Mill Mountain Coffee's New(ish) Locale

Mill Mountain Coffee's new downtown digs, though my review is a little late in coming, are pretty nice if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet. They moved a whopping thirty feet to just across the street, but with some marked improvements.

1. The bar with the open windows right as you walk in is nice; granted, the old place had some window-front real estate, but the new one feels more inviting and is roomier, so I find myself sitting at the windows more now.

2. More seating. The older locale wasn't so crowded that you felt claustrophobic or anything, but it could easily end up where you had to take your coffee to go or hover around waiting for a seat. Now, there's plenty of seating in front, in a little sub-section across of the "fixins" and higher up in the back.

3. Speaking of seating, now there's the outdoor area to sit in, which feels kind of semi-private given that traffic through that pay lot wouldn't be too much. Plus, while I have yet to bring my mutt to the shop, I feel like I could have my dog out there on nice days while I drink coffee and read the paper.

Many things are the same: same community bulletin board full of local events, classes, and the like. Art and photography by local artists, often for sale. Even some good reading material, with local pubs such as Bella, Lifestream, Inc, and (usually) a copy or two of The Roanoke Times floating around.

During the first two freezing Fridays of Dickens of a Christmas, Mill Mountain was one of my few places to warm up and glean fuel for the hours of commerce. While their coffee is not quite as bold as many Starbucks blends, I try to make it my choice when I'm in the neighborhood and the inevitable siren song of coffee, cookies, and good conversation rings in my ears.

Dining Out: Hollywood's Restaurant and Bakery

While this may have little to do with new Hollins-area restaurant Hollywood's, I just need to say that our going there was an accident. We were headed to a local place that will remain nameless. Small, quiet, earthy, and utterly closed. Why the hell small business is surprised that it has no customers when it spends half the time closed is a riddle that baffles me.

Anyway, Hollywood's was a decent second choice, to be sure. The environment was pretty typical: plenty of room, good lighting, and the bakery wares calling to customers from just left of the entrance.

We'd planned on only dessert and coffee, but my wife ordered the cheese fries as an app with dessert to follow, forgetting to check ingredients. Alas, the fries came out with bacon bits, but the waitress was very nice about taking them back for some "vegetarian" fries (potatoes is a vegetable, right?).

I had the peanut butter pie, which was good. My wife had a cake called "Better Than Sex" that I liked a little better (though perhaps not quite as much as advertised, given the name).
The service was good and the prices were very reasonable.

We ate with friends who had full meals that were well portioned, and looked good, though we resisted asking for bites just to have something for the review.

For a Friday night, the place had a good draw, though not on a wait or anything. While Hollins is a little outta my hood, I could see returning to try some of the other desserts, of which there are plenty.