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Communiqué

The Student News Site of Chatham University

Communiqué

The Student News Site of Chatham University

Communiqué

Cougar Coffee Crawl visits 61C Cafe


By Iris and Jade Marzolf

This fall, the Communiqué embarked on a quest to find cool coffee locations near the Shadyside campus to which students could easily walk. Here’s the latest installment of the series.

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The final destination of our caffeinated journey was a quaint cafe on the corner of Bartlett Street and Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill: 61C. Named for the bus route that stops right outside its doors, 61C is charming, cozy and unpretentious. It’s a perfect place to study or hang out with friends while enjoying a treat.

The cafe has a giant front window that lets in natural light and provides prime people-watching entertainment. There is ample seating both inside and out, but since this place is popular in the neighborhood and offers free WiFi, it’s prone to becoming a bit crowded. Patrons will share the outlets, so you can charge your laptops or phones.

61C is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. It’s about a six-minute drive from campus. Limited metered street parking is available along with a paid parking garage underneath the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, which is down the street. The street meters are free after 6 p.m. and the garage is free after 10 p.m. Parking is free on Sundays.

Walking to the cafe from Chatham University would take about 25 minutes — a farther trek, but worth it. 61C doesn’t just sell coffee. It also offers a selection of tea, smoothies, juices and quality pastries. The barista was friendly, and recommended customers try the rooibos chai tea — one of the cafe’s more unique drinks. Since we detest both the smell and taste of tea, we didn’t try it, but we did purchase a massive wedge of chocolate-chip scone. It was lightly sweetened with bitter notes from the semi-sweet chocolate, crumbly on the outside and tender on the inside.

A chocolate-chip scone from the 61C Cafe

Everything on 61C’s menu is $10 or less. In fact, all of the drinks are less than $5 and refills are only 75 cents. Just remember to bring physical money, because it only accepts cash.

61C is at 1839 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill. Spend a cozy afternoon watching the cars drive by outside while sipping a cup of tea and snacking on a pastry. You also can check out its sister cafe — 61B — located on 1108 S. Braddock Ave., in the Swissvale portion of Regent Square.

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