While travelling down Route 75, you might spot a sign for Communion Coffee on Exit 24. With both good food and ample working space, the diner offers more than just coffee—but how good is it for getting your fix?
Walking into the store, nearly a quarter of its real estate is taken up by a dedicated merchandise space. Jackets, hoodies, mugs, water bottles and notebooks are the first thing you’ll see before getting to take a look at the menu. The whole vibe is of a high-end spot that’s supposed to be visited for the sake of going, a place to be attached to and eventually buy some of the branded materials and other minorly useful items seemingly targeted at the “working entrepreneur” customer.
The issue for me, then, is the coffee and their hours. A regular iced vanilla latte cost me $6.50. Ouch! On top of that, the actual amount of coffee wasn’t particularly more than a Starbucks grande, making the surcharge for an iced drink- maybe it’s the extra ounces of milk?- sting a bit more. The hot lattes are regularly priced, but I’m also just not a particular fan of the blend that Communion uses. Maybe it would be better black, but the flavor doesn’t mix well with their vanilla additive like some other blends do. And when the only flavor options are vanilla, lavender and honey, it feels worse and worse to go for just a drink.
In contrast, the food is great! I tried the Horchata French Toast and a “Choriqueso” burger, which ran for a standard $10-12 per dish. The horchata butter that comes with the French toast is light and pairs well with the mixture of strawberries, bananas and syrup. The combination of chorizo and queso didn’t spill out of the burger and was perfect with the additional jalapenos. So, the food’s great, but there’s just one problem for me: they close at 2 p.m. (3 p.m. on weekends)!. For any normal human, that may be good enough for a breakfast andlunch place. It just stings that food so good is only available for such a short time compared to most other restaurants and cafés.
It hurts even more considering that both the coffeeshop and diner are connected to a cooperative working space, and the coffeeshop is open for hours after the diner. At that point, for any current student of UTD, the Student Union has better hours and cheaper prices. Perhaps for someone else, Communion is the ideal work spot. But for students on a budget without a 9 to 5 schedule? It’s too expensive and too exclusive with its timing, making it an inconvenient spot to get your fix.
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