't expect things to be cheap, or familiar, or instantaneous. Do expect to be blown away.
But also brace yourself for some weird hiccups. PublicUs is an elite machine, but one senses the dynamic between staff and customers rather like a novice trying to drive a Ferrari. Things can jolt and lurch in odd and unexpected ways. For instance, for some reason there are two ordering stations; one for coffee and one for food, but you can also order both at both. The first few times I ordered I found myself jumping back and forth between the two stations, not knowing who was taking which order or why. It is a terribly confusing and absurd system that needs rethinking. Also, when I've come with a group (twice now), all the orders have ended up on a single check which makes figuring out who pays for what a complicated mess. Plus there are two separate menus, one for food and one for coffee, again located at the different stations, so you end up lunging back and forth between the two ends of the counter. Plus, the coffee menu includes the names of drinks, like "One and One" or "The Canon" or "The Engagement," which exist nowhere in the known universe except here and yet no descriptions are included. Perhaps the intent is to spark a dialogue between staff and customers, but in general I find the ordering process to be painfully and needlessly convoluted.
The most vivid case of the extent to which Seriousness go can awry was when I brought my family, and myself and my Dad waited--I kid not--forty minutes for our pour-over coffees. Forty! By this point my Mom and Sister had finished their drinks, and we had all long-since finished our "inspired toasts." But serious coffee takes time, and the barista was backed up. Now, to be fair, the place was slammed on a Saturday morning, and apparently one of the barista's failed to show. But such are the perils of an establishment so deeply wedded to the integrity of the coffee-making process. Mom and Dad ended up stopping for an additional coffee at The Market on our way back from PublicUs. Ponder that: we went to PublicUs for coffee, and then ended up stopping for coffee on the way back from the place went to get coffee.
In spite of these rather grating flaws, PublicUs gets four stars. The food is simply that amazing, and the coffee is just that impressive. The staff is uniformly pleasant and responsive, as well. A place that takes itself this serious skates a thin line between inviting and pretentious, but the good folks at PublicUs keep things real by being consistently warm and attentive and welcoming. You will pay, and you will wait, but pay and wait: this place is worth every hassle.
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