Yesterday I had a meeting at [All City Coffee](http://www.allcitycoffee.com/) in Pioneer Square, and it’s jumped immediately onto my list of my favorite coffeehouses.

While I was enjoying my cappuccino, I realized two things. First, I seem to have a weakness for mezzanines. Two of my other favorites, Joe Bar and Top Pot downtown, have mezzanine levels, and so does All City.

Second, All City’s pricing follows a trend that every coffeehouse should adopt. As it says on the menu, prices include two shots and tax. All your basic espresso drinks taste better with a double shot, but if I have to specifically order a double and pay the extra fifty cents, I’ll hesitate. If the price is rolled in, I won’t give it a second thought.

This is one of the most powerful principles in retail: pretend to give people free stuff. At [Vij’s](http://www.vijs.ca/), the great Indian restaurant in Vancouver, you get free chai, pooris, and other snacks while you wait for a table. It’s not really free, of course: you pay for it as part of the menu prices, just like you’re paying Vij’s rent. Just imagine, though, if Vij were to lower the menu prices by a quarter and start charging for the snacks. Personally, I would cry foul. Probably I would just cry.

Oh, one more nice thing about All City Coffee. As one guy wrote:

> i haven’t heard any natalie merchant or blue note jazz yet, and in my book that’s refreshing