Love this place for the friendliness, the chatty staff, the italian flirty atmosphere etc etc... It's a great place to pop in at and get energized.
If I was rating these guys for consistently providing high quality coffee I would give them 2 stars though. They use good coffee beans and have the right equipemnt to make exceptional coffee, but the quality of the finished espressos, machiatos and cappuccinos I have there varies a LOT. Sometimes very solid, but never exceptional. These guys are not advanced barristas and they do not come close to some of the other places that take pride in the art fo making a fantastic product, - Bulldog, seven grams, dark horse, jet fuel etc. I don't think they try to either and I am fine with that. I go there because of the atmosphere and because the coffee is good enough.
I have not been downstairs. The experience could be different there.