Fair Trade Cafe, Phoenix, AZ

Fair Trade Cafe is an arty little coffee shop in downtown Phoenix, just off the lightrail stop at Roosevelt and Central.

Fair Trade Cafe participates in Artlink and has a monthly rotating gallery. They are also active in Downtown Phoenix's First Friday. [First Friday is an "art walk; a free, monthly, self-guided tour of galleries, studios, and unique businesses in downtown Phoenix showcasing art by local, national, and international artists. It runs the First Friday of every month from 6pm-10pm.] Edited to add: First Fridays is going on hiatus and will not be taking place for this July or August, due to cost and heat.

This coffee shop is definitely vegan-friendly. Their coffees and teas can be made with soy milk, and they brew only fair trade certified, organic, shade grown, great-tasting coffees and espresso.

Their regular smoothies are not vegan, but they can be made vegan easily with soy milk. I asked for a vegan strawberry smoothie (below right photo) and it was completely satisfying. Fair Trade also offers a veggie hummus sandwich on their regular menu that is vegan-friendly. And I believe their House Salad is completely vegan, with romaine lettuce, sprouts, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, celery, and sliced almonds, and served with side of balsamic vinaigrette.

The vegan desserts (cookies, bars, brownies) are labeled and vary daily, and when I was there they had vegan Banana Nut Cookies (photo right) and Brownies. The Banana Nut Cookie was a cakey kind of cookie, which I'm normally not a big fan of, but I really liked this one. So, two thumbs up.

I am not a coffee drinker, so coffee shops are usually lost on me. But my friends are coffee-nuts, so I like having places where my friends like the coffee, and I like the smoothies, chai teas, and desserts. And Fair Trade is perfect for that. Even better, Fair Trade (Roosevelt) is super easy to get to. It has its own little parking garage, and it's just off the lightrail, so chilling in downtown Phoenix is easier than ever for us vegan folk.


Fair Trade Cafe (Roosevelt)

Ranking: ****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.


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Fair Trade Cafe (Roosevelt)
1020 North 1st Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85003
(Behind Trinity Cathedral)
602.354.8150
http://www.azfairtrade.com/cafe

Hours
Monday - Friday, 6AM-10PM
Saturday - Sunday, 7AM-10PM

Fair Trade Cafe also has a second location, but it has limited hours:

Fair Trade Cafe (Park)
424 N. Central Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Civic Park/AE England Building - Courtyard Level

Hours
Monday - Friday, 7AM-5PM