With 8am classes everyday and constant club meetings popping up all across campus, I have often found myself to be the coffee-buzzed college student, furiously typing away at her laptop keys for hours in the perfectly cushioned window seat of a cafe. But nothing frustrates me more than walking around, stopping in every one of the numerous coffee shops surrounding the campus, only to find no empty seat to sit and work.
After spending a great amount of time wallowing in disappointment at the lack of seating in Starbucks and Thinking Cup, you can understand my relief once one of my sorority sisters asked me to meet her for coffee at Jaho. I had never heard of the place before, so I used my handy friend Google Maps to direct me and was shocked to find its location in Chinatown. Once I approached the place, I was immediately met with a sense of familiarity, realizing I had passed this place countless times on my way to the boba place Tea-Do.
Walking through the large glass doors situated underneath the glowing, blue-lettered “Jaho” sign, I was suddenly hit with extremely chill vibes and the feeling that I was in a jazz club. Ordering a hot chocolate was the best decision I could have made with a rich and creamy taste that would bring me back for so many more visits.
One of my favorite things about this place is that it’s not only a coffee shop. There is a bar situated across from the cashiers and a glass case right near the entrance with an array of foods ranging from pastries to salad. The menu includes not only your average coffee orders, but also a variety of teas, smoothies, alcoholic drinks, breakfast foods, and sandwiches.
While I haven’t begun to even make a dent in the long menu, I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying all of the items I have purchased.
When it comes to the peanut butter cup cookie, this is the perfect treat to satisfy that sweet tooth with the melted chocolate right when you bite in and the salty satisfaction that comes from the peanut butter.
While I do find myself spending the majority of my time at the Jaho in Chinatown, it seems as if I can always count on a Jaho popping up somewhere in a time of need. During the Halloween weekend this past fall, my friends and I decided to celebrate with a trip to Salem. Unfortunately, we picked a bitterly cold and rainy day to go. Luckily, we came across the original Jaho while walking around the city and I made the smartest decision of ordering the sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich on a croissant with a hot chocolate to go with it.
I don’t know if it was suffering from the freezing cold rain while in a wet jean jacket, or what but for some reason this sandwich suddenly became the best breakfast sandwich I had had in awhile. The buttery and flaky croissant surrounded the warm, salty fried egg and greasy sausage topped with a melted piece of cheese, which was certainly no grocery store, yellow-colored cheese square.
While a gooey cookie and a warm breakfast sandwich can easily make my day, a simple black coffee from Jaho never fails to disappoint me.
I can always count on the amazing amount of options from Jaho’s menu to satisfy not only me, but also many others due to its great variety, catering to so many different ages and types of people.
With many locations across Boston and stretching to Salem and even Tokyo, Jaho never fails to provide me with an available spot to sit and enjoy a nicely caffeinated drink and get my schoolwork done, as well as a late night hangout spot to go to with my friends, who I have managed to get hooked on the hot chocolate!