When Gabe Hagen and his husband, Jesse Shank, opened “The Queerest Coffee Shop in the Valley” in 2021, they did so with the intention of creating community.
“So much of what we wanted to do was centered around using our voice and our business for good,” said Hagen.
While the couple’s original Tempe location of Brick Road Coffee, and their second cafe in Mesa, are known for being safe spaces for the local LGBTQ+ community, they’re also popular destinations for Arizona State University students, allies, and folks just seeking out some of the best coffee, tea, pastries, and light bites.
In addition to running the day-to-day operations of two storefront, Hagen and Shank are involved in numerous local civic, government, and social organizations, so they don’t get a lot of free time to spend in restaurants or bars. But when they do, they give as much thought to the people behind the scenes as they do the food and drink on the table. The duo recently shared their favorite spots for grab-and-go treats; fresh, flavorful entrees; and, yes, good friends.
“Wherever we go, we always try to find places that show up for their community,” Hagen explained. “We also like to just really support fellow small businesses.”
Tacos Veganos
“We have good friends who are also small business owners, but they live in South Tempe. They’ll often come to our house for wine night, rather than us going down to them, and that’s because Taco Veganos will deliver to our house and not to theirs,” said Jesse Shank. “So, by default, Tacos Veganos is our favorite place for tacos.”
Owner Jose Bojorquez started his vegan taco concept out of a car in 2019, and now has two brick-and-mortar locations in the Valley. Every bite is plant-based, and Shank added he loves the “meat” tacos and the potato one. Hagen mirrored that sentiment, stating he dreams of the potato taco. 3301 E. Indian School Rd., Phoenix, aztacosveganos.com
Drink Me! Tea Room
“I met the owner, Melissa Harlan, shortly after we opened Brick Road. I kind of fan-girled because I love what she’s done,” said Hagen, about the proprietor of Drink Me! Tea Room in Tempe, which specializes in tea service, plant-based foods, gluten-free items.
“It’s very isolating being a small-business owner, but we started co-working together. She supplies the tea for our coffee shop. She also does all our gluten-free and vegan items. Her gluten-free coffee cake is one of our best sellers. It’s so good that people don’t even know that they’re eating gluten-free and vegan.” 730 E. Warner Rd., Tempe, drinkmetearoom.com
Thai Basil
“We’re season ticket holders at ASU Gammage, and we go with Jesse’s parents. And for every show, we have a routine that we always go to Thai Basil on Rural,” said Hagen. “There’s always this ‘which Thai Basil is your Thai Basil fight here in Phoenix because there are so many different ones, but the one on Rural is our go-to.
“The same family has been there ever since we’ve been going. We know them by name, and they know us by name, but for some reason, they still bring us menus, which we don’t need because we know what we’re going to order,” he added. For Hagen, it’s between the Pineapple Fried Rice, the Spicy Honey Pork, Pad See Ew, or Yellow Curry.
“If you’re going to compare restaurants, you always choose a specific dish. For a lot of people, the first one they have at a new Thai restaurant is Pad Thai. For me, it’s Pad See Ew. That’s good street food in Thailand, and if you do Pad See Ew right, I’m a fan,” Shank chimed in. “They have the best of any I’ve tried. And like Gabe said, the Pineapple Fried Rice is great and I also like the BBQ Pork.” 1111 S. Rural Rd., Tempe, thaibasilrural.com
Caffe Boa
“Another one we’ll throw into the mix for our Gammage outings is Caffe Boa,” said Shank, clarifying there are actually two different restaurants in the Valley, with different ownership, but the same name. “We like the one in Tempe and the Ossobuco there is delicious.
“My last name is Shank, so I must have a lamb shank every once in a while. They also make their pasta fresh, which is always good. We can’t get enough of it. My doctor probably would tell me that I need to have less of it, but he doesn’t need to know everything.” 398 S. Mill Ave., Tempe, cafeboa.com
Toasted Mallow
“For desserts, I can’t rave enough about Toasted Mallow. I love their Classic OG S’mores. They also have Oatmeal Cream Pies,” swooned Hagen. “Tricia Arce, the owner, makes fresh oatmeal cookies then adds her mallow to them. And if you ask, you can get them dipped in chocolate.
“Oh my God, if I’ve had a bad week, that’s what I’m getting because it will solve everything. They’re magic cookies. Tricia’s also part of the LGBTQ+ community, and she does wonderful things.” 1034 N. Gilbert Rd., Gilbert, thetoastedmallow.com
Buttered Up Bakery
“For the pastries we sell at our shop, we use Buttered Up Bakery in Mesa; they used to be Squarz Bakery when they were in Tempe,” said Hagen. “They make all of our croissants, the buns for our sandwiches, our blueberry muffins. They’re also LGBTQ+-owned.” 2628 W. Birchwood Circle, Mesa, butteredupbakery.com
Spooky’s Swirls
“We seem to be choosing a lot of gluten-free options, don’t we? This bakery is also gluten-free. They make everything from scratch. But they’re also half horror-movie museum [with] movie props and horror decor,” said Shank. “They (owners and pastry chefs Lola Forbes and Chris Szydlowski) say that a ghost gave them the recipe for the Spooky’s Swirls Cinnamon Buns topped with Scream Cheese. They also have a Blueberry Crumble Pie that I still dream about. It’s amazing.
“You can find their treats at a lot of local farmers markets, but if you like horror movies, their Chandler shop is such a fun combination. It’s just fascinating to see.” 3029 N. Alma School Rd., Chandler, spookyswirls.com
Picazzo’s
“We’re not the type to put on fancy suits and go to fancy restaurants, [but] If we’re looking for a nice meal, we’ll go to Picazzo’s in South Tempe,” said Hagen. “We meet up with friends there all the time just to chill out. It’s always a reliably good meal.” 440 W. Warner Rd., Tempe, picazzos.com
Beanchain Coffee
“This is my go-to coffee shop for those times when I want to be heads down and not bothered, which I can’t do in my own shop,” Hagen explained. “Beanchain is a fun place that’s out in Mesa. It’s a comfortable and quiet place to work, with shared workspace and office amenities. Plus, it has amazing owners. They’re such good people.” 1110 W. Southern Ave., Mesa, bchain.coffee
Phoenix Coqui
“If I’m going to be adventurous and leave our little bubble of Tempe, I’m going to drive to Central Phoenix and go to Phoenix Coqui and have some amazing Puerto Rican [food],” explained Hagen, adding the Valley lacks when it comes to Puerto Rican restaurants.
Phoenix Coqui started as a food truck and now has a brick-and-mortar shop. It’s another LGBTQ+-owned business, added Hagen, who met owner Alexis Carbajal through the board of the Greater Phoenix Equality Chamber of Commerce.
“I’d never had Puerto Rican food, and then I made the mistake of trying it, and now I love everything,” he said. “It’s so good. We even went to a drag brunch there once, and that was a lot of fun.” 4041 N. 15th Ave., Phoenix, phoenixcoqui.com
Royale Kitchen & Cocktails
“If we’re in Phoenix and want to get a drink, we’ll head over to the Melrose District and go to Royale Kitchen & Cocktail. It used to be Yumbar. They just opened on the corner of Seventh and Glenrosa, between Boycott Bar, which is also amazing, and Title 9 Sports Grill,” said Hagen. “They have an amazing Espresso Martini, and I’m not just saying that because they use our coffee. Well, maybe partly because they use our coffee.” 635 W. Glenrosa Ave., Phoenix, royalekitchenphx.com
Fuel Y’all Coffee
“We often get asked if we have a mobile cart or truck so we can cater a Pride event or something like that. We don’t. So we’ll usually refer them to Fuel Y’all Coffee (out of Tempe), which has a really cool trailer with a patio in the back of it,” said Shank. “They’re super friendly. It feels like you’re going to your family’s home and just sitting on the porch and hanging out.”
Red Brick Eatery
“Our friends are opening their first restaurant in Chandler later this month, and I’m really excited about it. Cody and Tanner came from the Pacific Northwest where they had an award-winning place. We’ve had the privilege of trying some menu items that aren’t available to everybody just yet,” revealed Shank.
“I can tell you that their breakfast menu is going to be freshest, and their brunch is going to be so good. The Cinnamon Roll French Toast is freaking amazing, and they’re going to have a bunch of bennies, or eggs benedicts. They call it Southwest American family-style, but what they’re going for is just that good old-fashioned place to hang out, chill, and have a fantastic breakfast.” 2095 N. Alma School Rd., Chandler, redbrickeatery.com
