Wow! Good luck to this venture! Getting back to the roots!

Only in Palo Alto could someone come up with such a ridiculous idea and try to turn it into a business. I'll stick with Philz for my coffee and avoid all the other nonsense.

There was a pleasant restaurant in the lobby/courtyard area for a while in the late 1970s - nice dinner-and-a-movie combination.

It will be interesting to see if this attempt to organize a purposeful, public creative hub will be fruitful. So often such concepts are over-run by poseurs and trendies; the thinkers and makers tend to commune organically. If this does work it could be great!

I wish the Guild Theater could move into the Varsity Space - it's location is so dysfunctional as it is. Surely too much money, but it should remain a public space, theater, cafe, plaza ... very sorry to see this place out of circulation for so long.

Hasn't Blue Bottle coffee been available at Fraiche Yogurt for quite a while in downtown?

Maybe Tuck and Patty will play there again some day. Good times back in the day.

I do realize that good coffee has become a religious experience, but I was unable to read the thousands of words about how it is made, I gave up after a few hundred.

Couldn't find anything about the cost of a cup. Maybe everyone is so rich, or on an expense account, no one else cares? I care.

@Religion of coffee:

A basic espresso is $3. Most of the other drinks on their menu ranged from $3-4, with the mocha topping out at $5. I paid $3.75 for a cappuccino which is seventy-five cents more than Coupa Cafe on Ramona. I thought it was very tasty. Is it worth the extra $0.75? Well, that's really up for the marketplace to decide collectively (i.e., Blue Bottle stays in business).

That said, if you're going to quibble over 50-75 cents for a coffee at a cafe that has a well established reputation at being a premium cafe, you probably shouldn't be dining out at all.

Find whatever's cheap at Walmart and brew up your own coffee at home.

A Blue Bottle latte at $4.25 was overpriced, and came out luke-warm. The layout of the new building doesn't seem to work. You can't see the coffee menu board until you're at the register, and even a short line, which moved extremely slow, forces you to stand outside. They definitely still have some kinks to work out.

Try Ritual Roasters in San Francisco on Valencia as a better alternative. Their latte for $3.00 has better flavor and comes hot. They haven't disappointed me yet. I always make a stop there on my trips to the City.

Here's an interesting perspective on the evolution of the Varsity Theatre. I'm giving the HanaHaus concept 6 months...

Web Link

We stopped in to see what it's about. First impressions - furniture probably good quality but austere, sterile, cold. Atmosphere cold. Nothing like the old Varsity feeling.
Cost of small 2" diameter cookie $2.50.
Cost of a ceramic cone 'pour through' to make a cup of coffee, $20(twenty).

And noise, noise noise. Even though there were not very many people there the artificial noise piped in forces people to shout to be heard, making the ambient noise worse. People who like being in noisy bars will be comfortable. Noise lets you pretend you are surrounded by lots of people having a good time. Maybe like Facebook 'friends'.
A guy inquiring about renting space. Ground floor office anyone?

It is a great place!

I was the first customer the other day. I am starting to like coffee now after 58 years of trying it!

Respectfully