I don't see how there could be any ratings under 3 for Angel Falls Coffee. Surprisingly and not surprisingly, this city and area, the crown jewel of the rubber industry and home of big tire manufacturers, has enough critical mass to warrant culture, fine dining, and entertainment venues.
The nearby university (University of Akron) is a medium- to large-sized school that has many of the chain eateries and coffeehouses nearby. Not surprisingly, a major university niche area is polymer engineering, which relates to the rubber industry. I asked about independent coffeehouses and was steered several miles west on Market Street to Angel Falls Coffee, although I was given some other indie names. The name Angel Falls registered. Located in Venezuela, it is the tallest waterfall in the world! I was also told that the coffeehouse and its immediate area, Highland Square, lean bohemian and is where the cool kids in the area opt to live.
Once you get out of your car, the quirkiness of the area is evident and it continues in going inside to Angel Falls Coffee. If it were in a strip mall, which it is not, Angel Falls would seemingly take up two bays. The left half of the store is where you order near the glass cases and where there is merchandise. The right half of the store is the slightly frumpy wood paneled coffeehouse with the seating.
I need to immediately mention some things. The selection of teas is stellar. I was able to land on apricot flavored tea that is a caffeinated black tea. It was delicious. If that isn't enough, there's a large selection of cookies, cupcakes, pastries, and slices of cake and the prices are fair. The cupcake I selected was excellent. The service is pleasant enough and they attend to people quickly.
You can take your purchase to go. However, many people choose to stay to eat in. Places like Angel Falls make me chuckle and scratch my head as to how I check the D box on my voter registration yet I find counterculture people amusing, intriguing, and irritating. Now, at a suburban coffee house where many of the patrons might check the R box, these mental gymnastics wouldn't even register. But I don't want to check the R box. Thus, I rolled with this "rubbing of the elbows" with some unique people: Highland Square residents, Akron U. students, university employees, progressives, hippies, various area residents who come because it's a good coffeehouse, and others steered here because of asking for recommendations. You'll remember this coffeehouse because it's far from cookie cutter.
Parking can be found free of charge on the side streets. There are diagonal parking spaces out front that are metered.
Again, the coffeehouse itself is a little bit dowdy which detracts from it getting 5 stars. But the selection of teas, baked goods, and the expedient service are its strong points. I'm sure the coffee, of which there are many varieties, is also good. There are also some interesting eateries packed into these few blocks. Angel Falls is thus squarely a 4 star experience and one that I could see people repeating often if a local, or from time to time if passing through. read more