Biola is home to four awesome coffee shops; Heritage, Common Grounds, The Talon, and Blackstone cafe. At these sick spots you can grab a snack, a drink, and a chill place to chill! Below, I’ll give you some of my personal pros and cons for 3 of Biola’s coffee shops.

Heritage

Heritage is my favorite, as far as drinks go. Some pros for Heritage, for me, are the different candies they have for sale, their acai bowls, and how it is connected to the library. There have been many days and nights where I needed a pick-me-up (as well as an excuse to take my eyes off of my computer for a few minutes) and Heritage was right there for me.

Some cons about Heritage personally are not really cons per se, but just some things that other people might or might not have a preference for! For one, it’s not a place where I can do homework or study. Heritage has a richer social environment that the other two coffee shops do not really have (which on second thought is more of a pro than a con… this is why I don’t do Yelp reviews). However, when I study, I prefer a place where I can see other people doing the same: something that motivates me to keep working.

Common Grounds

Common Grounds is home to tons of great drinks. Some things I love about Commons (our nickname for this shop) is that you can use it as a place to study and a place to socialize. My favorite thing to get at Commons is a smoothie! There are over 4 flavors to choose/mix up and you can add yogurt or ice cream as a base—they’re amazing!

A con about Common Grounds to me is the size. During peak hours, it can become very crowded so it becomes harder to concentrate when studying, or hard to hear when waiting for your drink to be called. Other than that, Common Grounds is amazing and I would not change a thing!

The Talon

The Talon is a very unique cafe. You can find it in the corner of the business building. Some of my favorite things about The Talon are their drink selections (of course), the choices of fast and convenient food they have, and the eating area in the back! The back eating area can be great for group meetings, scarfing down some food quickly before a 3 hour class, or (my top use) finishing homework before class starts.

One of the downsides to The Talon is that they close much earlier than other places on campus. Another con is that during times when classes get out, the line can get very long, which is not ideal when you are trying to grab something quickly before your next class. However, those things can be easily avoided, and besides that, The Talon is a great place to hang and eat!