Wired Coffee, often shortened to Wired, is a coffee shop located in Sunset Hills, Missouri, USA, not far from St Louis. It offers all of the normal coffee shop fare, along with 'Wired Signature Inspirations' - basically a grand name for house specials - and some pretty good scones¹.

The Fare

As well as coffee, tea, gelato, sorbetto, and baked goods, they offer many drinks made from these, like quakes (gelato shakes), and foods such as sandwiches and soups. One of the best loved Signature Inspirations is a tasty treat called The Wired Thing, a two-chocolate chip cookie with gelato in the middle, which is only available in summer. Another notable creation is the Matcha Lemonade, flavoured with Japanese green tea. The food is generally good, though it will vary between dishes and individual tastes. The quakes, speciality drinks, and the gelato are very high quality.

The tea is also good. They use bags for convenience, but a new and larger kind of teabag with larger leaves, which have a bit more room to move around during steeping. Wired also has its own coffee label, which has received good reviews both from customers and from publications like Java Journal.

The prices are reasonable by local standards, which are in turn pretty cheap compared to the really big American cities like New York, as well as most of the UK.

The Premises

The decor is upbeat, zany, and fairly cosy. The seating arrangements include a bar, two large, soft, red sofas, and several blue armchairs - some of which have swivel trays attached for food and drink - along with several customized tables with regular chairs. These are well arranged, with the sofas sandwiched between the bar, a full-wall window and a wall featuring a large artwork with a mask named Mo'Joe² - their logo. There is also a small nook with a TV, a table, two armchairs and a magazine rack, and this can either be reserved or used without one. The main area has many tables and armchairs, some of which are arranged in a semi-circle around a fireplace. It's also worth noting that the bathrooms are clean and well decorated.

Entertainment

As for entertainment while you eat, there is the TV³, free wireless internet access (so you can read the Guide as you eat), a good selection of magazines and other periodicals (including Wired magazine), and customers and staff to have conversations with. Last but not least, there's a programme of live entertainment, including speaker series, bands, poetry readings and the like - check the website for upcoming events if you're planning on going. The staff are very friendly and tend to know a lot about both their regulars and their products. Many of them are from the local high school, though there are also some college students and usually one or both of the owners, Jan⁴ and Judy Jobe are there.

Getting There

Wired is located at 3860 S Lindbergh Blvd. It is rather oddly located on the side of a courtyard built into a strip mall (a row of shops). It can be a little hard to see from the street but is right next to the Progressive Insurance building, which is pretty easy to spot.