Write Around Tampa

White Buffalo Coffee Bar

6118 Gunn Highway

Tampa

I first came to this place when they were known as Sips, and as they still have the name Sips on the bunting overhanging a side window and the name of a salon on the wall outside above the front door you may miss it without the aid of GPS; and don’t feel bad if you still miss it. It’s parking lot-adjacent from Walmart and on the corner facing Gunn. Now get yourself inside and start writing.

Quality and pricing of food and drink:

Relatively healthy menu and the prices are comparable to what’s been going on out there these days. I got the Breakfast for Lunch sandwich for $10 which included a bag of chips. It was big enough for me to save half for breakfast tomorrow. They have practically every syrup flavor imaginable so flavored coffee not a problem.

Are there enough outlets?

Not really. Half the seating is in the middle of the room and of the two tables against the wall (a two top and an eight top) there’s only one outlet. There’s also one outlet per grouping of four chairs sans tables so your laptop will indeed be on your lap. There’s an additional room with only one table, another eight-seater, with two outlets. Definitely come fully charged.

How’s the wifi?

Secure. You have to scroll past old Sips hookups and other networks to find it, but the password is written on a mini chalkboard on the counter 1-2-3, you’re in.

Will my muse come out?

She may feel a little exposed here; the floor plan is open and sparse, no little corners to hide in unless you hunker down at that eight-seater in the back, but even that room is wide open and brightly lit. The music is obscure hipster so it can either blend into the background (no earworms here to distract) or annoy you with all the echoey, flowy, muffled singing and experimental instruments.

How long can I park it?

Until closing, which in most cases is 6:00 pm, but you might not want to. It’s more of a spreadsheet-maintaining, magazine submission-researching, agent-querying kind of vibe than it is a mood of creativity. I definitely come back, but I think they could make better utilization of the space and make it cozier. The design is exactly the same as when it was Sips. It could use a makeover.

Final rating: 3 out of 5 laptops

Rachel Remick’s fiction and non-fiction stories have appeared in various magazines, among them Rosebud, Bluestem and ellipsis . . . literature and art. A frequent contributor to women’s magazine Sasee, her writing has also been published in several volumes of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books. She lives in Tampa, Florida.