Well, a disclaimer here..I am a biased reviewer. I worked at Hava from 5/99-12/02.
It is everything I want in a coffee house. Quality coffee drinks made so you can taste the coffee. It is not over roasted like the chains. The munchies are passable. This has always been of secondary importance here. I mean...if you are a coffee drinker do you really care that the muffins are the cream of the crop? Probably not. Do not get me wrong there is nothing bad about the munchies it is just that it is always just better than average.
That's A-O-K in my book though. The staff is usually top notch. Given the demands of a small staff, a high energy coffee house, demanding (in a good way) clientle, and the need for mad social skills there is a dichotomy of employees there. On one hand there are employees that are like myself..there for many years and on the other many who only last a week or two. Once an employee fits in they can be counted on to give you great personalized service and high quality coffee drinks.
Honestly, if you are a seasoned coffee drinker you will prefer to hit this place on the Camelback Corridor rather than the chain places. Sure, you may have to wait a little bit longer, but that will give you more time to witness the denizens of Hava. There is a tight knit, and large, regular crowd who take time out of their days to spend time at hava. You'll see why they do and you'll start to make extra time for the daily visits in your routine.
If you read this say hey to Jake on the coffee cart out front and tell them Chris from San Fran sent ya.
Cheers!