BECAUSE THEY'RE OPEN ON A SUNDAY DURING LABOR DAY WEEKEND IN DOWNTOWN TACOMA >>>

Neighborhood: Downtown, Tacoma

Address/phone: 1911 Pacific Ave., 253.572.4263

Hours: 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday, open till 9 p.m. Third Thursday

Noshing/Sipping: Bagged Tim's Cascade potato chips, pre-made cold pasta and green salads, saran wrapped breakfast and lunch sandwiches, various sweets and pastries, fruit cups, milkshakes, smoothies, and bagels and breakfast breads from Puyallup's Bagel Boyz. Bottled Snapple, Perrier, Minute Maid juices, canned tall-boy Arizona Teas and energy drinks, and the like are housed in a grab-it-yourself cooler. Get your morning bean grind on with mocha, latte, cappuccino, and their friends. Soaring Spirit Teas of Enumclaw provide the non-bean hot pick-me up.

Standard Cup o' Joe: $1.25 for 12-ounce drip

Bean Source: Caffe D'arte Coffee

Crowd: Students with laptops and shoulder bags, museum patrons, suits from the courthouse, guys in ties from local architectural firm.

Soundtrack: Barista John Laurenzo's iPod has cool sounds from David Bazan (Pedro the Lion). I'm betting there's some Franz Ferdinand, Killers, Last Shadow Puppets, Kaiser Chiefs and Kings of Leon.

Bonus Points: Great big windows provide tons of natural light while being just slightly too high to look out (or in from the street) and so Clancy's doesn't have the fishbowl feel.

WiFi: Yes! And plenty of power plug-in options.

The House:

Sister coffee shop to an Enumclaw location, Tacoma's Clancy's Coffee opened the end of July between the Washington State History Museum and Union Station on Pacific Avenue. Soaring ceilings and just as high windows are impressive. So is how very, very clean it is. Dare I say, Clancy's still has that new business smell of energetic, staff just waiting to wait on you. Square high top tables and a long buddy bar with power underneath for electronics plug-in, two black leather-looking couches and a padded two-person bench comprise the seating options. Blown glass works from Hilltop Artists in Residence are tastefully displayed.