Encompass Coffee Bar and Café

Looks great. Can't wait to try it.

Well, it's very cool that a nice neighborhood coffee shop is opening up to add to the hertel walkable vibe. My cousin just moved back to Buffalo with her daughter after living in NYC for 25 years and she thinks hertel is a great little pocket area with a decent urban walkable feel, so she's living on one of the side streets, can't remember which one. The photo of the cafe looks good, and from a purely snobby aesthetic point of view, it looks like maybe they need a bit more going on with the blank wall space; maybe just add a bit more texture and warmer tones and the place would seem even more inviting. But from what I read I give it a big thumbs up.

Also, maybe its good if a few more places open up on a cozier side street that are not on the actual main drag of hertel itself. The only bad thing about hertel is that it's too wide a street. Cars go too fast. The narrower the street, the cozier and more walkable, in my experience. I grew up in Buffalo, but I live in Ireland now where you get so many narrow, winding streets and alleyways with shops and the buildings sort of wrap around you and invite you in. And the streets wind around so you're always wondering what's around the next bend. I realize this is b/e Euro cities were all built up before cars, but it's still a great walking experience to explore a street that way. I always thought Hertel could do with a wide meridian down the middle, like a long park which would also slow traffic. There was a street in Dublin I used to live near which was also really wide and when I returned several years later they had built an island of shops down the middle. Worked really well. That's also the problem with Main street - too wide and wind swept and straight. You can see all the way down to the end, so no mystery, not very explorable, does that make sense? In Paris they have parking lanes that are separated by tree lined meridians. Sorry, I know Buffalo isn't Paris or Dublin, but for me, its the visual aesthetic make up of a street that makes or breaks it and what works in one city could help in another.

Anyway, kudos to Encompass Coffee bar and cafe and when I'm next home, I'll stroll in for sure...

Just adding to my comment above, this is probably a big reason the pedestrian mall didn't work on main street. It's too big and wide and straight. There are pestrianized SIDE STREETS in Dublin that work great. They don't try to be mega size places, but here and there you wander through and suddenly find a small, narrow quaint street filled with shops where cars can't go. That is what the pedestrian mall should have been and Buffalo should consider this idea for canalside. An d even for some of the side streets on Main. Narrow, cozy, public spaces which are surrounded by buildings and work to enclose and hug the walker.

Well this is great a new place must be with new taste as I love to visit different places for coffee as I love coffee and almost half of the world I visit I only look for coffee.

The Dalys did a great job with this block and while I was sad to see the sweet shop go, this may end up being a better fit. Very excited. This is a great space for this business and I get the feeling it'll do pretty well.

This place is great! I had a delicious apple cider pastry and coffee this morning. Welcome to Hertel!