The Traveler

Issue date: 9/10/08 Section: Life & Style

Media Credit: Veronica Pucci Arsaga's Espresso Cafe boasts four locations in Fayetteville, including one on the second floor of the UA Law Library.

Whether students like it, many must get up earlier than they would like in order to get to their classes. As evident from the numerous coffee shops on campus, many students turn to coffee to wake themselves up or just to get themselves through the day.

With so many locations to get a good cup of joe on campus and in Northwest Arkansas, which one should the coffee enthusiast choose?

Local coffee shops around the campus area provide students not only with coffee, but also with a taste of Fayetteville culture.

Arsaga's Espresso Café has been in business for 15 years, and its shops are located on Gregg Street, Crossover Road, in the Fayetteville Public Library and in the Washington Regional Medical Center. Arsaga's interiors at each location are all designed or ?crafted by local artists including Kathy Thompson, Steve Moore, Eugene Sargent and Joe Alexander, according to the Web site.?   

In February 2007, the most recent café addition opened on the second floor of the UA Law Library.

At the law library, there are themes that correspond with a specialized drink. "It's Dinosaur Time" is the most recent theme to join others such as Metal Week, Dolly Parton and John Waters. Mike Anderson, a local artist and Arsaga's employee, draws chalk art on a board by the menu to designate the unique drinks. The art boasts the Mochasaurus Rex, Brontosaurus Blood and Stega Chino as the shining specialties.

Arsaga's coffee is unique because it is roasted in Fayetteville, it is organic and it is a product of fair trade, said Greta Gayer, the manager at the Arsaga's in the law library.

"I think there are a higher percentage of people that consistently come back [to Arsaga's]," said UA graduate Lael Crabtree, who also works at the Arsaga's in the law library.

"Our espresso is more  ?authentic, not automatic," she said. "We time every shot and have specific steaming methods."

An important part of working for a local business is being around the people, Gayer said.

"Working for a local place is different," she said. "The Arsaga's [owners] care about [the employees], so we take more ownership in working here, as if it were more of  ?our own business."

Continued...

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