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| Alllll the syrups |
Exterior: 3/5
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| I took the photo from this angle to avoid being noticed by the panhandler on the sidewalk |
It's hard to find MoJoe if you don't know where to look. It has a great location on the Courthouse Square in downtown Kokomo, but its signage is minimal and it's not doing a lot to attract attention. I'd imagine that doesn't hurt its business a ton because if you work downtown you know it's there. Still, a little splash wouldn't hurt anything. Good luck finding parking in front of the place, but there's a convenient parking garage around the corner.
Ambience: 4/5
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| Cozy and kitschy |
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| Front counter |
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| A delightful contrast: A veterans' wall... |
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| ...and the entrance to a store called The Elevated Hippie |
They've got a cute, laid-back, old-timey kind of vibe going on inside the store. The first time I came I saw a huge American flag and a Bible laying out on a table and thought "Oh no they're going to run me out of here." That said, I've seen folks of all ages and skin tones coming in and nobody sees uncomfortable. While I was there I saw a group of older men chatting - it seemed like one of those collections of older men that meets regularly to catch up over plain coffee. There were also quite a few younger people getting to-go orders. I'm assuming the clientele is mostly people who work downtown and need a little fuel for their day.
Variety: 4/5
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| Not a lot of food, but some food |
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| I don't know if I've ever ordered anything other than one of their seasonal specials |
The regular MoJoe menu is pretty basic, but the real attraction of the place for me is the slate of special concoctions they put out every season. There's always a nice array of flavors on there within a broad swath of drink types. You can find snooty coffee here, although not being a snooty-coffee-person I've never tried it to know if it's good or not. Mostly they do flavored drinks, which they broadcast with the Wall of Syrups pictured above. They have a few options if you want food - nothing earth-shatteringly creative, but enough to sate you if you have the nibbles while you're there.
Quality: 3/5
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| Blueberry Cobbler Latte |
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| Rocket Pop Refresher |
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| Berry Muffin |
Like I said, I always get one of the seasonal offerings here, and on this trip I tried the Blueberry Cobbler Latte. It was ok; I liked the top of it better than I liked the bottom. My husband, who works nearby, always loves their Red Bull refreshers. This time he got the Rocket Pop and said it's something he's gotten multiple times because it's so tasty. Now personally I find Red Bull refreshers pretty gross no matter where they're from, but this one actually wasn't horrible. The muffin we got was great. I think I enjoyed it more than the drinks! It's not that anything was bad, it's just that nothing felt spectacular.
Kid-Friendly: 4/5
My kids were not present on this trip, but I don't think I'd mind bringing the 5YO here if he had something to occupy him. There's enough background noise here that kids wouldn't draw a ton of attention if they were being obnoxious. The furniture is well-used so you can't do much to it that hasn't already been done. There's also fun stuff to look at on the walls. Now the little-littles? Maybe not so much. But kids who can be a little self-sufficient might feel right at home here.
Would Eat Again?: Yellow Light
So, I probably will go to MoJoe again just because it's close to where my husband works and it's a convenient place to meet up with him. That said, I won't necessarily be going there for the quality of drinks. You should also know going in that it can take a loooong time to get served here. The person I was meeting up with told me that she and her friends have a running joke that they're going to MoJoe's and they'll probably have their coffee in an hour. Now it has never taken that long when I've been there, but there's a very limited staff and they get backed up easily when they're busy. (Once a few months ago I saw a barista call their mom to come in and hep because eveyrthing was so behind.) I've noticed a lot of turnover in baristas over the months that I've been going there, and the inexperience doesn't speed things up. So basically if I want a place to sit and socialize downtown I'll hit up MoJoe. If I want a really good drink or if I'm in a hurry I'll probably go elsewhere.
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