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| - The short: It's all solidly good--the not-too-pricey coffee, the simple pastries, the breakfast sandwiches and knishes, the baristas, and the comfortable and mellow atmosphere when going solo or meeting a few friends.
The long: Located on the southeast corner of Indian School and 36th St., in the strip mall between Tuesday Morning and Darwin's, MJ's is accessible and fairly easy to sign. The wall of windows lights the place up awesomely, and even at night, it doesn't turn into one of those dark, moody coffee joints. They find new artists to show art every couple of months or so, and it's usually pretty good. Their couple handfuls of small tables are easy to shift around if you're joining a group, but big groups might feel uncomfortable since it's not exactly huge. There's a nice quiet room around the back for people studying, but it's not enclosed, so on open mic nights or nights when there are featured performers, it's not so quiet. I love how clean they keep the place; when the baristas aren't working the counter, they're wiping down the windows, bussing tables, and restocking the coffee condiment bar.
Speaking of the baristas, they're always friendly and attentive, good at showing off how to hustle (because when a coffee shop's busy, I feel better if baristas actually act like it), and totally interesting to look at--like fashion icons for today's college-aged generation, some with interesting piercings and tattoos, fashionable and stylish by not trendy clothes--seems like there's an appreciation for staff who are unique, interesting, and good workers. It's never uncomfortable, though--meaning, I never feel too old or unhip or out of place there. Customers truly run the gamut, from quiet middle-aged women catching up with each other, moms and/or dads with kids, suit-and-tie professionals stopping in for a cuppa, people hitting the wi-fi, and angsty artsy types having heated but civil political debates.
I usually have the chai tea latte, but their coffee is always solid (I can attest to a decent café mocha), and I hear a lot of praise about their daily specials--every day, a different bean, special coffee, and iced tea. Prices are a little cheaper than Starbucks (I think it was $2.50 for the tasty mango lemon iced tea, and the larger specialty coffees can go up to $4.50), but the drinks are better. Pastries are always tasty and include a small selection of rugalah (buttery, flaky, chocolatey goodness--also available with raspberry or apple), a bigger selection of muffins, big and puffy croissants, bagels, cookies, brownies, rice krispie treats--certainly not a fully stocked French patisserie, but what they have is usually really good quality. They also serve one or two different quiches every day, potato knishes, breakfast sandwiches, and omelets.
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