Q: positive

A: This is where Marie Antoinette would eat, were she a contemporary Phoenician and not a deposed French ruler from the eighteen century. Total decadence. Total indulgence. Totally wrong but oh-so-right. Brunch: cheese plate, eggs Benedict in a spicy hollandaise, Gruet mimosa. Lunch: cheese plate, burger with dry jack cheese and pancetta on ciabatta, sweet potato fries, gin-cucumber martini. Oh my god, the cheese list. I really hope I never become lactose intolerant. Because I don't think it would stop me from devouring cheese plates like they're going out of style, but it would make the aftermath upsetting. Anyway, their list is robust and I've yet to try something I don't like. The Roaring '40s blue is excellent. Idiazabal was like a Spanish manchego, but smokier. The manchego was hard and nutty and delicious. The Chimay Grand Cru made great use of its Belgian beer namesake and was smooth and a bit soft. Would you think I was weird if I said the Hoch Ybrig tasted like a Swiss mountain meadow? Whatever, it totally did - floral and fresh and pastoral. I bet those cows were eating some sweet clover and spring blossoms. Wine, cheese, bread. It's like a guaranteed homerun in my book. One problem - some of the sloooowest food ever. And not in that this-was-grown-within-a-four-block-radius way, either. Just slow. Like fucking molasses. Order-in to food-received: 55 minutes. For three burgers, a macaroni and cheese and a cold turkey sandwich. During a late lunch amongst not more than five other tables. This only makes sense if the kitchen contains a bong. Or maybe a live pig. Don't think about it, though. Just order another cocktail, consume your weight in cheese and, if you want to reenact my own experience, drool a little. As Marie Antoinette would say (OK, probably not, since this is totally unverified and historically questionable, but fuck you for saying so), "Let them each cheese!"

Q: positive

A: We've been here 3x and will still come back for more. The place is awesome, steak made perfectly right to your satisfaction.

Q: negative

A: Not so impressed with this particular Hampton. I usually really enjoy them. However, when I checked in I went to my room, and the inside lock was engaged. So I knock on the door and there was already someone occupying the room. Ouch! Back downstairs and the staff was accommodating. So I go to sleep and need to get up super-early for a flight. My wake-up call never happened, I couldn't find the coffee pot and when I finally did (located on an inset shelf in the bathroom BEHIND the door, they only had decaf available. What? All-in-all I'm happy I had a place to lay my head--and it was a comfortable bed--but I've stayed at Hampton Inn's before where I had a much more enjoyable experience.

Q: positive

A:
I find myself craving impeccable smooth coffee similar to Intelligentsia, Toby's Estate, Stumptown, Counter Culture, Blue Bottle, [insert more brands to reinforce coffee snob elitism]... the whole artisan coffee scene that lacks in Arizona overall. I think Lux is the answer for Phoenix's market for coffee connoisseurship and boutique roasting. Lux is industrial chic. Vintage industrial with soft touches of retro typewriters on tables. Its a muted scream of modernism without trying to hard. It's so effortlessly cool, clean, simple. The front side of the building facing East is all brick and hard to tell that there's even an awesome business running, let alone of what nature. Seems almost as if you have to be in the "know" to find it and hear about it. Everywhere are cute hipster boys and girls which makes me fall in love and turn into a total creep peering and drooling not so secretly. The bar is a nice touch that was much needed and I'm glad they've now incorporated that into the place. Coffee comes at the perfect temperature- not too hot where beans burn and leave a bitter sharp lingering muddle. The latte art is cool and a nice touch. You can get your coffe as a drip, chemex, French press. Not sure about hario pour over or aeropress although I think they do have that option (unless I'm mistaken for a diff coffee shop in Phx area that offers that too) Quality coffee is definitely prevalent. They roast their own coffee so you know it's fresh. The foam is always light and fluffy and not filled with too dense bubbles. Definitely lickable. They offer almond milk which is so refreshing as an alternative to soy. The music can get loud sometimes so I tend to venture into the back patio. I haven't tried Lux's food but I'm sure it is up there, and if not, Pane Bianco right is next door. My only one complaint (which I could care less about also) is that the line is a little akward when it gets backed up into the entrance but sometimes runs also into the middle of the room.