Santa Barbara Roasting Company

Let's continue our journey to find the best coffee shop for writing in Santa Barbara with an obvious choice.  "RoCo," as it is known by locals and smug tourists, is right by my house so I can walk there (huge plus). I know it has good coffee, because once I was really hungry while walking to REI so I ordered a huge chocolatey drink with whipped cream on it. I remember that it was smooth and delicious.

But this post is not about how to justify eating dessert at 10 am. Today I am not here for frivolous, whipped-creamy treats. Today we are all about Writing a Book and trying not to be freaked out by how intimidating that seems. 

The atmosphere is right for writing, in that there is a low buzz of constant noise, but not too much commuter commotion. A crew of slacker surfer types has been camped out since before I arrived and is still discussing music/some new social media site/their cute friend Debbie a few hours later.  Obviously RoCo scores high on not getting rushed out (what I have dubbed the "slacker quotient" in a previous post). 

The food choices are not plentiful, consisting of a few pre-packaged cold sandwiches in a case at the front and the usual massive display of carbs (danishes, muffins, brownies filled with cream cheese. More and more I am realizing coffee shops are terrible for the health-conscious.) There is a hot ham and swiss breakfast sandwich rumored, but when I try to order it I am told it is "out." The Southwestern Turkey Club that I end up with is surprisingly tasty, even though there is no whole wheat bread available.  For a second I wonder if I am really in Santa Barbara. (Sidenote: it only took 6 months of being back in the U.S. to get spoiled by this type of stuff. I am half offended there are no gluten-free options.) 

Credit should go to the enterprising staff members who set up a daily "contest" between two similar things to encourage the money to pile up in one side of the tip jar or the other.  Today I can vote with my change for either "Hugs" or "Kisses" (it's Valentine's Day, after all), and I am told that yesterday the people preferred "Electric Guitar" over "Acoustic." This is cute. This is very Santa Barbara. 

I pick a round table in the corner, brazenly ignoring the fact that there are four chairs around it and I am only one person. I am trying to become the kind of person who doesn't stress over this kind of thing, as I sense that I will have to become more "selfish" if I am going to give myself the endless hours actually required to write a book.  This is good practice. 

Slacker quotient goes through the roof as the disheveled man at the next table suddenly drops his backpack and all pretense of not being homeless and lays down on the booth. The 20-something girls working the counter ignore this. I am realizing that I could pretty much move in until my book is finished and RoCo would be fine with it. 

Unfortunately, the distraction of snoring homeless man pales in comparison to the distraction of homeless woman who next sits down at my table and starts talking to me (damn those three extra chairs). In my still overly sensitive new-baby state, I am likely to start welling up at just about any sad story, which hers certainly is. There is really no good way to disengage from these types of conversations, and that makes me sad too.  But not as sad as, for example, those Sheryl Crow commercials about dog abuse (which leave me completely, utterly undone). It takes about ten minutes of unenthusiastic responses for the woman to move along. 

Music is pleasant and unobtrusive: it slips effortlessly from a twinkly jazz CD to light indie rock and everyone is cool with this, because everyone is cool with anything that happens at RoCo, ever. Forget the high-quality coffee roasted on-site, the real advantage of this place is acceptance. That kind of vibe is nice for turning off the inner critic and getting a lot out on the page. 

Points for good coffee, nice sunny windows, and the sense that absolutely anything goes. Deductions for white bread and homeless Mary. 

Santa Barbara Roasting Company: A-