Friends and fellow coffee fanatics Alexa and Hannah review Nashville’s new and lesser-known coffee shops in their column “Alexa, Hannah and Joe.” Alexa writes, and Hannah is behind the camera. Check back each Tuesday to find your new favorite cup of joe!
It would probably be too easy if we loved every specialty coffee shop that Nashville has to offer.
This is where Falcon Coffee Bar comes in.
Falcon Coffee Bar is a little scary from the outside: the building is painted completely black, and the only exterior details are an overgrown tomato garden and a white falcon painted on the very top of the building. It doesn’t exactly give off an inviting vibe.
The interior was a little more welcoming, with many wood and neutral tones. However, it was incredibly small: there were only five tables and a few seats at the bar for guests. This discouraged us from staying for long because the space felt cramped.
There seemed to be only two employees working on this rainy Sunday afternoon. One was busy making espresso drinks while the other was preoccupied with taking orders, making drinks and delivering food to customers. Although there weren’t more than 15 customers in the shop, he forgot what we ordered and our drinks took about 20 minutes.
Alexa’s order: Iced Coffee
This was a decent glass of iced coffee, and I had no major complaints. I finished my drink but was disappointed by the lack of milk and sweetener options at Falcon.
Score: 4 out of 5 cups
Hannah’s order: Latte
The flavor of the espresso in this drink left an unpleasant taste in my mouth for a while after I finished my latte. Even though Osa Coffee was featured at Edgehill Cafe, a place which I really liked, this latte had a strange, almost dry flavor to it. As far as non-dairy milk options for the latte, they only had almond milk which is not ideal for someone like me who is allergic to almonds. While not horrible, I had much higher hopes for this cup of coffee.
Score: 3 out of 5 cups
As Hannah mentioned, Falcon Coffee Bar brews Osa Coffee, the same roastery that Edgehill Cafe uses. The difference in taste and quality between the beverages that we tried from these coffeeshops points to the importance of the brewing and preparation process of coffee.
The food offerings at Falcon Coffee Bar didn’t make up for their lackluster beverages. We observed other customers eating their avocado toast and other brunch foods, and somehow they made avocado toast look unappetizing—who knew that was possible?
If you’re in the Wedgewood Houston neighborhood, you would be better off checking out Humphreys Street Coffee or one of the other specialty coffee chops in the area. Nashville is full of quality specialty coffee shops, but unfortunately Falcon Coffee Bar is not one of them.
