rkaz

Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea in Tucson, Arizona
May 8

I've gone to this place several times over the last few years. Sometimes the staff is really nice and other times the service has been terrible-- it really depends on which people are serving and how busy the place is. Years ago I used to be a regular; but after a number of bad experiences with rude staff, I only go there occasionally now.

If you go at peak times, expect to wait about 25-30 minutes (or even longer) for your food. However, at off-peak times, you can usually get your food within 10 minutes. During peak times there also may be a lack of seating, so you may be standing up waiting for a table or sitting on the few tables outside.

One thing I like about the place is that there are a good number of vegetarian and vegan options. Some of the dishes are great... I really enjoy their soups.Most of their soups are vegan. Another plus is that it is open both early in the morning and late at night; one of the few places still open after 9pm. Although they are usually listed as closing at midnight, sometimes they choose to close early if they feel there are not that many customers-- so if you go there at 11pm and they are closed, don't be surprised.

Some cons are that they use the microwave pretty liberally to warm up their food... which doesn't appeal to me. Another issue is that many of their desserts labeled as vegan are not 100% vegan (they don't contain dairy or eggs, but many labeled as vegan do contain honey (I saw the actual ingredient lists, so I'm not making this up)... although they are quite healthy otherwise, containing whole grains/oats, or whole wheat pastry flour with little or no refined sugar.) But for a strict vegan this would be an issue, so I recommend you check if the dessert item labeled 'vegan' has honey before purchasing; though for a vegetarian this place has great options.

Another good thing about this place is that it has free WiFi... though often it doesn't work, and you have to ask the staff to restart it. There are many college students there working on their laptops. The place also has a nice coffee-shop ambiance, as there are a lot of paintings on the wall (available for purchase) by local artists (I have even seen kids' paintings in the past for sale). Another plus is that this place has an adjacent parking lot, so you can most always get parking there (though this may not always be the case during peak times, though there is usually space available).

Another thing that some people may like is that they often host music events where artists will sing or play the guitar or tell jokes, and there are open-mic nights. Those are not too frequent, so if you are interested, call the staff to find out when events are going on.