Lazy Daze Coffee House

I went to Lazy Daze for the first time this evening. I'd driven past a time or two and was curious to find out what it was like, so I'm glad that the opportunity to visit finally presented itself. My friend's husband, a jazz musician, was playing there tonight so we went to check it out.

The atmosphere is cozy and perfectly shabby. There's quite a long list of coffees, espressos, loose leaf organic teas, frappes, lattes, etc displayed on the chalkboard menu. I'd normally go for a coffee, but it was little late in the evening for that, so I opted for the hot apple cider with mulling spices and caramel. Mmmm... the perfect nightcap for a lazy Sunday! It had the perfect amount of spice and fall comfort. Next time I'd like to try the pumpkin chai or vanilla pumpkin chai tea. I was really tempted tonight, but it was just too late for even a little bit of caffeine. Lazy Daze also offers ice cream and a few pastries- muffins, mini loaves of banana & pumpkin bread, scones, cookies, etc.

As I noted, the coffeehouse does support local musicians, and it's a quaint little venue to check out a performance by independent artists. There's also a nice mix of photographs and stained glass artwork for sale, and you can also schedule a session with a pastel portrait artist at Lazy Daze. I'd recommend this place to anyone who's looking for a cozy alternative to the Starbucks down the street!

Lazy Daze lives up to its name, and I mean that only in the best way. I don't often have an excuse to come down to Irvington, and growing up on the North side, I'm not all that familiar with the area. But I'd happily invent a pretext to visit Lazy Daze again. This cheerful, cozy little coffeehouse is the perfect backdrop for a lazy day of chatting with friends, interneting (they have wireless) or enjoying the local acts that sometimes perform on the deck outside.

Since I can no longer have caffeine due to health issues (ah, the pain is still so fresh--how I miss my gunpowder green tea!), I wish they had a slightly larger selection of herbal teas. This personal quibble is the only reason I gave this cafe four stars instead of five. If you don't suffer from my tragic affliction, I'm sure you'll find delicious coffees and teas here. And, if you're an artist, musician or arts organization, feel free to come here to hang flyers or leave brochures. The place is full up with 'em. Double thumbs up!

There are three (count 'em, three) active transvestite drag queen magicians in America, and I met one of them at Lazy Daze. Now... I don't know if this coffee house cares whether they're associated with this meeting, or if they want to be associated with it... but I bet they do -- at least in regards to its absolute HISTORIC NATURE. (Note: this statistic is based upon said magician's word -- I have not fact checked this, and I almost dare not because it might tilt me toward not going on a Too Wong Foo road trip to find all three of them and meet Jim Jarmusch along the way.)

Having said all that...

*Cheap coffee that's nothing to complain nor anything to write Dear John letters about.
*Coffee served graciously by worker who I would ask advice on theoretical essays.
*Coffee served in funky clay homemade cup.
*Sporadic seating of dusty couches around shelves with local art on walls take me straight back to college.
*Located in Irvington, in the Irving theatre building
*Ample parking
*Next door to a Ghost Hunters Business
*I could spend all day here (especially if I'm meeting characters like mentioned above).

I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could. Funky grungie vibe. The Archie bunker chair in the front room kills me. The fact that it's haunted is cool, but that it's the microscopically tiny bathroom that's haunted just kills me. Evidently it's a transsexual ghost, that whispers in your ear. Men hear a female whisper, and women hear a male whisper...now that even I can't make up.

Big points for supporting local artists & neighborhood interests!!

Great outdoor deck & seating area, with one problem. They have a fireplace on the deck that I've never seen them use???? Why not? Who doesn't want to sip a hot drink on a chilly night outside near a fire?

Only other drawback, their baristas are slow and rude. One young raven haired beauty made it very clear to me with her body language, that my ordering a frappe & a milkshake was asking way tooooo much of her! Not Cool!

Great place to while away an afternoon and take the neighborhood pulse.

Last evening I made my annual trip to Lazy Daze to kick off the fall season and the beginning of the Irvington Halloween Festival. Every time I've been to Lazy Daze, the wait has been ridiculous and the coffee was less than good but I love the area so I keep going back, hoping things have gotten better. They haven't.

Last night was the straw that broke the camel's back. When I entered the establishment there was only one barista behind the counter and there were 9 people in line. After about 15 minutes, a guy who was sitting out front chatting with some people, finally meandered in and started helping out... slowly.

While we were all waiting for our drinks, 3 little girls (youngest was tiny, maybe age 4?) were running about, dodging in front of people and crashing into those of us standing in line. From the things the kids were hollering out, it appeared they belonged to the barista on duty. Occasionally, a guy from out front would come tell the girls to settle down and then he'd walk back out, accomplishing nothing. One woman actually left the line and said she'd had enough.

After I finally got my coffee, which had a decidedly burnt taste and very little of the flavoring I requested, I tried to sit outside near the deck and give a listen to a speaker who was doing readings from Edgar Allen Poe. No dice. The 3 little girls were now outside making so much racket that it was impossible to pay attention to what was going on. I tossed my half consumed coffee in the trash and left in disgust.

I'm not anti-kid if they are well behaved but these kids were obviously bored and more than a little hard to control. It's bad enough to have to wait forever for the totally apathetic employees to get around to making a mediocre cup of coffee for me but coupled with getting run into and screeched at by rugrats was more than I bargained for. I won't be back.

This may be Irvington's independent coffee shop and I give it props for that. And the ambiance is very nice... and the patio looks comfortable. Ok.

But extremely slow service, mediocre coffee and poorly trained baristas are disheartening. Tiny and disgusting bathroom was the last straw for me.

Go for the music, to meet up with a friend, to look at art or learn about the ghostly history of the area, but that's about it.

Coffee: Poor. Untrained baristas.
Food: Ice cream
Vibe: janky
WiFi: Yes and it's fast
Plugs: Yes.

Oh, how it hurts me to give a 1 star review to a locally owned, non chain, restaurant.

I've been to Lazy Daze a few times, and my experiences have all been pretty sub par. Slow employees, wrong orders, and the like. My last experience there will be...my last experience there.

I had a meeting with a fellow who lives on the South side of Indy. I live on the north side. This seemed like a good place to sit, sip some coffee, and attended to our business that was 1/2 in between for us.

I arrived slightly before our 9 AM meeting and couldn't find an employee. I stood at the counter and waited. And waited. Then I waited some more. I stepped outside, looked around, and he finally came walking up the sidewalk.

I got my drink, and it was OK. It wasn't terribly good, it wasn't terribly bad. The fellow I was meeting with arrived, ordered his drink, and we went to the side room and started chatting. Suddenly, the stereo came on loud with 80's hair metal. I've got nothing against 80's hair metal...it's not my favorite, but I can deal with it. What I could NOT deal with was the extreme loudness of it. Seriously. It was louder than most bands I've seen live. Like "the speakers are rattling" loud. It was impossible to carry on a conversation.

And, I did something I NEVER do. I went to the employee and asked him if he could turn the music down just a bit, and he said "I have no control over the volume".

Seriously? Is the volume control knob locked with a some sort of chasity belt? WTF, dude?

My friend and I wandered outside to finish our meeting, but that was difficult, because as soon as we sat down, the employee and a few of his friends sat next to us and lit up, RIGHT next to the front door.

Lazy Daze, I want to like you. I really do. I've given you a half a dozen chances or so. But...we're through.

I want this place to be awesome, but it really isn't. I live in Irvington and would love to have a great locally-owned shop in town rather than depending on Starbucks

I suppose this review is more of a recap of my last experience, but it pretty much sums it up.

When I arrived the barista was sitting out front by the door smoking and talking on her phone. It took a few minutes for her to finish the smoke and then she came in and asked what I'd like. Without washing her hands or even pretending to, she got to work. She made me a 16 oz iced americano with about 1 teaspoon of espresso in it...which tasted like dirty water.

As I mentioned above, I REALLY want to love this place. Every drink I've ever bought there was poorly made--and the customer service is never anything to write home to mother about. I've been going here off and on for years, but our relationship is officially over.

Great little coffee shop! Coffee is always brewed perfectly and staff is friendly.

UPDATE: Lazy Daze is now closed. :(

Lazy Daze is an Irvington institution. Some folks were worried when Starbucks moved in a few blocks away. But that potential competition only steeled Lazy Daze's base. They are not budging. And why would they? They have great coffee here. The barista's are very friendly and helpful. There's plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. Some of the chairs are pretty beat up and not that comfortable and the lighting is not that great. You can work here for hours on your computer, but if you want to read, there are only a few seats that will work. They do have live music, comedy and poetry readings most nights, so be on the look out for that. The hours are pretty good, open until 10pm most nights and open by 8am in the morning.

Oh and the best part! They have ice cream!