Where is it?
The Golden Roast’s Melrose location is the first truly University of Tennessee ‘campus’ coffee shop we’re posting. Located at the corner of Lake and Melrose, it is directly across the street from both Kappa Sigma and the Tyson House Student Foundation, though a more common landmark might be the John C. Hodges (university) Library, which is only about a 3 minute walk.
There is street parking all around the area.
When is it open?
The Melrose location is open Monday through Friday 7a-5p, Saturday and Sunday 8a-5p. They are open for dine-in right now, and they have online ordering for takeout available. Check them out on their website or on Instagram (@thegoldenroastcoffee).
The Menu - What Are They Known For?
The Golden Roast is not only true to its name in having many, many of their own roasts available, they also have one of the most interesting espresso drink menus around. Big orange mocha? Sure. Ghiradelli chocolate and coconut in cold brew? Why not. But pineapple juice and blue curacao with espresso? Now you have our curiosity. (It’s called the Seaside Sunrise by the way, more on our experience below).
There are also bags of their coffee to-go, as well as merch for TGR fans and local goods for sale displayed on the counter.
What's the space like?
The inside of this shop feels contemporary, employing a darker scheme than most, complete with black ceiling and accented with light wood, a little change of pace when many coffee shops are trending light colors and brick aesthetic. Upon entering, there is bar-style seating on 2 walls with windows totaling about 14 seats. The main seating area had 5 tables in the middle, comprising 15 more seats.
There are 2 different, slightly hidden areas in the back: a plush seating area with a couch and chairs and local art, and a large table with seats for ~7 in the back left behind a trendy metal-and-pipe bookshelf. There is no outside area to speak of; total seating for about 40.
Is it a good work space?
Saying this is popular study spot is an understatement. If I can judge by UT backpacks, stickers, and Volunteers clothing, I’d say 3/4 of the place was students working hard (although there is plenty of local foot traffic). There are outlets (including built-in USB ports) all along the perimeter.
The internet is fast, but for some reason has trouble connecting to maybe 1 in 5 websites I tried to visit – kept coming up with time-out and DNS errors (for those who read our other The Golden Roast post, the same issues present here). Those who really need a specific website for work or school may want to test out your connection before settling in. BIG UPDATE: They found and fixed the problem! Kudos to them for staying persistent. I am leaving to above sentences so that other long-timers know that they aren’t the only ones, and they have nothing to worry about now.
Our Experience
We last visited on a Sunday in the latter part of 2020. I would suggest getting there early if you want to snag a study spot, the place is popular. The only bad thing I can say about that is there was only one barista working that was easily overrun with the volume of orders. The barista was nice – the time we waited was really due to popularity of the store, not the service.
We had the aforementioned Kookaburra and Seaside Sunrise mentioned above: the Kookaburra is Bavarian chocolate cold brew, Ghiradelli chocolate sauce, coconut syrup, and half-n-half, and the Seaside Sunrise is pineapple juice, blue curacao, and espresso. Sounds weird right? I promise they are refreshing cold drinks, if that’s what you’re looking for.
If not, they have many other great hot drinks to try, some of which we mentioned in our post about their Marble City roastery. For those of you enjoying The Golden Roast, the flagship coffee shop in Marble City is definitely worth a visit.
Other things to do in the area
If it’s time for a quick break (then back to studying), head over to Capybara Coffee on University Commons for another cup of joe.
If it’s time to knock of and unwind for the day, check out Balter Beerworks for a cold one.
Questions, Comments, or Concerns?
Email us at help@brewsandtodos.com