Mirasol’s Café is located at 439 State Road, North Dartmouth, MA. It is just outside of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus and is Latin American-influenced. The outside is decorated brilliantly with bright colors of pinks and yellows and has greenery painted all over the entrance. There is a nice little sitting area just outside the shop. It is very pleasant to look at and makes you feel very welcome.
My boyfriend, Ron, and I entered Mirisol's, excited to try something from our first official coffee shop that wasn't a Panera Bread restaurant. We looked at the huge menu, considering the cafe's famous CHiPPi, and both of us decided on the Espresso-Based Smoothies. I chose caramel and Ron chose chocolate. For a small Espresso-Based smoothie, it cost me $5.20, including tax. To me, this is a bit pricey as I am used to buying coffee and tea from the local Dunkin Donuts stores, but I soon realized that this coffee was expensive because it was Jim's Organic coffee and made its way to my cup from the country of Honduras.
"That's so cool!" I thought to myself, now interested in where my coffee comes from after spending most of this semester in the Secret Life of Coffee. I pointed this out to Ron and he became interested too since he never really realized that coffee is second to oil in the world market (this was the topic of our conversation while drinking our smoothies).
I walked around the café a little, looking for a seat while Ron waited for his coffee to be made. Just behind where the line forms at the front counter is a counter where cream, sugar, straws and an "excess coffee" cup was located. I questioned why there was a little container for the extra coffee that spills over when you add too much cream, but I never thought to ask the workers.
Just above the container, there was a sign that said "Café de Honduras." It told the café visitors that during the month of April, all the Jim's Organic coffee being sold at Mirasol's was from Honduras. I am now very interested in this and want to do my own research on the coffee of Honduras.
Next to the "Café de Honduras" sign was another sign that read "Unattended children will be given a medium Chippi and a free puppy." Mirasol's is famous for its CHiPPi drink. This is basically an iced coffee drink with tons of caffeine in it, so this sign really got the message across. Imagine your six year old with a medium Chippi! This is a very clever sign. Clrearly, Mirasol's is not for children.
While in the café, I noticed a bunch of stereotypical "café" things. For example, there were lots of college-aged students, including Ron an myself, chatting and sipping out delicious coffee beverages. There was a man, sitting near the window on his laptop. Near my little, two-person table, there was a girl silently reading a book. I noticed that she wasn't drinking or eating anything and I wondered if some people came here just to relax and enjoy the atmosphere. In the background, there was Latin music playing which added to all the Latin decoré.
After we finished our drinks and our conversation, Ron and I headed to his car. We pulled out of our parking spot and headed around the back of the building to find the way out since there was a car blocking the exit. Turns out there was no exit there. On our way back to the front of the front, I noticed an ice cream truck-type van. It was a Mirasol's on wheels! How cool!
The route for Mirasol's "CHiPPi Mobile" can be found at this web page: CHiPPi Mobile
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