French Truck Coffee is a New Orleans based roaster and coffee shop. The Memphis shop is located in the Crosstown Concourse, a multi-use building originally built as a Sears warehouse and retail space.

The shop is attractive and accessible within the complex. French Truck offers coffee, tea and smoothies from one half of the counter, while the other side is a full-service bar. A limited, but interesting menu of food items are available throughout the day. The focus is on organic and quality ingredients in tasty combinations.

For this trip I chose French Truck because of their food. I was ready for a good cup of coffee, but really needed some food after the morning’s triathlon north of town. The food did not disappoint as the ingredients were fresh and the flavors of the Quinoa Bowl with Chicken made refueling quite enjoyable. Service was great at the counter as well as at the table.

A variety of seating options open to common areas of the Crosstown Concourse make the cafe feel large and airy. There were individuals working on laptops, couples having conversations and Concourse workers stopping in for a beverage. None of these seemed disrupted by the small group of young professionals stopping by the bar side for an early happy hour.

Coffee selections were good with espresso drinks, cold brews and a variety beans offered as pour overs. The single-origin Brazil was bright and flavorful served in a classic ceramic mug. French Truck reinforces their brand by tastefully displaying their signature yellow and blue throughout.

Strict adherence to style and the ‘mall-like’ setting reminded me of a chain from the Pacific Northwest. Fortunately there was enough New Orleans cool to make it work for me. A filled punch card is a pretty good incentive to get me to stop in the next time I pass that way.