It is a good sign when a café is still humming with customers on a late Wednesday morning. It is an idyllic café if there are quaint apartments sitting just above the building. But, you know you’ve found a gem when it appears the café has frequent customers, camped out on their computer or conversing with friends. Fair Trade Café has all of this.

 

Located just off the light rail, this coffee establishment is easy to reach and owned by locals who like to serve up what they call “coffee with a conscience”. So, not only will drinking a cup of their coffee get you feeling good as the caffeine courses through your veins, but will also make you feel like a better person, knowing that the morning brew you just downed is fair trade-certified, organic and ecologically sustainable.

 

With locally-sourced coffee as the staple of their menu, at Fair Trade you can get a simple drip coffee or an espresso drink. Beyond coffee, you will also find tea, smoothies, breakfast, lunch and pastries (including vegan and gluten-free options, much to the joy of Shari).

 

The staff is relaxed, but not in the sense that on a rushed morning you’ll be forced to wait around as they putter along to make your order. No, they are simply obliging and well versed when it comes to running the café.

 

As for the cafés environment, there is ample lighting as well as table seating and couch seating. Just behind the café is a little cove of patio seating shaded by palm trees. Other than the little palm seeds that like to drop down and pelt you every so often, the patio is really quite nice being so tucked away and tranquil.

 

Overall, Fair Trade Café is a coffee spot with all the goods. The coffee is tasty, and moderately priced. The service is warm and the seating is nice. Additionally, on days when you cannot make it out to Fair Trade’s main café, you can get your fix at their second location at Civic Space Park.

 

-Kristy 

 

Locations:

 

1020 N 1st Ave.

Phoenix, AZ

(Reviewed location)

 

OR

 

424 N Central Ave.

Phoenix, AZ