Business 2.0: The Tech’s Big Comeback
by Michael V. Copeland, Nov. 2005
“…So are many of the neighboring office buildings in downtown Palo Alto, and the coffee shops and the restaurants. Pop into the newest hot spot of the geek set, Coupa Café, just around the corner from 285 Hamilton, and you’ll overhear seed deals getting done over the spiced Venezuelan hot chocolate, along with much excited talk about can’t-miss new business plans. On a recent afternoon, one nervous entrepreneur asks a harried Coupa barista for a description of Netscape founder Marc Andreessen so he won’t miss him when the big guy arrives for a meeting. Sure enough, moments later, a newly buzz-cut Andreessen wades into the caffeine- and Wi-Fi -fueled fray. Murmur’s of “There he is” ripple through the crowd.”
The Slow Food Guide to San Francisco,
by Sylvia Brackett, 2005
“For the past fifteen years Arabica Coffee Company of Venezuela has been working to resurrect the traditional methods of growing, harvesting, and roasting coffee beans from the mountainous regions of Venezuela. Only the second shop after the one in Caracas, Arabica opened Coupa Café in Palo Alto to introduce Venezuelan coffee to the United States.”
San Francisco Chronicle Magazine:
Bargain Bites, Sept 2005
”By themselves, the Venezuelan coffee and chocolate at Coupa Café are enough to satisfy all sorts of cravings, yet there is also a full-blown breakfast menu, salads, panini and even arepas, traditional Venezuelan cornmeal griddle cakes filled with such items as ham, smoked salmon or cheese. There are many upscale desserts, but even a single Chuao Chocolatier bonbon is intense enough to make the visit memorable.”
The Wave Magazine: The Perfect Cup,
Nov 2005
“Deep in the Venezuelan mountains, a tiny coffee bean grows in the sun. When it’s mature, the bean is picked by hand and set to rest on a patio, where it’s dried, roasted, bagged, and shipped directly to Palo Alto, California. Here, in the candlelit confines of Coupa Café, the bean becomes a rich, mellow cup of coffee, nestled in the palm of your hand.”
San Francisco Chronicle: A Toast to Venezuela, by Miriam Morgan, Mar 2004
“An historic Spanish colonial building in Palo alto is the new home of what may be the country’s only Venezuelan coffee and chocolate emporium.”
CFP: Coupa Café: What Palo Alto has always needed, by Carey Jones, Mar 2004
“Coupa has a style all its own. Its décor is spectacular, with beautiful high ceilings and a huge central fireplace, combining vivid colors with a welcoming feeling. Coupa does not feel like Palo Alto, it’s more continental than that. Coupa deserves well-dressed poser Europeans lounging on its sidewalk patio, struggling novelists hunched over by its fireplace.”
San Jose Mercury News:
World Class Venezuelan Coffee,
by Sheila Himmel, Nov 2004
“The coffee is so rich and smooth that it may not need sweeteners or milk. It is made from 100 percent Arabica beans in “super-fair trade” (above market price) deals with small Venezuelan growers… The Coupa Café name collapses the owners’ name, Coupal, into something that sounds like what it means, cup of coffee.”
“Restaurants are like people. Except for that one annoying thing they do wrong -- like serving stale bread or leaving shoes all over the house -- they could be perfect. Sometimes the defect can spoil everything. Luckily, that is not the case for Coupa Cafe in downtown Palo Alto, Coupa Cafe brings fireplace warmth, free WiFi access, great coffee and hot chocolate to the historic Ramona Street building. Also fine sandwiches and arepas, the delicious national sandwich.”
Coupa Cafe - Palo Alto
CBS Eye on the Bay - Cheap Eats (Press Play to View Video)
Coupa Cafe - Beverly Hills
City of Beverly Hills Promotion (Press Play to View Video)
