It’s become rather commonplace over the past few years to find coffee shops and cafes that serve up some sort of wireless – free or paid – alongside their more usual fare. I wouldn’t quite put it in the “surprised by its absence” category, at least not nationwide, but it’s not hard to find it. The coffee shop’s close relative the restaurant and/or bar, however, seems to be much slower to catch on. I’ve run into a precious few of those establishments that have available wifi, unless it’s a bleed over from somewhere nearby. This is, I suspect, because eating at a restaurant is regarded as a less solitary endeavour than grabbing a coffee, but I think there’s plenty of opportunity for such businesses to monetize the working lunch and/or quick bite to eat on the way home from work crowds.
Citysearch doesn’t list many potential wifi enabled venues here in Denver, but one they missed as recommended by Raible proved to be a good find today. The Handlebar & Grill does indeed have good food (Southwest salad was very good) and excellent beer (solid selection of microbrews). I guess it’s time to start campaigning on this point to my local establishment, the Wazee Supper Club.
It’s not that I have anything against coffee and wifi, it’s just that I personally prefer beer and wifi 😉
