Giant Coffee Opens Alongside Bunky Boutique

There was a lot going on this weekend, but one of the biggest buzz-creators was Saturday's long-awaited opening of Giant Coffee, the third downtown hangout created by Matt and Erenia Pool of Matt's Big Breakfast and The Roosevelt. Saturday's grand opening party was held in conjunction with the launch of...

By Michele Laudig

May 24, 2010

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There was a lot going on this weekend, but one of the biggest buzz-creators was Saturday's long-awaited opening of Giant Coffee, the third downtown hangout created by Matt and Erenia Pool of Matt's Big Breakfast and The Roosevelt.

Saturday's grand opening party was held in conjunction with the launch of hip clothing store Bunky Boutique's new location connected to the coffee shop, at 1437 N. 1st St., just behind Thai Hut. (Bunky was previously located next door to The Roosevelt.)

Giant seemed ready to open last fall, when the shop did a preview opening for October's First Friday. But the Pools aren't strangers to delayed openings -- see the cover story I did on them a few years back, before The Roosevelt opened. Several high-profile new coffee joints have opened downtown in the interim, so the delay wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Who knows, it might've even been a strategy.

I think Matt Pool enjoys researching and putting together a new business as much as running it. He already takes regular jaunts to L.A. to buy his hot dogs for the tavern, so it came as no surprise that he took his time investigating all things coffee.

He came up with San Francisco-based Four Barrel Coffee as his purveyor, and gets his organic barista milk from California's Straus Family Creamery.

Nope, you can't swing by today. They're open Tuesday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Follow @GiantCoffeeAZ on Twitter.

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