Tools

Many years ago I was going to graduate school in Boston while my friend was living in Little Rock. My friend, who would later take up permanent residence in Atlanta and win a Pulitzer (no, I haven’t forgiven him for that yet), was a huge fan of Community Bakery. This was back when it was more bakery than coffee shop and it was churning out cookies and cakes in a storefront on Main Street next to Juanita’s. What my friend raved about was the fact that you could get coffee and The New York Times there. This was pre-internet days, and Community Bakery, then, felt like a lifeline to the outside world.

Today, Community Bakery has expanded, with its hardwood-floored restaurant that serves pastries and sandwiches and coffee practically from dawn until well past dusk. There’s also a smaller, satellite Community Bakery out in west Little Rock in a modest space off of Shackleford. Of course, now there’s all manner of coffeehouse competition that wasn’t around those many years ago when my friend felt he'd stumbled onto a secret.

I, however, make no secret about being a coffee-pastry-free wi-fi-booth-hoggin’ freak. Little Rock took a little while to get up to speed, but it was finally discovered by Starbucks, and the wondermous Panera Bread arrived soon after.

Yet I have a soft spot in my heart for Community Bakery, and it’s not hard to figure out why. It’s a local thing. Sure, they know my name at Community Bakery—but they know my name in practically every coffee shop in town (I told you I was a freak). I love the coffee (in my dreams I have a pipe of their Grand Hotel Blend running directly into my house). But it’s the fact that Community Bakery is Little Rock’s, and the art on the wall in the downtown location comes from artists who live here, and, if you want, you can still buy a copy of The New York Times. It can be especially nice to sit in the downtown branch and sip coffee and surf the web while all manner of conversations happen around you.

It turns out my friend was onto something way back then. Of course, I would never let him know that now. He’s already got a Pulitzer, and, really, that’s enough, isn’t it?