Manda C.
Yelp
Upon entering Jupiter House, you will have a long trek across the galaxy to make it to their counter in the very back. As you make your journey, you will drift through the huddled masses of study groups, the tension that is bred by focus as backs hunch over laptops (that's really terrible for your neck, by the way) and see the dead eyed glaze overtaking people who have been staring at the same page in their textbook for two thirds of their last coffee.
As you land in line, you will see a bright and large menu that is still fairly difficult to read because of the low lighting... or I'm getting old and going blind. Second, if you are me, your eyes will be drawn to their pastries on a table to the right... oooohhh, snacks. You may forget to figure out your drink as you sift through vegan banana bread and triple berry muffins and then notice a stack of cookies.
Anyways, it's clear that they have lattes and smoothies and shakes and cocoa and cider and oh yeah, regular old coffee. What I didn't know until today is that they have bagels and bagel sandwiches!
I had already placed my order and paid when a young, hormonal couple finally rotated out of my orbit, revealing the counter sign! I was so disappointed, I would have gotten a bagel instead of only raising my blood sugar with... well, lots of sugar. Oh well, next time, perhaps.
They have bagel sandwiches for $4 and bagels with spread for $2.50. Side note... why does no one say cream cheese anymore? Am I the only one? Did I miss the memo that it got classified as a curse word? Schmear, spread... why?
Anyways, back to Jupiter House. I used to come here from time to time when I was in college, but hadn't been in forever... it was almost like discovering it all over again. The wood tables are clean, pale, flat and make a great work space and studying surface. I mentioned earlier that the lighting is pretty dim in there, but it's pretty awesome that they have lamps at almost every table by the wall. That allows an individual or a pair to use the light, without messing with the overeall ambiance.
The seating is varied, I didn't remember them having booths, but they do! They have tables of varying sizes and heights and benches too! However you like to study or work, you'll probably find the table/chair pairing for your needs, including outside.
When I stopped in yesterday afternoon it was uber quiet, though it was half full- they're concentrating... or on Facebook, I dunno. I remember it being livelier in there, but that's probably in the evenings when it's safer to socialize.
The layout is actually pretty nice and I love bagels. Right as I'm wondering if the parking is the only reason I haven't been here in forever, my order is ready.
I got a cinnamon walnut muffin, which tasted as expected and was very reasonable at $1.50. Sugar helps with all nighters so they are catering to their crowd pretty well. Also, it's Denton, so it's great thar they had 4 or 5 vegan snacks too. I didn't notice any gluten free, but it was pastries, so yeah... sorry GF crowd. It varies though, maybe tomorrow.
Anyways, right as I'm wondering why I don't come and get some work done in this very nice, spacious, quiet shop, I take a sip of my Orange Passion smoothie. It's orange juice, bananas and strawberries- the smallest they had was a 16 oz and it was $5.50.
Oh yeah! That seems familiar, it's just not very good. The drink was weak on flavor and sour. The orange flavor was really light, the strawberries were not to be found and where the hell is that super unpleasant, sour taste coming from?? I drank 6 sips, spacing time between- enough to be polite, my mother taught me right- and then tossed the rest and headed out. The memories come flooding back of burnt coffee, stale snacks and weirdly mixed shakes. I've had decent items here before, but just as many have been disappointing.
With a place like this, the quality is strictly based on the current staff. That's why I'm saying it's average, because over the years, that's just how I feel about the place. Besides, my meh visit today, may be your fantastic visit tomorrow.
Considering their drinks are overpriced, I need more consistent good experiences to consider it a good value and rate it any higher.
They fulfill their function of providing a place to study and free wifi though. They are a Denton institition, so average or not, I'm sure you'll find something you like about the place.